The Reflective Synopsis: My learning to date…
"We complain
that learners want to be spoon-fed, but then we won't let them hold the spoon."
Jane
Bozarth
“The most important
principle for designing lively eLearning is to see eLearning design not as information
design but as designing an experience.” Cathy Moore
“eLearning doesn't
just "happen"! It requires careful planning and implementation”. Anonymous
The three quotes (Shift Disruptive Learning site, 2013,) and
the sign above, sum up my current thoughts on eLearning. But what is eLearning
I wondered eight weeks ago? As a teacher
and librarian (trained separately for each role) two orientations of an
eLearning definition, provided by Sangra, Vlachopoulos and Cabrera (2012), resonated
within my personal concept. Firstly, I lean towards the education-paradigm-oriented definition more so,
that is - transformation or improvement of an existing educational paradigm. The
communication-oriented definition - communication, interaction and collaboration
tools for learning also contains key terms that I believe are significant to an
eLearning definition particularly when I am wearing my librarian “hat”. My Current Practice - Learning and the
Learner
provides background to my context.
Important to
an understanding of designing and facilitating with eLearning is a good grasp
of learning theory concepts. My concept map so far illustrates how I relate learning theory within
the education environment I work in. Social constructivism (Lev Vygotsky) is a significant
theory to comprehend to effectively
weave ICT into the classroom as per the SAMR Model of ICT integration, particularly at the transformation levels. In
planning professional development activities for my own staff sharing of the
SAMR model (Puentedura, 2003) would be something that I think could be grasped
and utilised by all. My deeper understanding of theory and how ICT can be
better integrated will provide more direction to the planning of professional
development within my school.
My new
knowledge gained from my scooped artifacts such as Bloomin Apps and the Flipped Classroom has opened my thinking on how eLearning can
be better worked into unit and lesson planning. Prior to my research, I based
my knowledge on this approach to learning on Education Queensland’s 2013 Project
600 of which I was a facilitator but I now realise eLearning is so much more. The Scoopit! artifacts in the
topic SAMR Transformational eLearning have already impacted on my current
practice. I am now looking at how to modify and redefine learning tasks for
senior students to better provide
opportunities for them to be connected, creative and global learners who are
becoming “knowledge able” rather than just knowledgeable (Wesch, 2012). I have
even opened my thinking to appreciate the value of serious gaming as a way of
motivating students and differentiating learning experiences. Some examples of
how this could be done are included in the artifact curation of Gaming: Leveling Up Global Competence.
Collaborative
online learning – I love it! I am a social learner and greatly benefit from the
sharing of ideas and opinions. The collegial sharing prompts and expands my
thinking in a non-threatening environment. Provision of lots of visuals during web
conferencing has fit well with my learning style. Perhaps the only negative is I
do sometimes feel pressure if time constraints are applied but this is more
about not sharing in time for my peers to be able to provide feedback. I
believe I am becoming a more modern and connected teacher by experiencing
collaborative learning first hand. I
have an increasing desire to design project based learning for my students to
strengthen the 21st Century personal qualities (Employability Skills,
Australian Government, 2013), they will require to be successful in this
digital age.
Reference
List
Department of Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations. (2013). Employability Skills. Retrieved August 17, 2013,
from http://deewr.gov.au/employability-skills
Learning Theories.com. Constructivism. Retrieved
August 14, 2013.from http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html
Puentedura,
R. (2003, July 15). Ruben R. Puentedura's Weblog. Hippasus. Retrieved August 14,
2013, from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/
Sangra, A. Vlachopoulos, D. and Cabrera, N. (2012), Retrieved August 14, 2013, from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1161/2146
SHIFT’s
eLearning Blog. Retrieved August 17, 2013, from http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/295365/16-eLearning-Quotes-to-Inspire-You-SlideShare
Wesch, M. (2012, March 22). Michael Wesch
on Knowledgeable vs. Knowledge-able - YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved August 17,
2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z56SNAQNOqs&list=PLA3FB753E843A762D&index=2
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