Here is a C-map of the components of online learning. It is a start and needs collaborative input towards a social construction with distributed learning of improved modelsI look forward to your comments
Joyce
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Cmap
Here is a C-map of the components of online learning. It is a start and needs collaborative input towards a social construction with distributed learning of improved modelsI look forward to your comments
Joyce
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Oliver’s paper
Oliver’s paper (Oliver, 2001)
This article by Ron Oliver is a good introduction to the toolbox website. A shared resource, standards and best practice seem like an excellent idea for connectivism and socially constructed learning for educators. I like the visual, multimodal aspects of the website and the learning modules. They are inviting, colourful, more likely to connect with young people and those who are used to Internet capacities. By using authentic , contextualised projects, these learning resources seem well based in online pedagogies and make best use of technologies.
Reference list
Oliver, R. (2001). Seeking best practice in online learning: Flexible Learning Toolboxes in the Australian VET sector. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 17(2), 204-222. Retrieved 18.7.2007
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet17/oliver.html
This article by Ron Oliver is a good introduction to the toolbox website. A shared resource, standards and best practice seem like an excellent idea for connectivism and socially constructed learning for educators. I like the visual, multimodal aspects of the website and the learning modules. They are inviting, colourful, more likely to connect with young people and those who are used to Internet capacities. By using authentic , contextualised projects, these learning resources seem well based in online pedagogies and make best use of technologies.
Reference list
Oliver, R. (2001). Seeking best practice in online learning: Flexible Learning Toolboxes in the Australian VET sector. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 17(2), 204-222. Retrieved 18.7.2007
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet17/oliver.html
Flexible learning
Thoughts on Flexibility in learning
E-learning provides flexibility- the fifth generation of learning (Taylor)
Some issues:
Most learning organizations are based on for-profit organizations and maximization of business and profit. Hence a major spearhead to flexible learning has been economic (Taylor, 2001).
Technology is intricately interwoven with the advances of economics, learning organizations and flexible learning. It seems at times that e-learning trails behind the technology revolution
Information is rapidly expanding and freely available this causes problems about finding the right information and pathways to it- avoiding wikipedia perhaps? It also raises issues of intellectual property rights
Web 2.0 is overtaking all these issues by creating a democratic ‘truth’ and knowledge -base and moving away from traditional models of expertise (Allsopp 2007).
Although new pedagogies are used in flexible and e-learning, they are really older ones that are more easily used in the e-learning environment so it seems that pedagogy is trailing behind.
Early adopters and keen ‘Lone Rangers” are relied upon to move learning institutions towards flexible, e-learning but this is often in their own time and leads to burn out. Failure to understand that this requires an organization wide change and strategic management of change will result in poor delivery, management and overloading of teachers. Students will leave and feel confused and inundated with lack of support (Macklin, 2004 ).
English is overtaking all other languages due to Internet usage, and languages and cultures will be lost. New languages, e.g. Spanglish and chat based acronyms and abbreviations are taking over. Failure to converse at this level means a loss of relevance and communication. Visual and less text-based communication is also needed to remain relevant (Hansson, H. &van de Bunt-Kockhuis, S., 2004).
Reference List
Allsopp, J. (2007) Microformats- a more semantic web today, Keynote address at 2nd Annual Web Content Management Symposium, Q.U.T. Brisbane, 2nd June
Hansson, H. &van de Bunt-Kockhuis, S. (2004) E-learning and language change- observations, tendencies and reflections, First Monday Retrieved 17/7/2007, http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/hansson/
Macklin,J (2004). Tony Bates on trends in flexible learning Australian Flexible Learning Community retrieved 17/7/2007 http://community.flexiblelearning.net.au/GlobalPerspectives/content/article_6525.htm
Taylor, J.C. (2001) The Future of Learning, Learning for the Future- Shaping the Transition Retrieved 17/7/2007 http://studydesk.usq.edu.au/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?JSESSIONID=GcqZ4HZbTW2LvQyM4hvJ2HWC7cRljv2n6MNTJ5h2zNmldrF0cghh!325438155!194649042
E-learning provides flexibility- the fifth generation of learning (Taylor)
Some issues:
Most learning organizations are based on for-profit organizations and maximization of business and profit. Hence a major spearhead to flexible learning has been economic (Taylor, 2001).
Technology is intricately interwoven with the advances of economics, learning organizations and flexible learning. It seems at times that e-learning trails behind the technology revolution
Information is rapidly expanding and freely available this causes problems about finding the right information and pathways to it- avoiding wikipedia perhaps? It also raises issues of intellectual property rights
Web 2.0 is overtaking all these issues by creating a democratic ‘truth’ and knowledge -base and moving away from traditional models of expertise (Allsopp 2007).
