<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Message</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3086" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style="MARGIN: 4px 4px 1px; FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><SPAN class=156010721-27062007>Thanks! My point of course was if
a "highly educated" (MA in Educational Technology) "technologically
literate" and "highly motivated" user can run into such frustrating online
experiences to the point of wanting to give up on a course, than of course, how
much more challenging the same issues would be for individuals with less
technological literacy, language skills or motivation.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=156010721-27062007>Barry</SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>-----Original
Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> technology-bounces@nifl.gov
[mailto:technology-bounces@nifl.gov] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Melinda
Hefner<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:10 PM<BR><B>To:</B> The
Technology and Literacy Discussion List<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Technology 1146]
Re: pre assessments for online learning<BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Barry, here is a cyberhug for you. You, unfortunately, are a
victim of..........................poor instructional technology
design!!!!!! Many schools hire tech folks who have no background or
knowledge in instructional technology so they help the instructors with
technical issues but have no idea about sound instructional design practices
for online learning. Your "clicking in circles" is all too common of an
experience for dl learners. Once again, institutions need to invest
upfront and hire instructional technologists who can work with subject matter
experts.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Melinda M. Hefner<BR>Director, Literacy Support Services</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Basic Skills Department<BR>Caldwell Community College and Technical
Institute<BR>2855 Hickory Blvd.<BR>Hudson, North Carolina
28638<BR>Office: (828) 726-2245<BR>FAX: (828)
726-2266</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>>>> "Bakin, Barry" <barry.bakin@lausd.net> 06/27/07
1:11 PM >>><BR></DIV>
<DIV>"Blackboard, WebCT, Campus Cruiser, homegrown content and learning
delivery systems , etc. generally offer tutorial information, but all too
often educational institutions merely regurgitate the tutorial
information. Presenting information does not mean that learning has
taken place. I've heard too many times from the IT folks, "Why don't
they know how to use Blackboard? We offer workshops each
semester.""<BR><BR>It's not just understanding how to use the basic tools and
features of a delivery system. Course developers and creators can create
extremely confusing and frustrating courses. I have found myself
"Clicking in Circles" trying to find a particular handout to download for the
particular assignment I'm supposed to be working on on a particular day. You
click on the course outline link and then on the explanation for the day and
then on the calendar and then on the discussion forum, and then on and so on
and so forth until you find a link to the handout which was actually never
uploaded to the server so you can't download it anyway! You send an
email to the instructor and 4 days later you get a reply saying it works fine
on their computer! etc...<BR><BR>Barry Bakin<BR>ESL Teacher
Adviser<BR>Division of Adult and Career Education<BR>Los Angeles Unified
School
District<BR><BR><BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------<BR>National
Institute for Literacy<BR>Technology and Literacy mailing
list<BR>Technology@nifl.gov<BR>To unsubscribe or change your subscription
settings, please go to <A
href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology</A><BR>Email
delivered to mhefner@cccti.edu<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>