Respond to this with 250 and 3 citations and ask a question: The role technology plays in the growth and development of the online learning environment, is evident in the diverse ways students can now

Respond to this with 250 and 3 citations and ask a question:

The role technology plays in the growth and development of the online learning environment, is evident in the diverse ways students can now obtain information. However, with this growth, it is important that educators encourage and ensure that the information being taught is being presented in manner that will inspire meaningful learning. Meaningful learning in an online environment, can be learning that is deliberate, practical, productive and engaging, that embraces collaborative within the learning platform (Dabbagh, Marra & Howland, 2019). 

As course designers, it is important that collaboration is done with subject matter experts to ensure that the content is organized in a manner that is appealing to the learner, despite the learning style of the individual. There must be value and quality in the content that is being used, so course designers must consider how students will reciprocate the information and how any technologically enhanced activities being included, will enhance learning (Hamilton & Tee, 2016) and improve the transfer of knowledge. Factors such as aligning the content and learning activities to the industry standards is imperative to the success of the course and should be a part of the decision-making process. Ethical decision-making is essential when considering the use of resources that can enhance the learning environment but can go against or are not considered essential to organizational policies. Hence, understanding the organizational policies and the role it plays in the design process is necessary, because not considering these factors can impact the type of learning and the intent of the content.  

The inclusion of varied technological resources can create innovative activities that can increase and improve performance and learning outcomes. Designers can develop the learning environment so that students with disabilities for instance, can utilize the same resources as students without, by ensuring the environment is compliant with ADA standards. Therefore, the decision-making process is one that must be detailed so that it considers all possible learning styles of the intended target audience, as all learners engage and react differently to learning activities (Johnson et. al, 2017). Developing an online course can be exciting and challenging at the same time, but courses must align to industry standards such as Quality Matters in areas such as objectives and assessment among others (Dabbagh, Marra & Howland, 2019). Hence the use of rubrics for example, that align with course objectives can help both designers and instructors monitor the performance of students and will impact the decision-making process when changes need to be made. Recently I attended a meeting with professors who are being trained on assessment measures and how to align their rubrics to meet specific learning objectives. This has now impacted their outlook on how course objectives can be measured in conjunction with the outcomes of the course. 

References

Dabbagh, N. Marra, R., & Howland, J. (2019). Meaningful online learning: Integrating strategies, activities and learning technologies for effective designs. Routledge

Hamilton, J., & Tee, S. (2016). The cone-of-learning: a visual comparison of learning systems. TQM Journal, 28(1), 21-39. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1752996821?accountid=35796

Johnson, C., Hill, L., Lock, J., Altowairiki, N., Ostrowski, C., Luciano da Rosa, d. S., & Liu, Y. (2017). Using Design-Based Research to Develop Meaningful Online Discussions in Undergraduate Field Experience Courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(6) https://search.proquest.com/docview/1970516020?accountid=35796