Although new pedagogies are used in flexible and e-learning, they are really older ones that are more easily used in the e-learning environment so it seems that pedagogy is trailing behind.
Early adopters and keen ‘Lone Rangers” are relied upon to move learning institutions towards flexible, e-learning but this is often in their own time and leads to burn out. Failure to understand that this requires an organization wide change and strategic management of change will result in poor delivery, management and overloading of teachers. Students will leave and feel confused and inundated with lack of support (Macklin, 2004 ).
English is overtaking all other languages due to Internet usage, and languages and cultures will be lost. New languages, e.g. Spanglish and chat based acronyms and abbreviations are taking over. Failure to converse at this level means a loss of relevance and communication. Visual and less text-based communication is also needed to remain relevant (Hansson, H. &van de Bunt-Kockhuis, S., 2004).
Reference List
Allsopp, J. (2007) Microformats- a more semantic web today, Keynote address at 2nd Annual Web Content Management Symposium, Q.U.T. Brisbane, 2nd June
Hansson, H. &van de Bunt-Kockhuis, S. (2004) E-learning and language change- observations, tendencies and reflections, First Monday Retrieved 17/7/2007, http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_8/hansson/
Macklin,J (2004). Tony Bates on trends in flexible learning Australian Flexible Learning Community retrieved 17/7/2007 http://community.flexiblelearning.net.au/GlobalPerspectives/content/article_6525.htm
Taylor, J.C. (2001) The Future of Learning, Learning for the Future- Shaping the Transition Retrieved 17/7/2007 http://studydesk.usq.edu.au/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?JSESSIONID=GcqZ4HZbTW2LvQyM4hvJ2HWC7cRljv2n6MNTJ5h2zNmldrF0cghh!325438155!194649042
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Reflections
Introduction
The Unit FET8604, Online Pedagogy, raised a number of important learning ideas. The program used an authentic dilemma and project to give simulated experience and learning. I chose Authentic Assessment and found transformative learning through the project. It provided its own authentic feedback through peers and assignment.
Web 2.0 is the revolution of web design and content management, based on microformating, people generated content and software and constructed social meaning. This is an excellent format for the new pedagogies that rely on connectivity.
Discussion
Web 2.0 is the newest revolution in the rapidly evolving information and technology of human achievement (Lee, nd). It will create paradigm shifts in education, if harnessed well.
I am not a teacher but as part of my life-long and life-wide goals of learning, I wished to challenge myself with contemporary education philosophies and processes. I have a passion to bring business ethics education to the forefront of in-the field business. I can see that the World Wide Web has the capacity to achieve this so I am using Online Pedagogies to learn tools to achieve this.
Thus the practical dilemma of how to teach to fellow students (all teachers) a subject that was a challenge for me, was a huge learning curve. Choosing your own dilemma makes the process value-added as you have the opportunity to explore something that has meaning for you. I chose assessment because I was truly perplexed by this topic. As a student, assessment always meant performing to someone’s standard, passing or failing, hard work and nervous energy. I would have personally found it hard to act in the role of examiner if I was going to teach business ethics. Examining something as subjective as business ethics was also a difficulty, particularly in the context of online learning. Plagiarism is a major dilemma in online learning (Rowe, 2004). Cultural differences and differences in experience and prior knowledge seemed difficult to steer around.
I was happy to be given the opportunity to muddle through it by myself, even though the activity was meant to be a group one. Discussing the issues online with myself seemed a bit pointless and our group of two did not function, which was a mixed blessing.[s1]
The paradigm shift for me was when I realized that the essence of online pedagogy is assessment. The process of authentic project, peer and facilitator assessment and feedback was the most important learning tool (Mueller,2006). I decided that seven chunks of information was the maximum I should aim for and so presented them as dilemmas because dilemmas are the motivation for exploring and learning.
I was pleased to receive feedback and input from the other students because it validated my work and gave me more ideas. In a learning community, everyone has the potential to learn, including the facilitator. Some of the feedback was realistic in that I wrote too much and created too much information in my pedagogical event. It was a shame that there were so many events and such a busy time for all the students that justice could not be done to any of the events. [s2] Perhaps I was too ambitious. I learned a lot in content, but also in the process from the other events I could take part in. Some feedback added thoughts like authentic assessment is good for skills- based learning and languages and the use of case scenarios. I thought that these were interesting and reflected that I had decided to assess my pedagogical event using a simulation or case scenario. All these processes are stimulating but they also take a lot of time and technological expertise. I don’t have a lot of time, not many people do these days, but I can increase my technological expertise. Using Web2.0 for this unit has given me courage and self-feedback to keep striving to learn more about this fascinating medium.
