Open Course

Free? Who doesn’t want free?

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Introduction

Open Kaplan courses are free introductory courses where the goal of these courses is to provide educational material to all who wish to learn. Online E learning allows the learner to gain knowledge and deepen their understanding of what it means to learn in the digital age. There are posted topics, modules, discussion/essay questions and quizzes.

Theories

Learning theories provide a solid foundation for a multitude of strategies and reasoning techniques needed for instructional designers to create meaningful learning systems.  The andragogy learning theory in combination with the equivalency theory and constructivism are types of theories that guide distance learning. The andragogy theory states that “courses should have clear descriptions, learning objectives, resources, and timelines for events” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012, p. 51). 

Constructivism is a theory that suggests that students can gain knowledge and meaning from interactions, experiences and ideas and that humans create meaning as opposed to acquire it.

When a course is designed with constructivism in mind, instructors must create engaging environments that grab the attention of the learner to gain knowledge and develop meaning for themselves.

Some factors that Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012), believe are important to include in a course are: student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction, like discussion groups, activity based strategies, assessment, and the use of multimedia (print, audio and video).

http://ocw.kaplan.edu/criminal-justice

I chose Kaplan University’s free online open courseware to preview. I am looking at the Forensic Biology and Impression Evidence course. While reviewing some of the Fundamentals of Teaching online, it is clear that very few if any of the guidelines are being met.

What is required?	Course Analysis
Organize the course and make the requirements clear to the students. (Simonson p. 134)	The course is organized and requirements are clear. There is not any detail to the assignments.
Pre-Planning	Distance education instructors often find that to be effective, they must acquire a different set of skills than they use in a traditional classroom.  For example, planning must be conducted in advance, materials must be made to conform to the standards of the technology being used, and lectures must be designed to be interactive enough to hold the students’ attention when they do not have an instructor directly in front of them.  (Smith, N. 2003).
Introduction	There is a welcome section that is sufficient. Resources and the plagiarism policy is listed.
Teacher and Student Interaction and Student to Student Interaction. Keep Students Informed (pg. 135)	Clearly stated on course content instructions is: This Open Courseware version is intended for autonomous learning and does not facilitate your involvement with an instructor or interaction with classmates. This does not meet the standards of effective online learning. There is not a discussion group for this course.
Syllabus:  The most important document the instructional designer can create for an online class is a syllabus (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2012).	There is not a syllabus for this course.
Objectives:  objectives should state the conditions under which learning should occur, the performance expected of the learner, and the standard to which the performance will be matched(Simonson)	While there are some objectives listed, they do not meet the criteria of distance learning. The objectives are clear, but the expectation of the learner is missing.  Example: What the student will learn. The role and responsibilities of the expert witness.
Technology Without technical assistance and properly trained instructors, even the best technology can prove almost worthless. (Smith, N. 2003).	This course does not use any technology other than the CMS. The CMS is easy to navigate but is not interactive.
Teaching strategies and Media.	Since there is not any instruction interaction, there are not any teaching strategies. The vocabulary words are simple root memory and do not meet the needs of the adult learner.
Learning Activities: Active learning means that the learners need to be involved in their own learning (Simonson et al., 2012). Extend course readings beyond the text.	While these are clearly stated, there is not any interaction. ·         Review the Key Terms ·         Read Chapter 1, "Introduction," and Chapter 2, "The Crime Scene," in Criminalistics ·         Review this unit's Additional Resources. ·         Respond to the Discussion questions ·         Take the quiz ·         In some sections there are additional resources for required reading.
Benefits of this course to the learner.	It may course credit at Kaplan University or meet the needs for certification or Professional Learning. It gives open access to material and information. It is self-paced.

Conclusion:

Adult learners need to control their learning experience. Open courseware opportunities all adults to gain knowledge for free at their own pace without any cost. Most of these courses do not meet the fundamentals of designing and teaching online. The course is not designed for multiple learning styles, or learner ability. There is very little if any use of technology. Where there is a learning potential in all open source courses, I decided not to continue in the course that I started. I was bored, lacked interest and motivation. Maybe this is the goal of the free program, to entice me to enroll in Kaplan University and take a different more interactive course.

References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvack, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5^th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Smith, N. (2003). Characteristics of successful adult distance instructors for adult learners. Inquiry, 8(1) Retrieved from http://www.vccaedu.org/inquiry/inquiry-spring2003/i-81-smith.html

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