Open Course Review

Alison.com

Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?

Alison.com provides free online courses. The site allows you to take tests at the end of each course and obtain certifications. The free site is pre-planned and designed for distance learning. The environment seems very inviting and right from the beginning, gives several pictures of course work categories.  Each of the navigation tabs as well as the category of classes are easily manageable; a simple click on the picture leads to the area of courses that are offered under that sub-category. The site makes it easy for anyone to take a course, take a test and obtain certification for free. Choose from 300 Free Online Courses with Certification at Certificate or Diploma level. Study our interactive training courses at your pace, for home or work.

 Another positive aspect of the site is that finding course work is made easy. You can get to the course you want in several ways. Each category will take you to courses within that category. For example the personal development category will have classes such as, customer service, digital photography, and music theory. Lets say you decided then that those courses were not what you were looking to learn, you could go to the bottom of the page and find tabs like search courses, full course list, and browse by subjects. On the same page you will be able to see the navigation bar that appears below. This bar is another way of naviating through the site to find courses that fit your needs.

Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?

There are many differences between online open courses and online universities. However, there is one thing that is true that they are both learner-centered. Alison.com does follow the recommendations for online instruction. Alison.com is learner-centered. It produces learning, elicits student discovery and construction of kowledge, the site creates powerful learning enviornments, learning is held constant, it specifies learning results. The success of its clientel is determined by demonstrated knowledge and skills. Learning is student centered and controlled. The requirement to learn is an active student, however there is no real need for an active teacher. Learning environments are cooperative, individualistic, collaborative, and supportive. Faculty are primarily designers of learning methods and enviornments. And, faculty and students work in teams with each other (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).

Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

From the look of this site is seems as if there are numerous course designers that implement the course work and the course activities. The planning for this site shows in the development of it. There are many topics to choose from, depending on what skill set you want to learn. Course activities that have been implemented on this site have maximized active learning. One example of this is being able to get your course in another language, taking tests on the spot, and being certified. The site allows you to create a forum to join, and create training groups. This proves the site is not only packed with information but also with creativity and interaction. Passing a test and becoming certified in any of the courses offered is enough motivation for the client to remain a student of Alison.com.

References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S., 2009. Teaching and Learning at a Distance. Foundations of Distance Education. Boston, MA. Pearson.