An asynchronous event is obviously easier to run and easier for people to access, although I can see that the connectivity is easier in a synchronous event (Latchman, Salzmann, Gillett & Xim, 2001). I particularly liked instant messaging when that was possible and would include this in further projects or teaching.
The authentic project is motivating as you need to have a product to show and be proud of. In this way I found using a blog, a newly acquired skill learned in this course, excellent for communication. Exploring wikis and a knowledge garden,
were other paradigm shifts[s3] . I could see the process of Web2.0 and the real use of connectivity and social constructivism (Siemens, 2004). In the matrix of the web, tracking people globally with similar interests, ideas, experiences and learning, creates a virtual classroom (Wiley & Edwards,2002). The neo-Marxist views that Vygotsky described can be simulated much more easily using Web 2.0 which almost embodies the zone of proximal development (Blunden, 2001). The learning revolution is also a grass roots political movement that challenges imperialism and institutions. Learning becomes learner focused and thinking becomes non-linear. The new learning pedagogy revolves around critical literacy (Net Pedagogy Portal Team).
The assignment that I did, on futurism in education, opened up a huge number of new ideas for me. When I discus them with teachers and other academics that are my friends, I can see the scaffolds I have climbed and the chasm in their knowledge. When I discuss them with young people, regular event with four digital native children and in my work as a child and youth psychiatrist, I can see that they are far ahead of me and have already started to create the future (Prensky, 2001). This sets some huge challenges for me as there is so much more I can learn about Web 2.0 and Web 3? ( the unknown next step).
I can see that the process of learning is readily ascertained in a project where discussion, project development, peer feedback are all part of the assessment and proof that plagiarism is not occurring. Learning also occurs when it has meaning to its context. Although I am a purist and believe in learning for learning’s sake, most people learn in a ‘need to know’ basis. Hence proposing dilemmas creates a platform to seek knowledge, critically evaluate that knowledge and put something into action. I am more likely to think and research making sure that I have all available knowledge before attempting a trial. There is no time for this approach any more and young people are action oriented. If we start somewhere, accept that it is a work in progress, continually improve, then we reap the benefits immediately and learn through authentic feedback.
I have already put this learning into future plans. I was approached to provide mental health education for Indigenous youth. I will use the processes of social constructionism and connectivity, already important components in the Indigenous community and Web 2.0 as the technological platform (Shimazu, Kawakami, Irimajiri, Sakamoto & Amano,2005). By placing a wiki embedded in a blog or website, I can start with some simple pieces of information. I won’t be as detailed as the assignment I did in this course, but provide hyperlinks, connectivity to information and dilemmas for debate. In this way the youth drive the curriculum, own the knowledge and make it culturally appropriate to their needs.
Conclusions
Although many important learning tools and paradigm shifts have occurred in this unit, it is a phase in the process of continual learning. Web2.0 is the basis for a revolution in social, political and educational and culture. The process of connectivism is inimical[s4] to the web. The pedagogies of social constructivism through critical thinking are embedded in the authentic learning project and dilemma. Continual assessment and feedback forms the basis of learning and teaching. All these processes can be included in Web2.0 software and is part of the World Wide Web philosophy of people driven activity (Allsopp, 2007)
Reference List
Allsop, J (2007) Microformats- a more semantic web today. Keynote address Organising Infinity 2nd Annual Web Content Management Symposium, QUT, Brisbane, 2nd June
Blunden, A (2001). The Vygotsky school Spirit, Money and Modernity Seminar retrieved 6/5/2007http://home.mira.net/~andy/seminars/chat.htm
Latchman,H, Salzmann, C, Gillett, D & Xim, J (2001) Learning on Demand-A Hybrid synchronous/asynchronous approach. Pedagogical Archives in Integrated Education
Retrieved GoogleSearch 6/3/2007www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/May2001/10/Bogin
Lee, S (nd) The World Wide Web: Its uses as a teaching tool Online Teaching Tools and Projects retrieved 6/5/2007 http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/reports/teaching/chapter4.html
Net Pedagogy Portal Team 2006 Retrieved Googlesearch 3/4/2007http://www.thewebworks.bc.ca/netpedagogy/Evolution/evolution4.html
Mueller, J (2006) What is Authentic Assessment (Authentic assessment toolbox) retrieved 10/5/2007http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
Prensky, M. (2001, September/October). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved June 8, 2007, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Rowe NC (2004) Cheating in online student assessment: beyond Plagiarism Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration VII(II) retrieved 13/5/2007 http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer72/rowe72.html
Shimazu, A, Kawakami, N, Irimajiri, H, Sakamoto, M & Amano, S (2005) The effects of web-based psychoeducation on self-efficacy, problem solving behaviour, stress responses and job satisfaction among workers: a controlled trial, Journal of Occupational Health 47 (5) pps 405-413, retrieved 21/4/2007
Googlesearchhttp://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/joh/47/5/47_405/_article
Siemens, G (2004) Connectivism a theory for the digital age elearnspace retrieved 5/6/2007 http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Wiley, D. A and Edwards, E. K. (2002). ‘Online self-organizing social systems: The decentralized future of online learning’. http://wiley.ed.usu.edu/docs/ososs.pdf.[s5]
Introduction
The Unit FET8604, Online Pedagogy, raised a number of important learning ideas. The program used an authentic dilemma and project to give simulated experience and learning. I chose Authentic Assessment and found transformative learning through the project. It provided its own authentic feedback through peers and assignment.
