Prior to starting the MET program I have not enrolled in any online courses. I think that for the most part the courses I have taken have strived to create the learning environment described by Anderson (2008). I would agree with some of my classmates who have argued that “learner-centered” should be renamed “learning”-centered so that the needs of the teacher, institutions and society as a whole are factored in (p.47). Through the course introductions teachers have been able to gain a better understanding of the variety of workplace settings that the students are working in. This provides insight into their prerequisite knowledge. One area that has not particularly been emphasized in the MET courses has been acknowledging cultural variations with respect to how students interpret and build knowledge (pg. 47). I am not certain whether it is because the majority of the students have studied in Canada so there is not much of a need. There may be a need to change in the future if future MET students from overseas enroll in the program.
All of the courses have included a combination of formative and summative assessments in various forms. Some courses have required the completion of three short papers each with progressively greater value in the overall grading of the course. The feedback for these papers were valuable to both the student and teacher to evaluate a sample of writing. The courses all include a final paper or major project component in which the knowledge gained throughout the modules should be applied. Of course, being knowledge-centered is not complete without the opportunities for reflection of one’s own thinking (pg. 49) as evidenced by our ePortfolio in this course.
The community-centered component of Anderson’s learning environment has been quite evident in all the MET courses as well as before starting the program through the MET Forum. The forum allowed new students to start messaging others students/alumni prior to starting the program. This forum allowed me to learn from other students what courses they took and how valuable they found them for their own learning. The community-centered feel becomes more evident I found with each subsequent course you take and realize that you have worked with some classmates in a group project before. The group work has challenged me to become more open to different opinions and come to a consensus when deciding on the direction of project. These collaborative skills are invaluable for dealing with situations in the work place.
In creating meaningful interactions, I will consider the learning objectives and how the knowledge needs to be deployed. The learning technologies will serve to provide multimodal options for the learners such that differing learning styles are considered. A combination of both synchronous and asynchronous communications channels will enable both the introverted and extroverted learners to benefit.
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
I appreciated your careful reflection on the course thus far, through the lens provided by Anderson, Edwin! The group work is never short of challenging, but as you said it always provides opportunities to learn from working with others. Your point about cultural considerations is a sound one – I’ve often wondered in my own teaching with international students how this should best be addressed. So far I’ve tried to take a ‘blended’ approach (to borrow the term), by both building lessons that try to take into consideration their cultural backgrounds and ways of constructing knowledge, AND pushing them to adopt what we might consider ‘Canadian’ ways, since they all plan on staying here to study in the post-secondary system. Do you have any thoughts on how this could be best done?
Cheers,
– Kate
Hi Edwin,
I also want to comment on the points you raised about cultural considerations. This is a topic I’m fascinated by, both because my previous university experience centred on cultural studies, and also because I’m a Canadian teaching Chinese students in mainland China. The area I’m personally struggling with, especially when faced with Anderson’s point-of-view, is how to apply “Western” thinking and pedagogy in a non-Western environment? Also, is it appropriate to do so? Your point about possible changes in the MET program really grabbed my attention.
I just attended a 21st-century learning conference in Hong Kong, and, after learning about the ISTE standards in this course, I was psyched to attend a session on the topic. The session focused on how the standards are being refreshed and we were invited to give feedback here. The speaker, Matt Harris, encouraged us to participate in the feedback process so there would be more “international” feedback, admitting that, so far, the feedback was mostly from Americans. This made me wonder–should I implement standards that, while from the International Society for Technology in Education, are heavily influenced by American (or Western) thinking? How fair (maybe not the right word) it is to use these standards in a Chinese-Canadian school where the culture of education isn’t exactly the same as in Western countries? Am I glad I learned about the ISTE standards? Yes! Do I think they’re useful? Yes! Are they a “one size fits all” resource? I’m not sure. Perhaps there is room for more international perspectives and resources in the MET program. But, this is my first course, so don’t want to make assumptions about it. What are others’ experiences? Any comments?
Hi Meghan and Kate,
Thanks for your responses. My initial ideas are to expand the theory of Online Learning with respect to cultural considerations. Given that online learning reduces barriers of access there are no longer geographical boundaries. Perhaps each course online could include a disclaimer stating the particular cultural norms that exists in the country that the course has been published in. This will enable learners from other countries with different cultural norms to compare/contrast with their own practices. By reflecting on the similarities and differences learners can gain greater insight into other cultures in online learning spaces without having to physically visit those places. Alternatively, in our discussion forums there could be a space to freely identify cultural differences than what is presented in the course. At least this provides an avenue for students to be heard and course facilitators to be gain greater awareness of the context of their students.
Edwin
Hello Edwin,
Great discussion point! I am going to throw a twist into the discussion with a few questions (which I think you might appreciate).
Can it be accurately stated that a country has particular cultural norms that apply to all from that country? For example, I am Canadian, but might describe some of my cultural norms as quite different from non-First Nations people who are also Canadian.
