Flight Path

The journey here

I work as an e-learning instructional designer for a non-profit organization. The majority of my work is on self-directed modules. The convenience and independence of this method of learning delivery fits the needs of our audience – it’s there when they’re ready, when they need it, and at any time of day – but students complete modules without a cohort there to support them.

When I started the MET program, I approached online learning primarily from a behaviourist perspective, but since then I have been won over by constructivism, in particular situated cognition.  However, the nature of the modules I work on do not lend themselves to constructivist approaches, particularly because the social nature of learning is largely absent.

My goals for this course relate to the following questions:

1. How can I use technology to build social interaction around the modules?

If “higher mental processes in humans develop through social interactions” (Driscoll, 2005, p. 396), then the modules I create will not result in this. Perhaps, however, there are technological tools that reside outside of the modules that can. I am interested in how I can creatively use existing social media tools (or the content or learning management system versions of them) to support learning without having a designated cohort to do this. How can the learning or content management system structures that host the modules support the “contacts between students and faculty” and development of “reciprocity and cooperation among students” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987) they currently lack?

2. What does meaningful assessment look like in this environment?

The NETS outline (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008) stresses the importance of creating “multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and [using] resulting data to inform learning and teaching.” Assessment is such an important part of learning, but it is the area about which I feel I know the least. My goal is to evaluate my evaluations, so to speak, in order to increase my confidence that they are actually assessing learning, rather than the student’s ability to temporarily remember something or navigate an inauthentic simulation.

I have never been confident of the usefulness of multiple choice tests, and would like strategies and guidance around developing evaluations using the tools provided by Moodle. In addition, I am interested in how self-reflection exercises can be used – even when there’s nobody else to read or review them – to enhance the assessment process.

Wrap Up

The MET program has been an excellent mixture of theory and practice, but what I am hoping to do in my final courses is continue to put the theory I’ve learned into practice. My job is an ongoing forum for me to practice as well, but the experience of practicing within an academic context where the focus is on quality and thought is what I hope to maximize during this last year of the degree.

References

Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987).  Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.  American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7. Retrieved from:
http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm.

Driscoll, M.P. (2005). Psycochology of Learning for Instruction. Toronto, ON: Pearson.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm.