1. Review your group's (r)evolutionary grid. What are your thoughts about the grid as a learning tool and the process used to create the grid?
The group grid was an outstanding learning tool for better understanding the evolution of distance education from many specific aspects including larger context, theories/ways of understanding, institutional/organizational developments/system, teacher/student learning methodologies and predominant technologies. This particular group project enabled everyone to reflect on the valuable readings we were provided and apply that information accordingly to the different wave sections and summaries. Our final group grid consisted of 25 pages which is a little long. However, I believe it demonstrates that we truly read provided and recommended articles and understood them as well. Given our received grade of excellence for the group grid, I am confident that I, and others in group two, can easily use it as a reference in the future as a guide and continue to add to it as we power through our distance education journey. In my past experience with group projects, communication was solely through a discussion thread and everyone worked separately while delegating one leader to combine all of the information into one document. I found the old way of completing group projects to be time-consuming and de-motivating and even contributing to more room for error. I had never used Google Docs to complete a group project until now, but found Google Docs to be extremely helpful in our groups communication, collaboration, and completion with the project. I will most certainly use Google Docs for future projects as well if given the choice. Also, the group grid was an excellent learning tool for enabling everyone to gain or build upon skills such as group collaboration, creativity, communication, attention-to-detail, problem-solving, leadership, and more. Overall, the group grid on the evolution of distance education was helpful to my distance education learning journey, introduced a new and effective way of completing group projects, and also helpful for enhancing skills that will benefit me as I continue my distance education learning journey and even afterwards as well. 2. Go back to your original definition of DE. What aspects of the course have influenced your understanding of DE? Based on what you have learned in the course, revise your original definition accordingly---and explain why you have changed (or not changed) your definition in the way you have. My original definition of distance education was that it was an online learning environment in which students and teachers can virtually collaborate academically through the use of technology without restrictions of social, financial, geographic, and professional commitments. At the very beginning of this class, my own understanding of distance education was solely based on my own experience as a distance education student. For example, I experienced distance education as a student who joined the military to afford college through the GI Bill, the first in my family to attend and complete college, a military spouse who moves every few years, and takes classes through my computer and the internet. Now that this class is coming to an end, I would certainly revise my original definition to reflect my newfound knowledge of distance education. First, even though the most common type of distance education we know today is offered online, I would change my definition to reflect both a historical and current aspect learned throughout this class that distance education has not always been and is still not exclusively online (Peters, 2004). Second, I would change my definition to reflect one of my most current findings regarding the theory and practice of heutagogy that distance education is a learning environment that demands and encourages learner autonomy, targets adult learners that normally have a higher level of experience and maturity, and utilizes advanced technologies to support a self-determined path of learning (Blaschke, 2012, p. 62). This seems to be a more accurate way of describing my previous understandings of the student profile, learning skills, and technologies applicable in distance education. After reflecting on all of the readings, assignments, and discussions, it would be a challenge to briefly define and describe distance education in just a few sentences since my understanding of it has expanded so much. 3. Consider the overall course objectives (see the Course Syllabus). Were all or most of these objectives achieved? If so, in what ways and to what degree? Throughout this entire course, I believe I have met all ten of the objectives. Knowledge: From the readings, essays, discussions, and group grids, I have: identified the unique characteristics of distance education (e.g. history, theories, types of institutions and learning, etc.), described the major influences in the evolution of DE (e.g. social, economic, political, and DE in developed and underdeveloped countries), important authors and scholars (e.g. Anderson/Interaction Equivalency, Bates, Blaschke, Holmberg/Didactic Interaction, Kentnor, Moore/Transactional Distance, Peters/Industrialization, Siemens/Connectivism, etc.), described the evolution of DE methodologies (teacher/learner roles: behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist, connectivist, Net-Based asynchronous and synchronous, etc.), described various types of distance education institutions and their relevance in DE (e.g. single, dual, open, etc.), and analyzed the impact of technological changes on teaching and learning in DE (From Paper and mail to computer and internet, etc.). Skills: From the readings, essays, discussions, social media assignments, and group grids, I have: navigated and used an online learning environment, shared virtual spaces, and social media for the purpose of learning, documenting learning, and creating content (e.g. Twitter, Google Docs, Mind Map, Learning Journal Reflections on Weebly, ScoopIt!, and Vimeo, etc.), mastered and applied research and writing skills for critically analyzing issues and topics (e.g Essay Assignments, Group Grid, etc.), learned collaboratively by using social media and other shared virtual spaces to create content and succesfully complete assigned team projects (Google Docs for Group Grid, Twitter and ScoopIt for Social Media), and reflected on learning and articulated changes in thinking, feeling, and behavior (all assignments, but mostly through discussions and learning journal reflections). 