This course has given me a good deal of liberty to create what I wanted to create using learning management systems, specifically moodle. While I did not complete exactly what I had explained in my flight path, I did get a chance to do exactly what I wanted to do, and am now the proud owner of a course which I can publish as I wish.
In my flight path, I described my course being something I would be able to share with my friends who were in the process of creating an online network on Homeschool children. Well, as with many startups, they found differences in what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. One of those was actually concerning intellectual property. Who owned the work, and would the materials be open source? Thus, that project stalled, but I was determined to continue on in the vein I had originally intended.
As mentioned in my flight plan, I still set out to create a Marine Biology module for homeschool children. However, with the liberty of no system to hold me accountable, I applied what I felt best practice and allowed the nature of the course to help determine how I would use various tools, and what would be the best uses of them. In my flight plan, I expressed interest in using social media more in my course. I also committed to ensuring all materials were appropriately sources and referenced.
Within this course, I found myself most often attracted to reading what was in the discussion forums. The perspectives and interpretations of what we were learning by fellow students made it enjoyable, and personalities started to form through the year. While the prescribed course readings offered strong academic insight, I felt that the idea really did not take on a life of its own until discussion started.
I appreciated the start of the unit, wherein Bates(2003) explored frameworks for learning technology. The SECTIONS acronym is both easy to remember and most parts are relevant to the selection. Most schools I have worked at already have an LMS in place, and it is part of my job to make whatever is on tap work. However, using SECTIONS to define specifically which tools in the LMS seems like a good way to adapt it to the more common ways a teacher would work.
The end of LMS as predicted by Spiro (2014) rang true with me as well. However, I think that the LMS will evolve to fit the new roles that are provided as we move towards a greater learner centered approach to Elearning. As I experienced, the social aspects that an LMS can provide in a specific context can be very valuable, and as these evolve and change I am sure we will be looking at a very different form of “Learning Management”. I personally believe that the need for an LMS of sorts will continue, but will evolve in how it is displayed and used.
Other web platforms, such as blogs and social aggregators, will continue to help create that adaptive learning that Spiro discussed. There is a good chance that platforms like Canvas, which aim at integration of a host of apps, will start to take on larger roles in the eLearning sphere.
The most significant readings we did in this course were those by Anderson (2008). These readings really resonated with me. I could instantly see the different spheres coming together: the community centered learning that online learning can bring, as well as the student centered and assessment centered aspects. These taken together really can reinforce key concepts, and more importantly I feel will move beyond the check box worlds of learning outcomes and foster a development of 21st century skills.
Ciampa (2013) also provided a good deal of food for thought. The motivators, both intrinsic and extrinsic, seem essential to explore and understand if you are going to be moving away from the heavy supervision of the classroom and providing students with more autonomy. Lack of motivation is probably one of the greatest barriers to effective learning, and so having a strong understanding of this seems critical to me. His piece also explored a very human side, something which I felt added a great deal of learning and insight into what I was able to take away from the reading.
To that note, the concept of digital storytelling will play a large role in what I do in the future(New Media Consortium, 2014). I would even venture to say I can scrap the “digital” part and incorporate story elements into much of what I do in terms of presenting to the students. I already used this concept extensively in the teacher training courses I just led, and the effect was overwhelmingly positive. I will continue to use the platform of a story to foster excitement and investment into the topic, and encourage my students to do the same.
Looking forward, I really see a strong place for independent study. Homeschooling has moved from a fringe culture activity into the mainstream, and with good reason. The efficiency is incredible, and technology enables people from all walks to follow this. I would like to continue to develop online learning communities which connect people sharing common interests as well as looking for unique ways to explore deeper into ideas. The concept of intrinsically motivated students is so alluring, and from my experience I catch glimpses of it often enough. However, to make that a standard characteristic of learners everywhere… that would truly usher in a new age of learning.
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, A., & Poole, G. (2003). A framework for selecting and using technology. Effective teaching with technology in higher education, 75-105.
Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12036/epdf
New Media Consortium. (2014). NMC Horizon Report 2014: K-12 edition. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2014-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf
Spiro, Kasper (2014). 5 eLearning Trends Leading to the End of the Learning Management System retrieved from: http://elearningindustry.com/5-elearning-trends-leading-to-the-end-of-the-learning-management-system