Hi all:

For my paper, I decided to do an essay review of the differences in perception of what educational technology, eLearning and blended learning were and how they can be used together. It was an interesting process, as I had to vet through some 20 papers, journal articles and web resources to find the particular focus I needed.

During this process, I found there is a still a want to begin with the technology and form it to the learning objectives, rather than opposite. I began to wonder what is the most benefical way to use the eLearning platform/techniques. More so, how has ET and blended learning really supported learning? Is it really different than what previous educators experienced?

I also began to wonder if eLearning and blended learning were, in some way, an unloading of teacher responsibilities to the student. Much was glorified of how students would appreciate being collaborative learners, but we know this cannot be useful for all. Would students really experience “critical capital” in their learning?

One of my last thoughts, which I think had little to do with my topic of choice, is why did none of the authors speak to classroom management as part of an effective blended learning environment. As a teacher, classroom management is foremost before any learning can begin. I wish the authors would have spoken to this. I find it hard to imagine that innovative teaching pedagogy and ET will completely eliminate the need for classroom management, even in the online world.

RM

Hi all;

I have to be honest that this has been the weakest part for me this course. In past courses, I have been diligent with regards to keeping a weekly update to how things have been going. I found this term I struggled to keep on top of this aspect. Me regards.

As such, I found the overall DLG experience to be excellent. I really liked the idea of student groups taking the lead in this area, as it brought a whole variety of experiences and perspectives to each week. In particular, I enjoyed the interactive components and the individually created media that went along with most of the group presentations.

As we were the last group to present, and having been in this position in the past, we took great care to ensure we were ahead of the ball. Not only did I learn more about techgnosis, I also learned about weebly, which is always a great walkaway learning opportunity. At first I thought our topic on spirituality would be an ease to complete, but as I went through the readings and related literature, I struggled to connect spirituality to student elearning. In the end, it was a great journey,

RM

One of my favourite online commentaries is Dvorak of PC Magazine. I have always enjoyed reading his columns and thought for a moment that I was in a way, achieving this level of writing by completing this paper. I really enjoyed the free lance style of writing that we were able to use and the inclusion of a cartoon. I found the cartoon to be a great way to focus my thoughts about my topic and as well, to have an opportunity to use a new online tool (Pixton). In the end, I felt that this wan not only a great exercise and experience in writing, it allowed me to address my thoughts about eLearning through mobile devices.

Hi all:

Well I happened to be very busy over the last two weeks. Our family packed up our stuff and moved into a new home, so I have not had a time to focus on these reflections as much as I would have liked. Thus the combined post.

I came away from module three thinking that the design of educational technology has little to do with science, but more with the application of the tools we use. I am not suggesting we do not look at the way that students use the tools in their hands, but be more cautious about over analyzing one particular tool or medium in a environment where the next big thing has already rounded the corner. Building on this, we are not at the point where the machine is doing the learning for us, it is simply facilitating what we ask it to do.

I found module four to be a real enjoyable discussion point. It took what is happening in current practice and examined how educators are to deal with this. I was particularly annoyed with what Blackborg attempted to pull off with patenting the interface of a online learning environment. I also expressed my view that unless there is more equality in the world, we are going to continue to see the under privileged “liberating” what they cannot ever have or own.

Cheers,
Ryan M.

As I mentioned in one of my posts, so many great quotes came out of the readings, that I had no idea where to begin. I shared with my colleagues the view points on PowerPoint. Most of them found them to be realistic and appreciated that someone, not myself, had actually challenged the validity of PP.

I myself, was very much drawn into the Heidegger article. His notion that technology is a revealing mechanism, tied directly to what we do, could not have more articulated my long term belief that our technological discoveries are/were somewhat “designed”. I found that there were too many interconnectedness(es) between what we had known, what we know now, and what we will discover in the future.

On a side note. I did appreciate the news that nerds/gamers were able to crack a code in three weeks that scientists could not crack in 10 years. http://gizmodo.com/5841782/gamers-crack-code-that-could-lead-to-new-aids-treatments

I was hoping to getting to this earlier on in the week, but I feel a little behind.

I very much enjoyed the readings from week one. I found the trouble of settling on a proper definition (or theory of) of educational technology to be as honest as expected. The dynamic nature of technology I believe will always be shifting the view of what ET is or will be. I always like to remind myself that technology is just a tool. It cannot take the place of what a teacher is possible capable of doing. I was fortunate enough during the first week of school to have a discussion with my librarian about the purchasing of overhead lab cameras. He ask me my opinion on them. I told him, think of the steps you need to make this work. First, you need the camera, then the LCD projector, then a computer as a medium between the two. And unless the LCD/computer/camera is constantly on in a fixed location, it is time consuming to put it all together. Would it not be easier just to create a station/display for the students to come and explore? In the end, for me, ET needs to be unobtrusive, much as chalk is.

Cheers,
Ryan.