Web 2.0 is the revolution of web design and content management, based on microformating, people generated content and software and constructed social meaning. This is an excellent format for the new pedagogies that rely on connectivity.
Discussion
Web 2.0 is the newest revolution in the rapidly evolving information and technology of human achievement (Lee, nd). It will create paradigm shifts in education, if harnessed well.
I am not a teacher but as part of my life-long and life-wide goals of learning, I wished to challenge myself with contemporary education philosophies and processes. I have a passion to bring business ethics education to the forefront of in-the field business. I can see that the World Wide Web has the capacity to achieve this so I am using Online Pedagogies to learn tools to achieve this.
Thus the practical dilemma of how to teach to fellow students (all teachers) a subject that was a challenge for me, was a huge learning curve. Choosing your own dilemma makes the process value-added as you have the opportunity to explore something that has meaning for you. I chose assessment because I was truly perplexed by this topic. As a student, assessment always meant performing to someone’s standard, passing or failing, hard work and nervous energy. I would have personally found it hard to act in the role of examiner if I was going to teach business ethics. Examining something as subjective as business ethics was also a difficulty, particularly in the context of online learning. Plagiarism is a major dilemma in online learning (Rowe, 2004). Cultural differences and differences in experience and prior knowledge seemed difficult to steer around.
I was happy to be given the opportunity to muddle through it by myself, even though the activity was meant to be a group one. Discussing the issues online with myself seemed a bit pointless and our group of two did not function, which was a mixed blessing.[s1]
The paradigm shift for me was when I realized that the essence of online pedagogy is assessment. The process of authentic project, peer and facilitator assessment and feedback was the most important learning tool (Mueller,2006). I decided that seven chunks of information was the maximum I should aim for and so presented them as dilemmas because dilemmas are the motivation for exploring and learning.
I was pleased to receive feedback and input from the other students because it validated my work and gave me more ideas. In a learning community, everyone has the potential to learn, including the facilitator. Some of the feedback was realistic in that I wrote too much and created too much information in my pedagogical event. It was a shame that there were so many events and such a busy time for all the students that justice could not be done to any of the events. [s2] Perhaps I was too ambitious. I learned a lot in content, but also in the process from the other events I could take part in. Some feedback added thoughts like authentic assessment is good for skills- based learning and languages and the use of case scenarios. I thought that these were interesting and reflected that I had decided to assess my pedagogical event using a simulation or case scenario. All these processes are stimulating but they also take a lot of time and technological expertise. I don’t have a lot of time, not many people do these days, but I can increase my technological expertise. Using Web2.0 for this unit has given me courage and self-feedback to keep striving to learn more about this fascinating medium.
An asynchronous event is obviously easier to run and easier for people to access, although I can see that the connectivity is easier in a synchronous event (Latchman, Salzmann, Gillett & Xim, 2001). I particularly liked instant messaging when that was possible and would include this in further projects or teaching.
The authentic project is motivating as you need to have a product to show and be proud of. In this way I found using a blog, a newly acquired skill learned in this course, excellent for communication. Exploring wikis and a knowledge garden,
were other paradigm shifts[s3] . I could see the process of Web2.0 and the real use of connectivity and social constructivism (Siemens, 2004). In the matrix of the web, tracking people globally with similar interests, ideas, experiences and learning, creates a virtual classroom (Wiley & Edwards,2002). The neo-Marxist views that Vygotsky described can be simulated much more easily using Web 2.0 which almost embodies the zone of proximal development (Blunden, 2001). The learning revolution is also a grass roots political movement that challenges imperialism and institutions. Learning becomes learner focused and thinking becomes non-linear. The new learning pedagogy revolves around critical literacy (Net Pedagogy Portal Team).