4. Take some time to reflect on your study group experience: What did you think about the experience of working together to create a collaborative document? What worked? What did not? What could your group have improved in order to realize a more smooth process? What do you see as benefits (or drawbacks) of online collaboration? How do you think the activity could be improved? Working together to create a collaborative document, the group grid of the evolution of distance education, in Google Docs was a fun and challenging assignment. Before this assignment, I had only worked in groups through email and Microsoft Word in which everyone would type in different documents and the leader would have to put all of the different documents into one. Through just those tools alone, working collaboratively as a group was not as easy since everyone couldn't work within the same document at the same time. However, the Google Docs tools used in this assignment allows groups to work on the same project at the same time and everyone can see each other's progress, edit, and chat all in one online tool. That being said, Google Docs really helped our team work best collaboratively. The group assignment was also motivating because it brought everyone together to work on the assignment giving us a sense of connection rather than isolation on the other end of the computer. Also, the deadlines for the waves in the group grid were well-spaced and separated into two skill builders which was very helpful in the group learning about our strengths and weakness and learning what worked and what didn’t for the second time around and how everyone could contribute best for a more successful project completion. The only downfall to group work in this assignment was that a few team members did not complete their tasks by the deadline and some tasks completed need considerable review and editing while others worked consistently and extremely hard. Since part of the submission of the group assignment is only writing about our own contributions to the group project without regard for how we felt about others' contributions, I do not feel the grading of the project can be as accurate and fair because others might not truthfully write about their contributions or lack thereof to the group. However, that is a minor drawback because I realize professors have to consider time, the weight of the assignment, and the number of other assignments and students when deciding how to grade a group project in regards to reflections. Regardless, I have learned that group projects can be challenging and rewarding and how important self-reflection is for recognizing personal and professional growth from assignments.
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Module 5: Quality Teaching in a Digital AgeAccording to Bates (2015), the digital age of today requires a more flexible systems approach to distance education course design to ensure quality teaching. Bates (2015) outlined nine steps to make sure effective learning takes place including:
Figure 4.3.1 The ADDIE Model.
References: Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age. Chapter 11: Ensuring quality teaching in a digital age. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/11-2-nine-steps-to-quality-teaching-in-a-digital-age/ During the latter part of this course, two assignments that helped me better understand and reflect on distance education included the future wave in final preparation of the group grid project and the third essay assignment on a theory and it's application in distance education. While completing these more recent assignments, the teaching and learning theories leading up to Heutagogy really resonated with me in looking at distance education from a transitional point of view which is also demonstrated in the Figure 2 shown below. During my research on heutagogy for my essay assignment, I struggled in differentiating self-directed and self-determined learning at first because most of the articles referred to heutagogy as self-directed learning. However, the Table 1 shown below helped me understand the specific differences and that perhaps the reason the articles often referred to heutagogy as self-directed learning as well was because heutagogy is an extension of andragogy rather than an entirely separate theory. I've certainly found that I learn retain information best with illustrations since they are easier to memorize; I believe this is why heutagogy resonated with me most these past two weeks because there were so many helpful illustrations. Overall, I learned through these assignments that the transition in theories has led to change in educational goals from helping students become competent in the classroom to helping students become capable life-long learners outside of the classroom; this is an important goal for students to achieve because information is constantly being updated and continuing education in many fields is highly encouraged. Figure 2. Progression from pedagogy to andragogy then to heutagogy (based on Canning, 2010, p. 63). (Blaschke, L.M. 2012, p.61). Table 1. Heutagogy as a Continuum of Andragogy. (Blaschke, L.M., 2012, p. 61).
Reference: Blaschke, L.M. (2012). Heutagogy and lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(1), 56-71. Retrieved from: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076/2113 MODULE 4: MOOCsPrior to this class, I had only heard about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) vaguely and that it is certainly a controversial topic in the realm of higher education. After learning about the theories of earlier constructivism and latter connectivism and how connectivism influences MOOCs, I became particularly interested in this type of distance education (Siemens, 2012). While learning more about MOOCs, I realized that the lack of accountability and the enormous disproportionate teacher-to-student ratio could play a significant role in “fostering autonomy and self-regulated learners” (Siemens, 2012). According to Butin (2016) there seems to be many who have moved on from the idea of MOOCs and disregarded them as being as important. I can understand why some might view MOOCs as more invaluable than valuable because the completion and certification rate is at a shockingly low five percent (Bates, 2015). However, MOOCs have continued to evolve the past decade and I envision that they will only become more valuable as a type of distance education since theories have evolved from teacher-directed to learner-directed or from pedagogy to andragogy and heutagogy which require more learner autonomy and self-regulation. I have come to view MOOCs as being a type of distance education perhaps to be particularly of most importance to underdeveloped countries because developed countries have many more types of distance education available to choose from. References:
Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age. Chapter 5: MOOCs. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/chapter-7-moocs/ Butin, D. (2016). MOOCs and beyond. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/moocs-and-beyond Siemens, G. (2012). What is the theory that underpins our moocs. ELEARNINGSPACE. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2012/06/03/what-is-the-theory-that-underpins-our-moocs/ |
AuthorWincy Fisher's learning journal reflections for the Distance Education and E-Learning Master's Program. Archives
April 2018
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