Solved: Evolution of Instructional Technologies

Assignment :Explore the evolution of distance education technology. Deliver a paper on the evolution of distance nursing education for pre-licensure and continuing education. Include at least 5-8 peer-reviewed references which may include governmental sources. Due: Monday, 11:59 pm PT

Format: APA Style References: Eight peer-reviewed or governmental sources There are countless applications, programs, websites, and tools available today to help the educator prepare and delivery a learning program and to help the learner accomplish their objectives.

Finding, evaluating, and using these resources is a skill for the nurse educator in the 21st century. Commercial programs are available for a fee that accomplish most of the computer-based needs of the educator or learner.

One of the most widely used packages of software is the Office Suite by Microsoft which includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Microsoft OneDrive technology includes a family membership of accounts with 1 terabyte of cloud storage and downloaded versions of all of their Office products for each member of a family of 5 at $99 per year (2018 pricing).

Educators constantly have to copy and mark-up content from the web. Snag-It is one of the most helpful programs available for the educator to clip and edit screenshots and videos easily. Adobe makes a suite of software programs that is extremely popular. These involve additional costs for educators and learners.

Open-source software is frequently available that does exactly the same jobs as commercially available products. Firefox is an example of open-source software. Most open-source software is managed by an organization which makes the actual code of the product available to the public to review, edit, change and distribute. Some of the most reliable software available is open-source and the best attribute is that it is usually free to use.

Moodle is a widely used learning management system and is open-source. Apache OpenOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office products. These technologies are evolving and the future is wide open. Just as the entire smartphone industry was possible by the Nobel prize-winning invention of the white LED light, it only takes one technological advance to change the face of the future.