OTL 542 - Technology Guide for Distance and Digital Learning

Personal Reflection: Portfolio Project  This course has been a new, refreshing, challenging, and informative process compared to the other Organizational Learning classes in the past. As a working professional, I never knew of the technological tools that instructors and trainers have to help create better learning platforms for employees. In today’s society, we have the ability to train, instruct, communicate, and motivate our employees through social media, online videos, gamification, and through mobile technology. As a leader, knowing how to better motivate employees for success by enhancing training programs is an essential function of enhancing your bottom line. Although I felt confident in knowing most of these technological tools, I was able to learn how I can use them in the workplace. In addition, after creating my portfolio using a blog, I learned how to create a learning platform that I can share with others who are seeking to enhance their learning o...

Gamification Learning Guide: Elevate  Describe the Tool – Is a brain-training program designed to improve attention, learning, speaking skills, processing speed, memory, and math skills. The app is designed so that every user personalizes their program to improve brain function. Elevate is set up as a learning game. Since their launch in 2014, the Elevate app has been downloaded more than 15 million times from the App Store and Google Play (elevateapp.com). Mental health disorders and poor well-being have significant economic, social, and individual costs (medical). Therefore, it would be prudent for organizations to take steps to ensure that employee’s mental health is a priority (Wells, 2002). Effective Instruction – Elevate can be used to help employees develop and maintain their customized daily learning. The app has 35 games that focus on reading, writing, speaking, and math. For trainers, gamification apps like Elevate, can be used to help employees improve and ...

Gamification Learning Guide: ABC Mouse Describe the Tool – ABC Mouse Learning Academy is a company that provides fun and engaging learning activities for preschool – kindergarten children. ABC Mouse can be accessed through an app or their website. According to their website (abcmouse.com), their goal is to help children by providing a compressive and engaging online curriculum using the gamification. According to Alsawaier (2018), the use of gamification can provide a partial solution to decline in learner’s motivation that many face in traditional school settings. The purpose of the app is to keep learners motivated and interested in learning at an early age by creating fun and interactive games. Effective Instruction – The program is not free, therefore it is up to the expense of parents to see the value of having their children use the product at home. For the program to be effective, many parents buy the program and then modify the learning to match the learning th...

Gamification Learning Guide: Lexia Learning  Describe the Tool – Lexia Learning (lexialearning.com) is a personalized learning model that enables students to learn literacy by creating programs that motivates students in a game like environment to learn reading, language, and critical thinking skills. Teachers are using gamification in education to improve intrinsic motivation as well as engagement (Alabbasi, 2017). Students can learn at their own pace and instructors are able to follow their progress. Not only are students learning, but also they are being motivated because the programs are designed to be fun and interactive. Effective Instruction – Instructors can register their students for Lexia and thus monitor their progress through their computers or tablets. In addition, Lexia can be used in the classroom or at home. Lexia learning is a prime example of using gamification in the 21 st century due to the advancement of technology. Teachers are able to teach ba...

Mobile Learning Guide: YouTube Describe the Tool – YouTube is an application where users can upload and view content through videos that are posted to the site. It is also accessible through a tablet, mobile app, and website. Anyone with an internet connection can share, view, and upload therefore; they have access to an astonishing amount of information. Whatever learners are looking for on YouTube, you most likely will be able to find the information. It also allows viewers to create comment threads on one’s channel, user manage videos, and a counter to view who is watching videos (Pecay, 2017).   Effective Instruction - YouTube is frequently used by learners as a resource or supplementary material instead of traditional learning. According to Burgess & Green (2009), instructors are seeing the value of YouTube within instructional design as 80% of millennials actively interact over social media applications and YouTube. An example of 21 st century instruction ...

Mobile Learning Guide: Amazon Kindle Describe the Tool – Amazon Kindle is a device that allows you to purchase and download books, magazines, newspapers, and articles to your mobile device that holds up to 1,500 books. As a Kindle owner, you are able to use your device for educational and entertainment purposes. As electronic learning has become a phenomenon over the past few decades, physical texts such as books and articles are being phased out in favor for new technology like Kindle. Research from articles, books, and other publications are now available online and through mobile apps. Kindle is admired for its convenience and is a very innovative tool for learners due to its size and ability to share books and articles electronically with peers. In addition, instructors are able to download research directly to learners. Kindle is a handheld library that can be accessed in the car, beach, train, bus, and even the tub. Effective Instruction – To use Amazon Kindle for ...

Mobile Learning Guide: TED Talks Describe the Tool – TED talks (technology, entertainment, and design) are short, informational, and entertaining presentations given during TED conferences that originated in the 1980’s. However, due to the advances of the technology (most notably the internet), TED talks are now reaching two distinct audiences of conference attendees (live audience) and the second audience of viewers who can access TED talks online. TED talks are now accessible online, YouTube, websites, and mobile apps. Not only are TED talks valued for entertaining audiences, they are viewed as educational resources and a powerful way to convey an innovative idea to a giant global audience (Ludewig, 2017). Ted talks can be downloaded to your mobile device and are free of charge. Effective Instruction – As instructors and trainers look for ideas to instruct, they should be focusing on engaging, provoking, mentoring, and stimulating students to think creatively, and divergent...