Is culture essentialist and defined by nationality? Again, to use the personal example, I would argue that it isn’t. My cultural values about effective education often stand in stark contrast to some “cultural” norms in some post-secondary environments in Canada.
I often find myself getting a little “prickly” when UBC course discussions that focus on understanding multiple cultural perspectives go directly to international interactions and ignore some very real issues of cultural divides between First Nations and other Canadians. It is an interesting to (repeatedly) watch happen.
Thanks for the opportunity to raise this point.
Having said that, I appreciate the idea that a stipulation could be made that the education related cultural norms of the host institution would apply to online courses. However, I have found that even within this program, there have been a wide range of expectation with regards to the courses. While there are some institution and course similarities, there are more differences than similarities between courses due to the different educational values of the instructors.
Warm regards,
Jo
Hi
It is very interesting to read all the feedback on Edwin post. I come from the Middle East and I have lived for 4 years in Montreal. I think of learning as something not connected to culture when it comes to online learning, yet culture literacy is required to build a proper learning environment. What does that mean? Simply it is not possible for the instructor to realise the different cultures of learners who just signed up to her/his course. Which means that logically the course instructional design is not a learning-centric. So what can we do? if we can! I suggest that the first activity is not to introduce yourself, yet is to prepare an assignment that reflects your culture in a way. An assignment that both the instructor and your peers can learn about this unknown culture and thus become somehow literate in it. The course should have a base design yet not a finished one. After the instructor grasps the different cultures then it is possible to finalise the course structure to accommodate for the new inputs about the cultural differences. We also need to understand that each course creates its own culture. For example this course being on word press with this design and this feel “UI” is a culture by itself and to blend in it we need some time. I remember the first course I joined at the MET it took me a while to understand what is the norm “the culture” but now I am part of the culture. Online culture we can call it 🙂
I do recommend the assignments that adapts learning to culture. My first Masters degree was all about how to take our learning and deploy it inside our company and come up with findings and results.
Hi Nidal,
thank you for contributing with your personal experience as someone being “outside” and “inside.” Interesting idea to start the course with an assignment “that reflects your culture”. The introductions are doing that in a way, but not with a specific focus on culture. My invitation at the beginning of the course asked you to post a photo that you like. It was an attempt to avoid the usual “my bio” structure and bring some of the personal and cultural in it. However, it wasn’t an intentional zoom into the cultural impact on teaching and learning.
I like the idea of non-structured, open flowing design of the course. i have been thinking about it for a while. Again, what works for one, may not work for another and some people like structure and defined routes. It could be quite a leap.
Natasha
Hi Nidal and Natasha,
Nidal, thanks for sharing your perspective!
I want to comment on both Nidal and Natasha’s comments. While I see the benefit of having a less-structured course format to allow for change based on input from the students, I personally feel that it runs dangerously close to being so learner-centred that the learners may end up having most of the control and the facilitator may end up being a curator responding the whims and demands. There’s nothing wrong with this approach–it’s a great way to learn, but I think this type of format would be better suited in student-led courses. For example, during my undergrad there was a student-led seminar course where upper year students would curate a course for first year students with guidance from a faculty adviser–from what I understand, it was well-received by both groups of students and was offered in each of the four years that I attended university. I’m not sure of its status now.
I’m all for taking culture into consideration when designing a course (offline or F2F), but at some point there has to be a bit on constraint. The point that always brings me back to reality in my professional life is remembering that my students (or their families) chose to attend a Chinese/Canadian high school, so there is some expectation that there will be a Western influence. So, that’s why I proceed slowly–I take into account the cultural norms of Chinese education, then try to open the students up to different approaches.
–Meghan
Hello Nidal,
It is interesting that you see “learning as something not connected to culture when it comes to online learning”. Is it because you see online learning as transcending cultural differences in learning (i.e. “culture free”? Have you read Negotiating Cultures in Cyberspace: Participation Patterns and Problematics (2004)? It presents an interesting counter- argument to that.
Jo
Hello Jo
I guess we have a misunderstanding. I explained that a culture exists online that is somehow different from the normal culture we know. It takes time to blend with it but as soon as you do you will behave the same way as everybody else within this online culture. Similar to what we are doing now… this portal is part of the online culture and regardless of my culture norms I can only reach you through this portal and I need to adapt and blend in its culture in order to do so
Hi Meghan,
I agree that less structured course needs a good planing so that it doesn’t turn into a chaos.
It is also true that in multicultural engagements, we often want to learn about other cultures than to stay inside our own. We have been working on developing some courses for the teachers in a refugee camps in Dadaab (Kenya). Since no one from our team has ever been in Kenya, we had numerous questions about the environment, conditions, context – in general, about culture. Both from the instructors who visited them, as well as from the local support, we heard over and over again how the students want to learn about Western cultures and North American ways of teaching. They were familiar with their own, and knowing more about others didn’t mean giving up their culture, just broadening their horizons.
Natasha