The following summarizes the personal learning outcomes acquired through the completion of the Masters of Education in Adult Learning and Global Change at the University of British Columbia from August 2011 – April 2013.
1. Strengthened working knowledge of the various facets involved in adult learning.
The program provided the opportunity for both personal and group exploration and reflection of the critical factors involved in adult learning. The concept of context for shaping learning was heavily divulged in the course Adult Learning: Contexts and Perspectives; whereas the importance of personal identities and their immense ability to both hinder and enhance learning opportunities was highlighted in Fostering Learning in Practice. The influence of globalization and the knowledge economy on the learning opportunities that exist for adults was explored in several courses but most notably in Global/Local Learning; and my personal understanding of the learning culture iceberg which emphasizes the importance of beliefs, values & attitudes in shaping formal policies and practices for adult learning was fortified by my collective learning throughout the program.
2. Demonstrated use of several new learning technologies.
As a student of this online program and especially with the opportunity to complete the courses: Designing Learning Technologies and Ventures in Learning Technologies, I:
- Created a Moodle site for training of the public health inspection software program: Hedgehog
- Created several professional videos (including picture in picture, audio and additional text callouts) using Camtasia
- Created two blogs, my own blog and was a group member of the Augmented Reality blog
- Created two Glogs (online multimedia posters)
- Used Web 2.0 communication tools such as Skype and Google docs
- Became familiar with a variety of current learning technology and social media tools such as: wikis, bookmarking, apps, twitter, MOOCs, cloud commuting, digital storytelling, augmented reality tools such as Layar and Aurasma, Flickr, and digital textbooks
As a result of my immersion in learning technologies in the program, in my workplace, I created an online training course using the course-authoring tool Captivate and was the project manager and key developer for our newly launched SharePoint web-based system.
3. Established an educated opinion on the intertwining of globalization and education.
The course provided ample opportunities to explore, challenge and strengthen my personal opinion on globalization and its strong ties to education. While the course Adult Learning: Contexts and Perspectives shed light on both traditional and modern theories towards learning, courses including Global/Local Learning strengthened my understanding that globalization and education can’t be separated. My ability to articulate my nuanced understanding on globally influenced social-economical and political impacts on education was confirmed by my writing of two papers: Occupy Wall Street: Learning through symbiotic vines and A Critical Review of the Underpinnings of Globalization, Politics and Economics in Adult Community and Literacy Learning in Alberta, Canada.
4. Acquired the skills to be successful in global, online collaborative learning and conversation.
Throughout the program, I worked in groups with people from across Canada, Europe, South Africa and Australia. In various group projects, I was able to clearly and succinctly provide my opinion, respect the opinion of others and work to create collaborative artifacts. For example, one group project with team members from Australia, Europe and Canada on learning contexts and globalization, resulted in a “well written and well structured*” paper with positive feedback from all of the team members in our group. I also became proficient in managing online meetings and interactions using voice, video and instant messaging. I was able to deduce meaning from the conversations to help provide common clarity and agreement among the persons involved which progressed conversations or objectives forward.
5. Clarified and deepened my perspective on adult learning, effective facilitation and my own learning preferences.
Reflecting on the readings; my learning journal; my personal and other students’ forum posts; tutor comments; my experience with the program; how I am in the classroom and what I value as a student has deepened my personal perspective on adult learning, which is aligned with the social-cultural perspective. I have made changes to how I facilitate sessions including shifting to a more learner-centered learning approach; ensuring I provide a safe and inviting learning environment; and focusing more on knowledge students bring to the classroom and building upon and sometimes challenging this knowledge. In addition, I have acknowledged my preference for practical applications of knowledge and the inclusion of transfer of learning plans in courses. Finally, what has also been highlighted, is my belief in life-long learning and creating a learning culture in workplaces that not only involves informal education but integrating learning throughout the daily practices of the workplace and encouraging learning in adults’ personal lives.
6. Gained an appreciation of the importance of fostering personal connections for support.
Throughout this program, students depended heavily on one another and their support system to fulfill the course requirements. My personal support system consisted of the support from students, my common-law partner, my family and my close friends. It would have been impossible to complete this program while still maintaining some work, school, and life balance without support. In my workplace, I have gained a stronger appreciation of the personal connections needed in order to support my work goals and change practices and implement new programs in our workplace. I have learned to foster these relationships more fully. This appreciation has also extended into my goal of connecting with other learning practitioners in Calgary. I am actively working towards fostering stronger connections in my network to help enable new work prospects, learning opportunities and to be part of a community of practice that extends outside of my work organization.
* Quote from Song-ee Ahn – Linkoping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning – December 8, 2011
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