Reflective posts – Cailin Washington

Reflection 4

Throughout this course, there has been so much valuable information offered. It is clear that there are so many different aspects to learning, and it is hard to decide what is most important. After careful consideration, I have chosen 3 concepts that I think are most important to open learning.

The first concept I have chosen is inclusivity. I believe that inclusivity is fundamental in any kind of learning, and if the general goal of teaching is to have students successfully learn, then having an inclusive design is non-negotiable. Inclusiveness has to do with the idea of providing a range of different tools that the student can select themselves in order to help them learn (Inclusive Learning Design Handbook, n.d.). I think this is one of the most important things when it comes to learning because if a person does not have the right tools to help them learn, then they are less likely to be successful. I firmly believe that everyone should have equal opportunity to learn, regardless of their abilities, environment, or learning style, and inclusivity helps to do that.

The second concept I have chosen is media richness. This has to do with the different aspects that can be added to certain media which increase its ability to communicate with the audience (Bates, 2019). For example, an animation video would increase its richness if it contained audio. Often a resource increases its richness if it has more than one component that communicates knowledge. Bates (2019) uses the example of how a video is richer than radio, and this is because radio relies on a single medium (audio) as opposed to a video which can use multiple. I think this is an important concept because the more resources out there that are rich with information as well as the way they communicate that information, the better the chances are that students will be successful. As well, if a resource uses different mediums then more people will be able to use the resource. So, people who learn with sound can learn from the same video that others use learning with visuals. Linking this back to the previous concept I discussed, it makes the resource more inclusive.

The last concept I have chosen is the space and time dimensions of media. This has to do with when and where learning is facilitated (Bates, 2019). It also largely has to do with the overall flexibility of learning for the students (Bates, 2019). There are four main ideas related to time and space dimensions which are live, recorded, synchronous, and asynchronous, and all of these affect the flexibility of learning. This is really important when it comes to learning because if a course is overly flexible or not flexible enough, it can affect a student’s ability to stay on track, and ultimately learn. Finding the right balance of how much flexibility a course has is fundamental and should be carefully considered.

Two concepts that I would like to spend more time understanding are metadata and sonification. One question I would like to ask is what advances are being made to implement personalized learning more into the school system, and will there ever be a time where standardized testing/learning is exempt from our schools?

Bates, T. (2019). Understanding technology in education. https://via.hypothes.is/https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadi gitalagev2/part/chapter-8-understanding-technology/

Inclusive Learning Design Handbook from OCAD University. https://via.hypothes.is/https://handbook.floeproject.org/

Reflection 3

The most memorable online learning experience that I have had would be in this semester in another online course that I am taking. This course focuses on interactive multimedia and consists of creating tools to help people learn something. For example, one of the projects we had to complete was creating a comic strip that taught a targeted audience something. Whatever the topic was about, it needed to do something that myself and my partner had already mastered. This can be related to the Learning and Teaching as Communicative Actions (LTCA) theory, specifically the dramaturgical communicative actions. Dramaturgical communicative actions are those that allow the learner to reflect and create something based on the knowledge they now possess (Crosslin, 2018). I have found the projects within that particular class really engaging because I not only get to explain things that I have already mastered, but I get to “teach” it in a new way. Until that class I had never thought that a comic strip could be used to teach someone a concept. However, after creating my own and then getting the chance to review other students’ work, it became clear to me that comics can indeed be a very useful learning tool. And going back to the idea of dramaturgical communication actions, it was interesting to be learning but be showing mastery at the same time. On one hand I was learning how to use the software in which you create the comic strip, but on the other I was showing mastery of the topic my comic was about.

Another memorable thing from that online class is learning how rich media can be for learning. Another project we had was making a screencast video teaching viewers how to do something on a computer. Bates (2019) says that video media is always richer than a textbook simply because it has more than one thing going on. Video often has audio and visuals, which can enhance someone’s learning more so than just an audio or visual. Making the screencast video was an interesting process, and I learned that there was much more to think about. For example, I had to make sure that I was explaining things properly and that I was being clear but also making sure that what I was doing on the screen was matching what I was saying. I know that having the audio and visual in sync was important, and was definitely more difficult that expected. Here is the screencast video myself and my partner made!

Speaking of synchronicity, the last thing I would like to discuss is the semi-synchronous structure of this online course. This course was asynchronous in a way because we were able to conduct the projects whenever we wanted, as all the information we needed was accessible from day one. However, there was some synchronicity in that there were still hard deadlines for the projects. This meant that students could do the projects whenever they wanted, but still had to hand them in on a certain day. I found this to be useful because I could get ahead if I wanted to, but also had some structure to guide myself.

