Re-reading some of the older posts from this Term, I came across a blog post by David. I have often missed David's posts, as they don't come up in my Feedly feed like student posts do. I have to deliberately go into David's posts by clicking on his name in the blog list. It was interesting to reflect on this post as it was written in early August. Since then, even more students have withdrawn from EDU8117, leaving just 5 of us in the 2016 class. So, in view of the statement below, there are some obvious reasons why students in the 2016 class have questioned why they have missed out on marks for links to student blogs from previous semesters. With fewer participants, there is a good chance that the interaction traffic is slower, so students this year may have felt compelled to look at previous year's blogs for stimulus. In 2014, there were 17 active students in the course; in 2015, there were 10 participants. As mentioned above, there are 5 in 2016. It would be a shame to see this course disappear, as it has so much meaning for the future of teaching and learning. Interestingly, this has only become an issue this year. Only this year have students been asking why they missed out on marks for links to other (“old”) student posts. Leaving aside why it’s only started this year, this post documents the move to valuing the residue of experience. I think students will always prefer to interact with other students in the "here and now", whether it be online or face-to-face. Interacting with a post, where there is little chance of a response, has limited appeal. It has a somewhat "creepy" feel; but I can understand how in the absence of course participation and interaction, "residual experience" provides a substitute. Therefore, these older links should be considered in the same way as an interaction with a current student's post. References Valuing the residue of experience a bit more. (2016). The Weblog of (a) David Jones. Retrieved from https://davidtjones.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/valuing-the- residue-of-experience-a-bit-more/
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Hi Brigitte, Miranda, Adam, Angela I'm wondering if anyone would like to get together during the week to discuss the up coming assignment. I know it would be difficult for you Adam, with the difference in time zones. I have come across a very easy video-conferencing tool called appear.in. It looks quite simple to use and doesn't require any login. References Appear.in. (2016) Create a room and invite up to eight people. Retrieved from https://appear.in/ This week I have been roughly planning my three formal posts for Part B, Assignment 1; and feeling like I wanted to discuss my responses with other students. Then, I read Miranda's "Pros and cons of online education", and realised that possibly everyone was feeling this way. Miranda posed some very relevant questions- one of which was: I wonder if people will always seek to meet when enrolled in massive online courses? My initial response was "yes", people will naturally want to meet face-to-face - or at least - utilise a similar medium for this purpose (E.G. Collaborate, Zoom). But, was this really the case? Do all students feel the need to connect face-to-face? I have found this course somewhat chaotic, with many concepts and theories presented in a non-intuitive order (from my perspective only). I have completed other courses, where I haven't had trouble following the learning; and in these courses, I haven't felt a strong need to connect face-to-face. Perhaps one of the learnings of this course is that students need to develop the skill to articulate their thoughts and interact more directly through the written word, because interacting face-to-face may not always be an option. This raises the question of how students with different learning styles/preferences cope with networked learning. I imagine that students with a strong read/write learning preference would be comfortable in the networked learning environment; however, if this style of learning is the future, every student will need to develop the skills to take part. Otherwise, they may limit their opportunity to learn. In my last course, I chose to concentrate on examining how students with different learning styles/preferences can adapt to the online environment. The VARK Model, chosen because of it popularity in the Higher Education sector, has four learning styles (Fleming,1995): Visual (V) - prefers to absorb information in graphic form (diagrams, charts, images). They also use colour and layout to understand and learn. Auditory (A) - prefers to have things explained verbally, rather than read and explore things by themselves Read/Write (R) - prefers to absorb knowledge by reading about it and making notes, lists and reflections. Kinesthetic (K) - prefers to actively “do” things to learn. They enjoy practical learning activities (group work, role play, discussion, debate). * Multimodal (MM) - possess a strong preference for two or more of the four learning styles By understanding the influence of learning styles/preferences you can: - adapt your learning style to match the course activities - modify the learning activities to match your style. Ideally, learners need to be aware of other learning styles/preferences so as to develop a mixed method approach. This approach can help learners to adapt to different learning experiences and increase participation levels (Bhagat, Vyas, & Singh, 2015). I think our group is attempting to do this - adapt to the learning environment. Each week, the posts reveal a little more about the participants; and the sharing of similar experiences by participants is beginning to build a sense of connection. What do you all think? References Bhagat, A., Vyas, R., & Singh, T. (2015). Students awareness of learning styles and their perceptions to a mixed method approach for learning. International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 5(suppl 1), 58-65. doi:10.4103/2229- 516x.162281 Fleming, N.D. (1995). I'm different, not dumb. Modes of presentation(VARK) in the tertiary classroom. In Proceedings of the 1995 Annual Conference of the Higher Education and Research Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA). 