Distance Education Diffusion MD 2

In reflecting on three likely elements of DE which is creating a more successful learning experience, collaborative interaction plays a vital role and has evolved greatly. In looking at a traditional classroom the collaborative structure and opportunities play an important role in offering students effective educative experiences. The issue though, pertaining to collaborative interaction as it pertains to DE, has always been the lack of a physical classroom. Yet, thanks to learning management systems such as Blackboard, collaboration within discussion forums have been able to help facilitate learning collaboratively more easily. Other programs such as Skype, a video conferencing program, can also offer methods for collaborative interaction without the necessity of a physical presence in a classroom. Twitter and blogging forums are also great places for a student to build their professional network and constantly interact with fellow students, again emphasizing the benefits and conveniences of distance education.

Presentation for DE Conference

Static vs Dynamic Technology in Distance Education

Technology and Media for Distance Education

In reviewing various forms of technology applicable to distance education, I find that though I embrace dynamic technologies in some areas I still utilize more static technologies in others. For example, identifying possible dynamic technologies I realized that in collaboration I use more dynamic tools in my classroom with the use and promotion of blogs, wikis, and Google Docs. However, I struggled determining content generation tools that were dynamic thus realizing that I must not use many dynamic content generation tools. This was a humbling realization because I pride myself on student creation opportunities in my class and a project-based learning approach yet the tools and technology I incorporate in my classes may not be dynamic. Bearing this in mind, I intend on doing more research into possible technologies and programs which offer students dynamic learning experiences, especially in content generation.

Non-negotiables in Teaching Today

Teaching to the way our students learn is a non-negotiable facet of teaching all educators and supporters of education must be willing to embrace. The way today’s students have evolved is a perfect example of this necessity. The students in classrooms today are completely different than those of decades past, with both groups being products of the time period and societies they live in. Since our society is different from the past, so too are our students, and so too must be our ways of teaching those students. Although there are facets of theories and teaching practices which will always be applicable someway in teaching any group, to blindly follow past theories is like trying to fit a square block in a round hole. Bearing this in mind, educators must be willing to adapt and change with their students to stay relevant and affective in the learning journey of the students.

Having said this, the inclusion of educational technology into the learning process and the adoption of newer learning theories such as connectivism must be accepted by teachers and educational supporters. Today’s students are constantly connected to information and often rarely seen without some type of web based device in their presence. As teachers we have to use this fixation with technology to our advantage instead of fighting it because, both society, and today’s students now learn with this constant access to information. Teachers and administrators need to look at these devices, not from the lens of them being a distraction, but as a valuable learning tool which can engage and excite today’s learners. Once again I am reminded of an old teaching adage which applies nicely to this idea. “If you cannot learn from how I teach, then I will teach in a way you can learn.” Education and its members have to adhere to this saying and change with the times or risk wasting a perfect opportunity to reach today’s students and those of the future.

Obviously the use of technology within a class can be very overwhelming for anyone who is not comfortable with technology. However, if this generation of students are in fact the digital age, then the use of technology to teach and motivate them is almost a necessity. I have had numerous opportunities when it comes to technology in my classroom (iPads in the classroom, first in my school to get a Smartboard, etc.) and have benefited greatly from these opportunities. Like most situations with these opportunities came the responsibilities of sharing my experiences and knowledge which I enjoyed. Although most of those experience have been very rewarding I do remember an incident where I felt I lost the focus of my fellow colleagues. I was teaching during a professional development about numerous technologies able to implement in the classroom and I quickly learned I had probably overwhelmed my group. Many of them were not comfortable with technology and that discomfort combined with too much information proved disastrous. Pertaining to the ARCS model I had left out a crucial piece of information: confidence. I was moving at a speed to advance for my group of learners which could have been easily avoided had I simply polled their experience/comfort level with technology prior to the development beginning. One I realized I had a group of learners not as comfortable with technology I could have adjusted accordingly and went a slower speed to ensure they did not check out due to a lack of confidence. Had I done this I probably would have created a positive experience with technology in their classroom which could have served as motivation for them to continue their learning about technology’s use the classroom.

In looking at this Mind Map of my connections there are some interesting patterns that I notice. First my learning has changes and my networking has evolved with it. Most of my learning is now internet based and many of the connections I use to influence and facilitate that learning are network dependant. Although that is probably expected with the nature of Walden's learning platform it is a far cry from the way I learned in my undergrad days at a brick and mortar university. Secondly, in my professional network there are numerous technologies which I use to connect to my students and fellow colleagues. I use a lot of technology in my teaching craft but I did not realize how much was intertwined with technology until completing this mind map. Digitial tools that work best for me are those which allow me to take in new knowledge and apply it to my goal or craft and when posed with new questions I now use my constant connectivity to help verify and craftt any responses I might have.  

Constructivist Learning and Technolgy Ed Tech 8845 MD 3

I do think that humans have a natural affinity for social learning yet, being a middle school teacher I do see some resistance to group work at times. I feel much of this resistance derives from negative social/group experiences had by the student. However, prior to that negative schema occurring, I do feel humans naturally progress in social structures and are highly inclined to group work. The difficulty an educator has is to to help these students get passed those prior negative emotions relating to group work and to begin to build positive experiences thus creating new schema.

            Technology seems to help students bypass some of the negative feelings they may have with group work, especially if that technology is current. The allure of using relevant technology often supersedes any negative feelings of the group work concept and I find that technology lends itself greatly to cooperative learning techniques. Delivering a lesson using constructivist approaches promotes the benefits of the technology by making the learning experience more student centered. Also, students can be eager to help those who may struggle with the technology creating opportunities for collaboration where some may not have existed if the technology was not being used. In a study evaluating the usage of mobile technology in a middle school math class one of the observations found were the surprising willingness of students to help those who were struggling with the technology. This excitement to use and help those less familiar with the technology not only promote cooperative learning but also can help to create a stronger bond between the classmates and educator within the class.

Resources:                                                

Franklin, T., & Li-Wei Peng. (2008). Mobile math: Math educators and students engage in mobile learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 20(2), 69-80. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12528-008-9005-0