In my school we have small class sizes and frequent absenteeism. Therefore this year I’ve decided to try teaching a blended humanities classroom. In that way students can follow along when they miss school but also are guaranteed a rich experience in the classroom. I wa given course shells on Moodle but no training. I’ve decided to work with Moodle for our second assignment so that I can better work with this platform in the future. Because of this I’d like to analyse the failings in the Moodle course shells by contrasting them with the MET program and using Anderson’s attributes of learning as a guide. That way I will identify areas for improvement in the course shells.
Learner Centred
All of the MET course that I have taken use discussion board introductions “to provide incentive and opportunity for students to share their understandings, their culture, and the unique aspects of themselves” (48). Indeed I learned a lot about where my classmates hail from, and that informations is useful, especially in understanding their unique contributions in the discussion forum. This is in contrast to the Moodle sites I was given for my classes. They simply jump right into content.
Knowledge Centered
I think that the MET program allows students to be brought into the “discourse and the knowledge structures that undergird discipline thinking (49) though the readings and videos we are asked to explore throughout the course. We also have to take theory courses to broaden our understanding. I have noticed the same readings assigned several times in different classes and I think this is to make sure that we share the same knowledge base. Knowledge centered classrooms “also need [to give] opportunities to reflect upon their own thinking” (49). Most assignments in the MET program give the opportunity to reflect but in the moodle courses this is never provided. I would like to add more room for this.
Assessment Centered
A problem most instructors and designers face it finding what is “usefully – rather than most easily – assessed” (49) In the MET program this is often solves through peer assessment but are high school students aware enough to make this effective? The Moodle shells I have are entirely assessed summatively. There are tests in some of the courses but much of them is project based. This is fine in my situation but I could see how the marking would be difficult for a teacher with larger class sizes. I would also like to add more formative assessments somehow.
Community Centered
I find that with the MET program being community centered is very important. There are always discussion boards to negotiate ideas and give life to the readings. In additions, there are frequent group projects. Depending on students one class might come to a different understanding of the material than another. I find that with the high school moodle courses, while there is a discussion board, the work is primarily individual. Not much of a community is developed. I try to remedy this by exploring the topic together initially with frequent class discussions I would like to try to put at least some of this into the online environment.
Anderson’s categories present a useful way of thinking about online learning and definitely provide some food for thought when it comes to assignment 2 and modifying my current Moodle shells.
Anderson, T. (2008a). Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton AB: Athabasca University. Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/02_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf
Hi Amber,
Your post provided a great breakdown of perspectives both as a teacher and as a learner. I’d imagine that it is helpful to explore these models as a student while teaching in a blended classroom.
I have to admit that when I started with the MET program, I felt that the community building was very artificial in nature. As someone who connected on social media and through synchronous video chats for Pro-D with colleagues around the world, discussion forums felt weak in comparison. While I still appreciated knowing everyone’s backgrounds, perspectives, and so forth, the connectivity was somewhat impersonal in nature. However, as time has gone on, I’ve gotten used to the format and understand the difficulty associated in creating synchronous opportunities for community building and communication. The challenge you’ll face with this as a teacher is that students will already know each other face-to-face and see each other mostly every day. The social aspects of that community are already established and dynamic; pushing that into another context is a different challenge than in a learning environment that is comprised of adults who are voluntarily choosing to pursue a higher education and seeking to be a part of a knowledge-based community.
Kudos to you for comparing and contrasting these challenges through your post. I’d be interested to hear your reflection after developing Moodle courses through 565A and how you intend to change the utilization of Moodle in your school context.
Victoria
Hi Victoria,
Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! I agree completely with the differences in context that also might create challenges. This whole project is such a learning experience in itself. I find your global PD network fascinating. Our territory is so small, all of the teachers can meet together for conferences and PD once or twice a year. I like the personal connection in that. Having tried video conferencing I find that I am always distracted and I get very little from it. It is very interesting to me how different methods seem to work for different people and then looking at how that might play into online course development. Much to think about.
Hi Amber,
Yes – each to their own for certain. For me, it began with making connections with other teachers on Twitter and learning from watching, reading, and reviewing what they were doing in their classrooms. From that stemmed the need for more personal connections through video conferencing and things like EdCampHome – a completely online edcamp. I found that by connecting with others online, learning and professional work was “just in time” and actionable on an ongoing basis rather than restricted by scheduled meetings. However, I still enjoy the scheduled PD opportunities and learning from and with colleagues face to face.
Victoria
Hi Amber, Hi Victoria;
It is interesting that you both mentioned the challenge of creating an online learning community when learners already know each other in a f2f context. Do you think this is a problem only in K-12 or would the same thing apply in an adult learning environment?
Here in the MET program, we are all motivated to learn and complete our programs by participating fully in an online learning environment. I am curious to know if adults in a blended learning environment would been keen to participate in an online learning community or prefer to wait to interact until they see their classmates in person.
Thanks for the food for thought.
Kind regards,
Tanya