Prepared for my students in Educ 638 Online Instruction, Fall 2013.

1. Technology Tools
for Distance
Education
Learning
Management Systems
Communication
Tools
Instructional
Materials
Dr. Minnie Ladores

2. Learning
Management
Systems
Online teachers deliver
instruction through
Learning Management
Systems.

3. Learning Management Systems
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software
application for the administration, documentation,
tracking, reporting, and delivery of e-learning education
courses or training programs. (Wikipedia)
An LMS is an integrated system which can include both
asynchronous and synchronous mechanisms to deliver
content, facilitate communication, tract student
progress, record grades, and document communcations.
Learners can access their courses throught he LMS
anytime or anywhere, as long as they have Internet
connection. (Rice, p48)

4. Edmodo
Moodle
Blackboard
Examples of
Learning
Management
Systems

5. Online teachers use an LMS to provide course materials and communicate with
students. LMS typically contains announcements, syllabus, instructor information,
course materials such as lessons or modules, a discussion board, resources, the
gradebook, and a place for submitting assignments.

6. Setting up Your Course
One of the first things online teachers do is to set up
their course site in an LMS. This is similar to setting
up a face-to-face classroom. You need to determine
what information needs to be provided, then
determine how and where these information will be
located. Basic information include announcements,
contact information, syllabus, lessons and assignments.
You also need to determine which tools to use, such as
the discussion board. Current LMS include tools for
individual journals, class blogs, and wikis you might
want to take advantage of in your class.

7. Set up your LMS course site with areas
equivalent to a traditional classroom setting.

8. Communication
Tools
Online teachers use
several tools for
communicating with
students.

9. Asynchronous
Communication
Email Discussion
Board
Asynchronous
communication is a
non-synchronous, two-
way communication in
which there is a time
delay between when a
message is sent and
when it is actually
received.

10. Asynchronous Communication occur most
commonly through email and discussion boards.
Advantages:
1. Allows for flexibility in time. The teacher
and student can communicate without
having to be online at the same time.
2. Allows for deeper thinking and
reflection. Students have time to think
about their responses, posting them
when they are ready.
Discussion boards are
often used to establish a
sense of community,
usually beginning with
self-introductions at the
beginning of a course.

11. Synchronous
Communication
Text-Based
Real-Time Chat
Web
Conference
Meetings in the
Virtual World
Synchronous
communication
between the teacher
and students occur at
the same time, albeit
through a distance.

12. Instant messaging (IM) is a type of online chat which
offers real-time text transmission over the Internet.
Short messages are typically transmitted bi-directionally
between two parties, when each user chooses to
complete a though and select “send.”
Mobile devices make
instant messaging
even more feasible
and convenient.
Instant Messaging
SMARTPHONE: Other teachers give their phone
numbers and allow students to send them
messages. This second type of communication
may be both synchronous (a teacher may find the
text and respond right away) or asynchronous (a
teacher may find the message at a later time of
day and respond at that point.)
COMPUTER: Some online teachers subscribe to Instant
Messaging programs such as Google Talk or Yahoo
Messenger and provide students with their usernames.
Students can then see if their teacher is online and
available to chat.

13. Web conferencing is a form of real-time communications
(RTC) in which multiple computer users, all connected to
the Internet, see the same screen at all ties in their web
browsers. Web conferencing systems often include
features such as texting, voice over Internet protocol
(VOIP), and full motion video. (Rouse, 2008)Web conferencing
programs allow
teachers and students
to communicate
in real time.
Web Conferencing
Web conferencing allows teachers and students to
meet live, hold academic discussions, make
presentations, and conduct demonstrations. Control
of the session can be passed among users so that any
attendee can act as the main presenter. In distance
education, these are more commonly referred to as
live sessions.

14. Examples of
Web Conferencing Programs

15. Multi-user virtual environments or virtual worlds are
three-dimensional online programs that allow users to
interact with each other as avatars in real time.
Some MUVEs have been used in education and are
referred to as multi-user learning environments
(MULEs). MULEs offer teachers and students a sense of
being together in a common location, such as a virtual
classroom.
In virtual worlds, teachers and students interact with
each other as avatars. These interactions, which
include texting and using voice, occur in simulations
such as a classroom or laboratory. Students are also
able to interact with virtual artifacts, often created
by the teacher, to explore and learn about concepts.
Virtual worlds allow
teachers and students
to interact
in real time.
Virtual Worlds

16. Some universities
create virtual
campuses for their
students, such as
Northwest Vista
College in San
Antonio, Texas. This is
the Virtual Educators’
Alliance building.
Sample Virtual World:
Second Life
There are universities that have created virtual
campuses on Second Life for the purpose of
supporting distance education students. These
include Vanderbilt University which created a
nursing simulation, NurSim4U.
Other universities include Harvard, MIT, Stanford,
University of Cincinnati, and Frostburg State
University, to name a few.

17. Tools for Creating
Instructional
Materials
Online teachers take time
to design and develop web-
based presentations and
other instructional
materials.

18. Presentation Tools
GoogleDrive
SlideRocketPrezi
SlideShare
There are awesome web-based presentation tools with great-looking
templates for creating visual aids for your students. I call this “candy-
coating” information as we try to make course content more attractive

19. Multimedia Software
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of
different content forms. This includes a combination of text, audio,
still images, animation, video, or interactive elements.
Animation
( e.g. Go
Animate!)
Video
creation
Podcasting /
Vodcasting
Screencasting
Interactive
Posters (e.g.
Glogster)

20. Web Authoring Software
You can create a web site to organize all course content on a topic, including
topic introductions, assignment guidelines, Internet resources, games, and
multimedia. Examples for this include WebQuests, Treasure Hunts,
Scavenger Hunts, and Topic Resource Web Sites. Here are my two favorite
web authoring. Start creating your own instructional web sites!
Weebly
Free and Easy Drag and Drop
Google Sites
If you can use MS Word, you can use this!

21. Tools for
Collaboration
Online teachers take time
to design and develop web-
based presentations and
other instructional
materials.

22. Tools for Collaboration
One way to encourage active learning is to have your students co-create a
course web site, contribute information, and collaborate with classmates in
putting together content materials. Two popular tools are blogs and wikis.
Wikispaces
Free and Easy to Learn
eBlogger
A Google App
Edublogs
A favorite among teachers
Tumblr
Fun for posting photos
and drawings

23. Tools for Sharing Resources
Encourage a sense of community among learners through networked
resource sharing web sites. These are more appropriate for adult learners.
PearlTrees
Organize your web sites and share
with others!
Pinterest
Have you created a board yet?

24. There are many
other tools, but I’ll
stop here for now.
Happy exploring!

25. References
 Rice, K. (2012). Making the move to K-12
online teaching: Research-based strategies
and practices. Pearson Publishing.
 Wikipedia
References for other web resources and
images, found through Google, to follow.