This is my first experience with an online course so I do not have anything to compare it to, and, as we are in the middle of this course, I can not fully reflect on my experience yet. My lack of experience with online courses really makes this discussion post difficult for me, so I’m going to focus on how I would approach creating meaningful interactions.
When I finished the Anderson (2008) reading, my first thought was, “How can I add interactivity while honouring the culture of my students?” Anderson does state that “[a] learner-centred context is not one in which the whims and peculiarities of each individual learner are slavishly catered to” (p.47) and I completely agree. If that were the case, everyone in the world would need to be a course designer in order to make a course that’s perfect for every student. However, interactivity is a contentious topic at my school. While my school is moving toward 21st-century learning and teaching, overwhelmingly we’re still focused on student-content interaction. Teachers and students have been reprimanded for classrooms being disorderly or too loud. I’ll admit, the traditional Chinese teaching style is traditionally student-content interaction–students read, students listen to a lecture, students complete homework, students get feedback, repeat. Relying on this type of interaction alone is the complete opposite of what Anderson suggests, so, of course, my knee-jerk reaction is to start adding other types of interaction immediately. But I am cautious and unsure of how to proceed because it’s important to understand that this is the culture of learning my students are accustomed to. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say they prefer it, it is habit and habits are hard to break.
This brings me back to Anderson’s (2008) comment that, for learner-centred approaches, teachers must respect cultural attributes (p.47). Student-content interaction (as I described it earlier) is a cultural attribute of learning in Chinese schools. I recognize that, as students of a Chinese-Canadian school, students are required to face both Chinese and Canadian cultural attributes, in fact, that is a part of our mission statement. The question is, how best to implement additional types of interaction for our incoming grade 10 students who may know nothing but student-content interaction?
I think the answer is implement slowly with a lot of scaffolding. Anderson (2008) mentions scaffolding in his discussion of knowledge-centred approaches to learning so students can grow their own knowledge (p.49). My previous experience in introducing various types of interactivity (not technology based–I’m talking group work, and peer review activities) is that the students don’t know how to handle new experiences unless they are prepared. I haven’t been using learning technology for interactions beyond student-content yet, so the rest of this post is hypothetical–it is how I propose I will prepare for and use learning technology to help create meaningful interactions.Choose wisely.
Step 1: Choose wisely.
Anderson (2008) says that a challenge of Assessment-Centred approaches is “understanding what is most useful — rather than most easily – assessed is challenging” (p49). While this refers to choosing assessment tools, it applies to using learning technology to create interaction as well. I need to balance what will work for me, what will work for the students, and what will work within the constraints of our tech systems (ultimately, I imagine that I will rely on Bates’ (2014) SECTIONS model). Navigating the needs and constraints will be challenging, but not impossible.
Step 2: Start slow.
When I’ve chosen an appropriate avenue for interaction, I will start slowly. While immersing students in an interactive environment could shock them into adapting, I don’t think that’s the best course of action. I think the best option, in the beginning, is to continue with student-content interaction, adding the features Anderson (2008) mentions that the Web affords (virtual labs, online computer-assisted learning tutorials, etc) (p.58). Then, introduce student-student interactivity; I would love to begin with peer review and online group work.
Step 3: Challenge students at a steady pace.
As the students become more accustomed to interactivity beyond student-content, I propose to continue adding opportunities for interactivity in a manner that challenges the students, while maintaining a steady pace. Anderson (2008) suggests that we need theory to take advantage of the NET and to avoid obsolete contexts (p.46). That being said, if I do not continue to introduce different opportunities for interaction at a steady pace, there is a risk of being left behind as affordances of the NET advance beyond the abilities and comfort levels of my students. The area that my students need to be exposed to the most is engaging with content without a teacher dictating what they need to find. I think my students would benefit from working together in groups–it’s essential for their post-secondary experiences and it’s something they don’t get to practice enough. However, student-student interaction is difficult in grade 10 because the culture here is pro “helping” (cheating, copying) and it takes time to move past “helping” to mutually beneficial interactions. But, we do make a dent in it–it’s just that it takes time and reinforcement.
