300-500 words article reflection and discussion

Writing Prompt for Individual Post #2

After completing the readings for Topic 2, please create a new post on your own blog and respond to one or more of the following prompts:

What do you notice?

What do you think the authors got wrong?

What do you wonder?

How can you apply what you have learned to your work in this course?

What do you want to get clarification on?

Article 1 is the pdf one

Claire Howell Major. (2015). Teaching Online - A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=3318874 (pp. 88-105)

Article 2

http://go-gn.net/research/openness-and-education-a-beginners-guide/

Jordan, K., & Weller, M. (2017). Jordan, K. & Weller, M. (2017) Openness and Education: A beginners’ guide. Global OER Graduate Network.

Example answers:

This week’s readings introduced me to the many possibilities of open education. Jordan and Weller (2017) provide a concise overview of how systems, philosophies and technologies have developed in open education over the last 50 years. This prompted me to think about which of these options would be most effective for myself as a learner, myself as a teacher and for my students as learners. I also felt that it is important to consider the difference between which methods would be most comfortable and enjoyable as a teacher or learner as well as which methods offer the greatest educational value in the long run and hopefully find where this overlaps. I believe a primary objective of teachers is to continually offer a balance of familiarity and challenge to students to give them stepping stones to success. An open education program where students are completely free to pursue their personal interests is a nice ideal but we also need to consider the goals of the course, expectations of the institution and prior knowledge, experience and limitations of the students. The citation network that Jordan and Weller have compiled will be a valuable resource to refer to if and when I am incorporating elements of open learning into my own teaching.

The Claire Howell Major (2015) reading helped me to clarify many of the questions I had about the different systems discussed by Jordan and Weller. By breaking down the organizational elements that create course structure I was able to more easily compare different open learning systems and identify the advantages of each structural element. As a public school teacher there are some elements which I can control and manipulate within the courses I teach and some which are dictated by the educational framework that my school district works under. However, as we now experiment with remote learning opportunities due to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be even more flexibility allowed to teachers. Enrollment is traditionally closed in public school settings however this Spring our district had some teachers opening their online classrooms to other students and teachers within the school or even from other schools. The amount of online vs. in-person instruction was more fluid with students having the choice to participate completely online, in-person or a combination of both. My music classes became more asynchronous as I felt the need to be more flexible with deadlines and I gave assignments that could be completed at student’s own pace. The platform is perhaps where teachers have the most autonomy, although we concluded as a staff at the end of the year that it is advantageous for all of the teachers within the school to use the same learning platforms as much as possible. This allows for greater ease of use for students, collaboration amongst teachers and can also help financially by saving on group licensing. The pathway also became much less centralized in my music classes which I think was good for some students and a struggle for others. This is something I will be considering with future classes in order to continue to offer opportunities for students to extend their learning while maintaining the core learning outcomes that I would like all students to achieve.

 

References

Claire Howell Major. (2015). Teaching Online – A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=3318874 (pp. 88-105)

Jordan, K., & Weller, M. (2017). Jordan, K. & Weller, M. (2017) Openness and Education: A beginners’ guide. Global OER Graduate Network.

Example 2:

Following Major (2015), faculties are yet uncertain of taking on this new experience for various reasons and depend on presumptions or fantasies in regards to online education. For instance, some educators feel online teaching are lesser quality as well as not effective, but indeed, there have been various investigations that find online based learning may create proportionate and even better results than traditional teaching. It is imperative to have a genuine feeling of the difficulties in encouraging on the online as we push ahead with the goal that we may discover solid arrangements and set universities, colleges and schools up for progress.

I do think the authors got wrong on not looking at the implication of online education as well as the changing trend of life that foster online education. They failed to understand that there is an absence of readiness and want to learn. Understudies are basically not spurred in online classes. They are normally simple and are time proficient; however student learning results in general turns to be dull. Essentially, students complete their tasks to get kudos for a passing grade, instead of really captivating with the course material.

I do wonder the how online education performs less to enhance academic success of student as well as progression compared to traditional teaching where the educator teaches the students face-to-face courses. Moreover, it is clear some teachers are not yet prepared or change their teaching strategies to welcome online education as many of them are computer illiterates too not knowing how to use advance innovation (Jordan & Weller, 2017). In reality, the number of resources to foster online education is too less.

With proper planning and strategies for organizing adequate resources, I can effectively and efficiently apply all the techniques and learning in a community. Also, it is the teaching process that should be modified or changed so as not to bore students and make them so engaged in the learning.

I would like to find clarification of how cyber-crime, cyber-bulling will be handled or eliminated when online education is absolutely introduced in learning institutions. This is because there are numerous causes why online students may participate in these behaviors such as tiredness, revenge, outrage and to incite responses from their fellow students. Moreover, the unknown idea of the web makes it simpler for individuals to cyberbully others, particularly in the event that they are social untouchables themselves who might not have the mental fortitude to bully anybody face to face.

 

Claire Howell Major. (2015). Teaching Online – A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=3318874 (pp. 88-105)

Jordan, K., & Weller, M. (2017). Jordan, K. & Weller, M. (2017) Openness and Education: A beginners’ guide. Global OER Graduate Network.