Originally published to eBridge on Saturday 15
October 2011
I've been able to start off with some practical experience of online teaching this week at work, as I've just started a forum group in support of one of our management programs. There will be the usual face-to-face event at the end of it, but my colleagues are coming round to the idea of enhancing and extending the learning process through online interactions. I've started us off with some introductions, and one of my colleagues has found a couple of surveys for participants to take - hmm, seems a little similar to what we're doing at the moment! We're asking participants to state their own learning objectives from the program at this stage, so it's more learner-centric, and allows the people who will run the face-to-face component to tailor the activities if any particular objectives emerge.
From taking the first survey, I'm interested to see that although I have some preference for two of the styles, this isn't very pronounced. Some might say this is just lack of conviction, though I prefer to think of it as open-mindedness!
Reading through Stephenson (2001) has shown up some of the preconceived ideas that I've come across in the past, such as taking a standard lecture and putting it online. While these kinds of methods can be useful for convenience, they don't address the underlying limitations for learning that were there in the first place - if the lecture wasn't having an effect for face-to-face students, why should it do any good for online students? Broadcasting information is one of the functions for ICT, but (extended) communication is the newly emerging and critical function that should be of interest to educators. The use of asynchronous communication, perhaps originally thought of simply as a necessity for people who could not study by conventional means, has opened up new possibilities for engagement and interaction in learning.
References:
- Stephenson, J. (ed) (2001) Teaching and Learning Online: Pedagogies for New Technologies, Kogan Page, London
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Comments:
'The
use of asynchronous communication, perhaps originally thought of simply as a
necessity for people who could not study by conventional means, has opened up
new possibilities for engagement and interaction in learning.'
Yes, and, in fact, there is research evidence to show that there is really good quality of learning due to the depth of reflection that the time-scales allow.
Another strategy whch research has shown to have very positive effects on learning is actually Twitter .... though that operates mentally in perhaps the opposite way to forum discussions.
Enjoying your reflections. :-)
Reply:
Incidentally, I've just had a week of not using Twitter, think I was suffering from social media fatigue! But yes it can be great for getting conversations with people from around the world, I've taken part in the last two Real Workplace Learning discussions and they're very helpful. Could you point me at some of the research about reflection and depth of learning?
Yes, and, in fact, there is research evidence to show that there is really good quality of learning due to the depth of reflection that the time-scales allow.
Another strategy whch research has shown to have very positive effects on learning is actually Twitter .... though that operates mentally in perhaps the opposite way to forum discussions.
Enjoying your reflections. :-)
Reply:
Incidentally, I've just had a week of not using Twitter, think I was suffering from social media fatigue! But yes it can be great for getting conversations with people from around the world, I've taken part in the last two Real Workplace Learning discussions and they're very helpful. Could you point me at some of the research about reflection and depth of learning?
No comments:
Post a Comment