The assignment that I did, on futurism in education, opened up a huge number of new ideas for me. When I discus them with teachers and other academics that are my friends, I can see the scaffolds I have climbed and the chasm in their knowledge. When I discuss them with young people, regular event with four digital native children and in my work as a child and youth psychiatrist, I can see that they are far ahead of me and have already started to create the future (Prensky, 2001). This sets some huge challenges for me as there is so much more I can learn about Web 2.0 and Web 3? ( the unknown next step).
I can see that the process of learning is readily ascertained in a project where discussion, project development, peer feedback are all part of the assessment and proof that plagiarism is not occurring. Learning also occurs when it has meaning to its context. Although I am a purist and believe in learning for learning’s sake, most people learn in a ‘need to know’ basis. Hence proposing dilemmas creates a platform to seek knowledge, critically evaluate that knowledge and put something into action. I am more likely to think and research making sure that I have all available knowledge before attempting a trial. There is no time for this approach any more and young people are action oriented. If we start somewhere, accept that it is a work in progress, continually improve, then we reap the benefits immediately and learn through authentic feedback.
I have already put this learning into future plans. I was approached to provide mental health education for Indigenous youth. I will use the processes of social constructionism and connectivity, already important components in the Indigenous community and Web 2.0 as the technological platform (Shimazu, Kawakami, Irimajiri, Sakamoto & Amano,2005). By placing a wiki embedded in a blog or website, I can start with some simple pieces of information. I won’t be as detailed as the assignment I did in this course, but provide hyperlinks, connectivity to information and dilemmas for debate. In this way the youth drive the curriculum, own the knowledge and make it culturally appropriate to their needs.
Conclusions
Although many important learning tools and paradigm shifts have occurred in this unit, it is a phase in the process of continual learning. Web2.0 is the basis for a revolution in social, political and educational and culture. The process of connectivism is inimical[s4] to the web. The pedagogies of social constructivism through critical thinking are embedded in the authentic learning project and dilemma. Continual assessment and feedback forms the basis of learning and teaching. All these processes can be included in Web2.0 software and is part of the World Wide Web philosophy of people driven activity (Allsopp, 2007)
Reference List
Allsop, J (2007) Microformats- a more semantic web today. Keynote address Organising Infinity 2nd Annual Web Content Management Symposium, QUT, Brisbane, 2nd June
Blunden, A (2001). The Vygotsky school Spirit, Money and Modernity Seminar retrieved 6/5/2007http://home.mira.net/~andy/seminars/chat.htm
Latchman,H, Salzmann, C, Gillett, D & Xim, J (2001) Learning on Demand-A Hybrid synchronous/asynchronous approach. Pedagogical Archives in Integrated Education
Retrieved GoogleSearch 6/3/2007www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/May2001/10/Bogin
Lee, S (nd) The World Wide Web: Its uses as a teaching tool Online Teaching Tools and Projects retrieved 6/5/2007 http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/reports/teaching/chapter4.html
Net Pedagogy Portal Team 2006 Retrieved Googlesearch 3/4/2007http://www.thewebworks.bc.ca/netpedagogy/Evolution/evolution4.html
Mueller, J (2006) What is Authentic Assessment (Authentic assessment toolbox) retrieved 10/5/2007http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
Prensky, M. (2001, September/October). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved June 8, 2007, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Rowe NC (2004) Cheating in online student assessment: beyond Plagiarism Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration VII(II) retrieved 13/5/2007 http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer72/rowe72.html
Shimazu, A, Kawakami, N, Irimajiri, H, Sakamoto, M & Amano, S (2005) The effects of web-based psychoeducation on self-efficacy, problem solving behaviour, stress responses and job satisfaction among workers: a controlled trial, Journal of Occupational Health 47 (5) pps 405-413, retrieved 21/4/2007
Googlesearchhttp://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/joh/47/5/47_405/_article
Siemens, G (2004) Connectivism a theory for the digital age elearnspace retrieved 5/6/2007 http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Wiley, D. A and Edwards, E. K. (2002). ‘Online self-organizing social systems: The decentralized future of online learning’. http://wiley.ed.usu.edu/docs/ososs.pdf.[s5]
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