Bates, T. (2019). Understanding technology in education. https://via.hypothes.is/https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadi gitalagev2/part/chapter-8-understanding-technology/

Crosslin, M. (2018). Effective Practices in Distributed and Open Learning. https://via.hypothes.is/https://uta.pressbooks.pub/onlinelearning/cha pter/chapter-5-effective-practices/

Reflection 2

Based on my understanding, the difference between online educational content and openly licenced educational content is licencing. Online educational content is a very broad and vague term that can really mean any resource that is educational that you can find online. Openly licenced resources on the other hand are a bit more specific. This type of resource is completely free (something not guaranteed with online educational content) and is licenced to protect the creator and user. The main licencing that is used is called Creative Commons which essentially says that anyone can use a resource as long as they give recognition to the original creator, other than that, they can use it however they wish (OER Africa, 2020). There are also three distinguished kinds of openly licenced content; Open Courseware, Open Educational Resources, and Massive Open Online Courses. Open Courseware is an open course in which all the components of the course are available. Open Educational Resources are resources that have a licence on them that allows free usage. Massive Open Online Courses are online courses that have unlimited numbers of participants and are free to students.

The Open Educational Resource I have chosen to use for this assignment is Wise Owl Factory. This is a free website that provides free educational crafts, projects, experiments, and resources. Based on the evaluation guide provided by OER Africa I have reviewed the relevance, accuracy, production quality, accessibility, interactivity, and licencing of this resource. It is certainly relative to classroom activities, and the accuracy and quality of the materials are good. It is very accessible as long as one has access to the internet. As well, there are not any video resources on this site, so there is no need to worry about closed captions. and the resources that are free to print off promote participation in the classroom. Lastly, the licencing is open on this website allowing reuse of the materials.

Regarding Open Educational Resources in my own life, I can definitely see myself using them for my job. I work at an out of school care program currently and I partake in a lot of program planning. While out of school care’s main focus is not educational crafts and activities, there certainly is still a factor of learning involved whether it be teaching them a new game or explaining a new art technique. Wise Owl Factory is an open resource that I will be using in my professional life. There are many different projects and activities that can be used in order to engage children in doing something fun, but also informative.

With Valentines Day coming up, I thought this would be a fun game to play with my group at work. It doubles as colouring and BINGO as it is in black and white – two activities in one!

References

Finding Open Content Tutorial: OER Africa. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oerafrica.org/book/finding-open-content-tutorial

Wise Owl Factory. (2020, February 5). Retrieved from https://www.thewiseowlfactory.com/

Reflection 1

The concepts of instructor-centered and student-centered learning are new to me but do not feel unfamiliar. I say this because I think I have a general idea of what the two things are, but never had the words such as instructor-centered or student-centered to use. Looking back at my own educational experiences I think my teachers did a good job of integrating both kinds of learning into the classroom. I remember listening to my teachers explain something new, but also remember having a lot of time to practice those new skills on our own. I took an online course in my third year and it was a very different experience in comparison to my courses on campus. There are obvious reasons why they would be different, but the biggest difference that I noticed was being able to do the coursework whenever I decided. There wasn’t a determined time every week or day that I was expected to do the work, as I was able to do it when I found the time. This helped me to become more of a “self-determined learner” (Crosslin, 2018, para 3). One con that I would point out is that there are a lot of opportunities to procrastinate. I am certainly guilty of doing that sometimes, and if the student can’t be self-determined then they most likely would not succeed in a class like that. For me personally, I really enjoy having student-centered learning experiences, and I think that having online classes has helped me be more self-determined even in my courses on campus.

Asynchronous and synchronous learning are interesting and are also new concepts to me. I can see how both types of learning can be beneficial. Synchronous learning can work well because everyone is learning together in real time (Crosslin, 2018), which can make it easier to connect with other classmates. Asynchronous can also be beneficial because there is more autonomy and students have the freedom to learn on their own time and pace (Crosslin, 2018). An interesting point Crosslin (2018) makes about asynchronous learning is that it might be better suited for adults who usually have things going on outside of school such as work. Perhaps synchronous learning would be more beneficial for elementary to high school classrooms, and asynchronous would be better when it comes to post-secondary schooling.

Based on the readings, my understanding is that connectivism has to do with connecting everything and anything in order to further ones learning. Crosslin (2018) mentions that connectivism involves networking to gain information. To me, networking implies a social aspect – reaching out to people and having discussions about a certain topic. I think it also means having people to go to when you need help understanding something and vice versa. On the other hand, for Siemens (2005), it seems that connectivism is broader than that and can include making connections yourself between certain concepts or subjects which shows a more in depth understanding. I personally think both authors have valid understandings of connectivism. In relation to the other concepts I previously discussed, I think it is clear that connectivism is essential in any kind of learning.