18, 308- 313. Pros and cons of online education. (2016). Global Education Matters. Retrieved from http://www.globaledmatters.com/pros-and-cons-of-online-education/ VARK. (2016). The VARK Questionnaire. Retrieved from http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/ Click on this link to take the quiz (Vark Learning, 2016): Adam's post "An end to meaningless jobs" raises some very practical issues around the future job design of educators. Adam cites Rotman (2013), who suggested there may be a future workforce with higher productivity, but lower job prospects. Having taught for 30 years in secondary schools and tertiary institutions, I guess I could say I am in the twilight of my career. And, although I intend to teach for quite a few years to come, I recognise that I won't be as affected by future developments (long-term) in the same way as younger educators. The uncertainty of the future workforce is not restricted to the education field; I know through my own children (all in the 20's), the workforce of the future is not as predictable and concrete as it has been for past generations. However, young teachers like Adam, do face a future that is vastly different to any change faced during my teaching years. By the very fact that Adam is involved in this program, demonstrates that Adam is facing this prospect head on, not only in relation to his own development as a teacher, but in the way Adam feels compelled to "to prepare students for a future economy that no one is able to predict accurately". One point that Adam makes is that fewer educators may be needed to teach larger numbers of students. Perhaps though, what will also change, is the job design of the educator. Already, the trend is to see online educators as facilitators. What else could they do? What other roles could they perform? Will education need more course designers? Online mentors? Forum Coordinators? Activity analysts? What about Brigitte's job as an educational designer? We don't have that specific job role at our institution, but since becoming aware of that role, I definitely see the value of a role such as that. I guess I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can be; there is one thing we can always depend on- and that is - Change! The role of the educator will change with the rise of networked learning, but the nature of the assistance needed to successfully facilitate learning may be more complex. This can be seen as an opportunity, rather than a threat. References An end to meaningless jobs. (2016). Adam does NGL. Retrieved from https://adamngl.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/an-end-to-meaningless-jobs/ Echo chamber for your own predication. (2016). Bee Learning Blog. Retrieved from https://beelearningblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/21/echo-chamber-for- your-own-predilections/ I am very quickly posting this, so I will discuss the content and ideas later. This is a presentation by Manuel Lima, which I found on a blog I prescribe to- Brain Pickings. It is represents a "lightbulb" moment for me. Enjoy! References Lima, Manuel. (2016). The power of networks: Knowledge in an age of infinite interconnectedness. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=_0LVSIwifpI I sometimes wonder about whether I am a technology 'dinosaur', as I prefer personal interaction and direct feedback; but, after opening an email from studydesk, giving my EDU8117 - 1st draft automated analysis for Assignment 1, I feel somewhat justified in my skepticism.
My report revealed: You had a total of 0 posts that meets the Missing standard (0%) - less than 10 posts * Your average post length was 0.0 words per post that meets the missing standard (0%) * 0% of your posts had links to other student blogs that meets the missing standard (0%) * 0.0% of your posts contained links that meets the missing standard (0%) * 0.0% of your links were seen first on your blog missing standard (0%) The design of this course could be improved by incorporating some of the principles of effective online learning. According to Gilly Salmon’s online teaching model, there are five (5) essential stages: Access and Motivation, Online socialisation, Information exchange, Knowledge construction, and Development. Five Stage Model Source: (Salmon, 2003)
I feel that the second stage was not included in the course design, so building a Community of Practice has been problematic. Short, simple, course-required tasks might ensure the participants engage early, and build some connections to enable better participation and sharing of experiences.Then, in the second half of the course, students may feel better equipped to independently enter the global learning network. References Salmon, G. (2003). The Five Stage Model. Retrieved from http://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html My approach could be improved by accepting that there will be a period of time at the beginning of any new learning experience, where I won’t feel totally in control or absolutely across all the content. At first, in this course, I felt quite overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of the material – and unfortunately the small size of the cohort and general lack of interaction between participants – has not resulted in clarity of some core NGL concepts. I've mostly waded through the material feeling rather isolated and disconnected. Ultimately though, we all are responsible for our own learning; so, this week, I have decided to venture outside the course to seek interaction related to network learning. Perhaps, I should have reached out earlier in the course to make sense of the the material; but, I kept waiting and relying on others for learning opportunities that are provided in the more traditional classroom. This course does not conform to that model, so I need to be more exploratory and wander through the wider network. Update to this post I am now following these experts in the field of network learning: David Cormier : http://davecormier.com/ Stephen Downes: http://www.downes.ca/ Peter Goodyear: https://petergoodyear.net/blog-posts/ George Siemens: http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/ References Cormier, D. (2016). Dave's Educational Blog: Building a better Rhizome. Retrieved from http://davecormier.com/ Downes, S. (2016). Knowledge, Learning, Community. Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/ Goodyear, P. (2016). Peter Goodyear. Research on Learning, Technology and Design. Retrieved from https://petergoodyear.net/blog-posts/ Siemens, G. (2016). E-learn space. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/ |