DISTED (The Center for Distributed Information, Support and Training for Education at a Distance) is a web-based electronic performance support system designed to empower practicing and potential educators on the systematic design, delivery and evaluation of interactive distance education. It contains six primary content areas including Who, What, Where, When, Why and How (Figure 1). The "How" section presents users with a series of tasks for developing an interactive distance course (Figure 2).DISTED also provides an integrated set of electronic resources (i.e. training, information, tools, guidance and communications) to help users complete each task.
For the past two years, the University of Houston--Clear Lake (UHCL) used a series of traditional workshops to train and empower faculty on the design and delivery of interactive distance education. The workshops covered each of the areas included in DISTED (noted above), but the information was delivered in an instructor-lead, group-paced format. This method, however, like many training programs, failed to address individual needs and interests, was not presented in a timely fashion, did not utilize the collective knowledge of distance educators at the University, and was not given at a time and location that was convenient for participants.
DISTED is designed for 3 basic types of corporate, k12, community college, and university educators: (1) educators who just want to gain some skills related to and/or knowledge of IDE, (2) educators who must design a distance course and are given resources to do so by the University; and (3) potential or registered students seeking graduate coursework.
The interface object supports performance by: (1) presenting users with a series of tasks for designing a unit of distance instruction; (2) providing direct access to a variety of resources to facilitate task completion; and (3) facilitating communications between the subject matter expert (instructor) and course developers, or student and the instructor. This will increase the effectiveness and the efficiency or rate in which educators can develop quality IDE courses by providing access to the most appropriate type of resource(s) necessary to perform (i.e., examples of what others have done, performance criteria, training, information, tools and/or communication links to experts relative to the task) at the moment of need, rather than forcing everyone through training that they may not need at an inconvenient or inappropriate time or location. DISTED also eliminates the need for a trainer and utilizes the distributed intelligence of those interacting with the system by capturing, organizing and storing their work for preview by other system users.
Figure 1
For example, a faculty member at UHCL must prepare a course for distance delivery. S/he would be assigned a team of course developers by UHCL to assist in the development of the course and directions for utilizing DISTED. S/he logs on the system and selects "How Do You Design Distance Education. Note: The system is also designed so that if users already knows s/he needs training, information, tools, guidance or communications to perform, s/he can go directly to that resource by selecting the appropriate category from the DISTED Electronic Support Menu (see top left-hand corner).
Figure 2
User wants to generate an instructional strategy for their unit of distance instruction. S/he selects appropriate task to be completed.
Figure 3
User presented with task. At this point, s/he may choose to: (1) complete the task; (2) see what "Others" have done relative to the task; (3) review performance "Criteria" for that task; or (4) assess task specific "Training," "Tools," "Information," or "Communications." When user completes tasks, his/her completed product would be sent directly to the design team leader by selecting "Submit". If the user was a graduate student, his/her product would be sent directly to the instructor and if the user was a guest, his/her work would go to the assignment database.
Figure 4
If the user selects "Others," s/he will be presented with database of examples of what other users before him/her have done relative to the task. If s/he selects "Criteria," she will be presented with a list of performance criteria relative to the task.
Figure 5
If the user selects training, s/he will be presented with a unit of instruction for that task which includes a series of instructional events to facilitate learning such as objectives, pre-requisite skills, information, demonstrations, activities, self-tests, etc. If the user selects "Information," s/he will be presented with a synthesis of key information found in the training module, examples of completed tasks, and/or a list of FAQ's relative to that task. Similarly, if the user selects "Tools" or "Communications," s/he will be presented with tools (e.g., templates, software applications, and job-aides for completing the task) or a set of communication links (e.g., e-mail, listservs) to people who may be able to answer questions relative to task completion.