I know that my approach is dangerous in that I seem to be catering to my students needs, thus creating a situation where I could quickly experience burnout. It’s not a perfect approach, but I think it’s a start for balancing the current teaching/learning environment and the demand for added interaction.
It’s a shame that, at this moment, this is only a hypothetical situation for me–the climate and timing are not right for a making drastic changes to the program. However, my situation does reinforce Anderson’s (2008) argument for the use of a theoretical framework when approaching online learning and it has definitely helped me in my considerations for my Moodle course and it is something I will refer to when I am ready to make a move and start making changes to my course.
References
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
Bates, T. (2014) Teaching in a digital age. (Chapter 8). Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
Meghan, I don’t think it matters that this is your first online course. You’ve done an excellent job at giving an in depth analysis of your teaching position and the challenges you’ll face bringing Western epistemologies and pedagogy to an Eastern system of education. Having worked overseas myself for years I completely understand the monumental task you have ahead of you. Students who have spent their lives memorizing and testing do not like being confronted with critical thinking, or work where there isn’t just one right answer. Especially in China, a country where students define their self-worth by their grades, anything that muddles (in their minds) the path to an A would be distrusted and disliked. I think your plan of introducing these ideas slowly is important to finding success. Perhaps the key would be helping students to understand the connection this way of thinking may be assigned grades in order to bring about the joy in knowledge and intrinsic motivation that is every teacher’s dream. You have quite the challenge ahead. I wish you all the best!
Amber
Hi Amber,
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Meghan,
Although Anderson talks about about online learning, the attributes he identifies apply to any kind of learning. The online environment may require different tools and techniques to achieve them, but different types of interactions are happening regardless of course format. You have a lot to say about those, as is evident from your posting. We may be only in the middle of your first online learning experience, but you can already see how it impacts your understanding of the issues. I agree that we need time distance to reflect on experiences, but we can also recognize the effects while in the midst of them. Your “looking back” will only become richer and more comprehensive as you go through the program.
I think your approach to change is good, it has to happen slowly and wisely, as you said. Culture is very important and it has to be respected. It makes us who we are and it is hard to change, and that could be both good and bad.
Natasha
Hi Natasha,
I did focus quite heavily on the online part. I’m always nervous that I’ll go into too much detail about my specific situation and challenges and, reflecting on my application of Anderson’s take on attributes of learning and interactivity would have seen me writing a novel. Looking back, I think it may have been more useful if I had reflected on my day-to-day practices, then I could use my reflection to inform my (future) approach to developing to online interactions and applying the learning attributes. I often find myself stuck in a rut, where the rut is my current point of view–that’s why I like the comments I receive–they push me out of the rut, which is a nice change for me!
Hi Meghan;
I’m impressed by how much you’ve challenged your own thinking about education, especially since your teaching context contrasts heavily with Western education values. I would never have guessed that this was your first course.
If you ever get the chance, I’d suggest looking into taking 565G-Culture & Communication. It is all about the importance of taking cultural differences into consideration when designing learning environments. People’s different learning preferences needs to be acknowledged and respected. We can’t cater to everyone’s needs all the time, and sometimes what we need is to be moved outside of our comfort zone. However, if our goal is to have our learners succeed, then we need to enable them to do that without forcing them to completely abandon their cultural beliefs.
Best of luck!
Tanya
Hi Tanya. Thank you so much for your kind comment–I’ll be honest, the first few weeks in the course I was suffering from imposter syndrome–I thought I didn’t belong and that I wasn’t contributing to the course in a meaningful way. Your feedback reinforces my (recent) feeling that I’m not an imposter at all–I just have different experiences. However, the sense of community in this course also helped relieve my feeling of being an imposter. Everyone is helpful and the feedback I receive in the way of comments and suggestions just blows me away–it’s been great.
Thanks for the tip about the course–it’s on my list of courses that I want to take and, after your description, I’m even more excited to take it.
Hi Meghan,
I echo Tanya’s suggestion re ETEC 565G. It should be a mandatory course for everybody, and I think might be quite interesting given your teaching context.
Jo