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Abstract
Patricia Beers Block have compiled the assignment, Dorita Bekker, Shaneek Celedon,
Spencer Chambers, Reece Chekan. Patricia and Shaneek worked on the ingredient sheet, Patricia
completed the spreadsheet, while Reece did the Power Point voice section. The Word document,
in which, they give a full description of the course and the justification of selected media was
completed by Spencer, Dorita and Shaneek. The group managed to complete the project through
Narrative
UNC is a State University that has decided to implement a distance education course as a
part of an overall strategy of the university to become a dual mode university offering complete
programs online. Distance education is seen as a cost effective way to reach a broader range of
students both traditional and non-traditional. The pilot course will be an introductory course
Organizational Structure
The organization is that of Dual Mode Institution. This program will serve as the distance
education and e-learning department of UNC State University. There will be an academic chair
of the department who will oversee the overall program. Under the chair, there will be
The use of Social media in distance education promotes learner engagement, cognitive and
meta- cognitive learning skills such as reflection, critical thinking, and construction of
gives students the opportunity to engage in and outside the learning environment
Our organization chose Moodle as our LMS because of its ease of use, its open source and it is
fully compatible with mobile devices. Moodle stands for modular object-oriented dynamic
learning environment, and it allows for extending and tailoring learning environments using
community sourced plugins. It can be used for blended learning, distance education, flipped
classroom and other e-learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors.
Mobile Access
According to studies cited in Docebos 2014 report on trends in distances education, mobile
technology will occupy over 70% of the technology used by 2017. (Docebo, p.5 2014). In order
to prepare for this our organization will select and implement an LMS which is fully accessible
Methodology.
Our organization chose to use a combination of methodology and pedagogy in order to create a
learn centered program that provides excellent student support , lowers dropout rates and
produce acceptable learner outcomes .The approach is at its core constructivist which mean the
Narrative, Course Description, and Justification for Social Media 3
objectives are organized to allow learners to contribute to the development of knowledge. The
design of the course will be based on the following three pedagogical principles proposed by
Powers: The first is course planning which occurs before course delivery. Secondly teaching and
learning support that happens throughout course delivery. The third and final principles if based
The inclusion of discussion into our course, serves a multiple purpose. This discussion form also
part of the assessment and student are encouraged to participate. One of the main purposes of the
Discussion board is to encourage an inter- active exchange among students and instructors. It
enables students to ask clarifying questions, to give feedback, to compel students to think
critically and to hone persuasion skills. It adds variety to the program which can become
monotonous with it relying on videos, online readings and evaluated requirements. Most DE
students enjoy the interaction with others and the personal connection enhances the educational
experience. Students can now demonstrate that they mastered the content and in many cases it
compensates for those who did not do well in the assignments .Asynchronous online discussions
lend themselves to giving everyone the opportunity to have their say and to post it. Student also
share links to relevant and interesting sites and even the introvert can have input since there is no
crowd present.
With every student that drops out, there is the added cost of the negative feedback students will
give in regards to the institution, in addition, losing students and having to aggressively recruit to
compensate is costly in terms of direct cost as well as increased cost over the life of the program.
Having a strong student support system is probably the most important aspect of distance
education
What counselling and/or mentoring will learners need to succeed? How will learners get
feedback (particularly on skills development)? How will learners relate to other learners so they
Assessments
Our organization proposes implementing detail assessments for learners at the beginning of the
course. Based on these assessments, instructors will work with leaners to develop individual
skill development plans. This will help insure that the learners that need the most guided
instruction will receive it. As the learner develops his or her skills the less guided instruction is
need and learners can engage and develop in a way that will allow them to participate in a more
constructivist model of learning. This will have a huge effect on the confidence of the learner
Learner Feedback
Narrative, Course Description, and Justification for Social Media 5
I believe learners should get consistent feedback based on the needs of that individual which is
delivered in a constructive manner with intention of retaining as many learners as possible. This
can be done by engaging each learner and intervening in any areas that may cost the learner to
drop out.
Learner Interaction.
In order to develop and active learning environment, I will create discussion boards so students
can discuss topics and share their ideas. I will assign various group projects in order to foster
collaborative learning.
Learner Support
learners. In addition to the fact that teaching and learning is done at a distance, cultural
differences and learning styles makes it important to have mechanisms in place to effectively
support learners and insure they feel they are being supported by the instructor, staff and the
institution . I believe online learning should be done in collaborative way in which learners and
The most important objective of the program evaluation process is to ensure the objectives of the
program align with learner outcomes and the learners ability to achieve them. (Stravredes &
Narrative, Course Description, and Justification for Social Media 6
Herder, 2014). In addition, a student survey should be completed at the end of the course to
American credit points corresponds to 150 SLH. Since credits are intended as measures of
effective learning we could regard to some extent cost per student learning hour as a cost-
effectiveness proxy. (Assuming we develop two versions of a 150 SLH course, one as a low cost
print version, one as high cost multi-media course and students are equally successful we would
say that the print version is more cost-effective than the multi-media version.) Specifying course
credits in terms of student learning hours (SLH) is becoming increasingly common. For distance
learners, who often study part time, such notional required learning time may be important for
their choice of courses. Moreover, it provides a reference point for the course developers, e.g.
when determining the amount of reading to be expected. If you tell students that they can
successfully complete the course if they invest ten hours per week, then you need to carefully
Narrative, Course Description, and Justification for Social Media 7
control the amount of reading, the time for completing the assignments and, possibly, the time
Course
This course is developed by a course team comprised of UNC faculty that has training in online
education. In addition, Instructional Designers ((ID) who will serve as course managers will be
employed in order assist faculty and staff develop and deliver the course in online environment.
The development team will use Moodle, an open sourced Learning Management System (LMS)
to deliver the course. This is seen as cost effective and has the potential to form the foundation of
a full online program. The team has decided to populate the SLH with different activities.
Course Cost
Management cost
The cost includes administrative and ongoing course management issues such and issuing
contract in time. The cost amounts to 0.5 of an annual salary of course manager at $70,000. And
The period of development extends over one year. Three groups of people in development in
Management
Narrative, Course Description, and Justification for Social Media 8
There is one responsible course manager who invests a fifth of his/her time for the course during
the year of development: the manager is supported by a personal assistant who works 0.8 of
Material development
The following items must be developed: Course Learning Management System (LMS), 6
YouTube videos, social media (Facebook Twitter) content development & implementation
syllabus, discussion prompts for online assignments. One Essay assignment, e-portfolio, learning
journal, one collaborative assignment. Note 1 hour academic time is rated as 30 USDF whereas 1
hour professional time is rated at 20 USD. 1 hour IT time is rated as 100 USD.
(1) For the development of the LMS is assumed 50 hours academic time; 10 hours
(2) The YouTube videos require 20 hours academic time; 10 hours professional time; 6 hours
IT time.
Maintenance cost: Money is set aside for course maintenance. It is assumed that 29 hours of
academic time will be needed but only 5 hours of professional time will be needed
Delivery Cost
The major cost of delivery is the academic time required for LMS Social Media and online
discussions. It is estimated 150 of academic time is needed. However, not this cost is a semi-
variable cost. Since the outcome of the calculation here should be the variable cost per student
the semi variable cost have to be distributed over the number of students participating in the
Marking assignments: The types of assignments that have to be marked: one essay .5 hours one
spreadsheet .666 hours. Collaborative assignment .5 hours However, there are 5 participants in
the group so the academic time for collaborative assignment in 2.5/.5. This means a contribution