Learning to Teach with Raquel

Part 1: Evidence & Reflections

EDCI 339 – Topic 1 Reflection & Evidence of Learning

EDCI 339 – Topic 2 reflection and evidence

EDCI 339 – Topic 3 Reflection and Evidence

EDCI 339 – Topic 4 Evidence and Reflection

Part 2: Narrative on the Future of Open and Online Learning

Resources:

Bali, B., Cronin, C., Czerniewicz, L., DeRosa, R. & Jhangiani, R. (2020) Open at the Margins. Rebus Community Pressbooks. Retrieved from: https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Cronin. C. (2019). Open education: Walking a critical path. In D. Conrad, & P. Prinsloo (Eds.), Open(ing) Education: Theory and Practice. Leiden: Brill. Open Access Version http://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/4345/

FIPPA. Freedom of information and protection of privacy regulation. (n.d.). https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/155_2012.

Porter, D. (2020). Open Educational Resources. Dr. David Porter – Open Educational Resources (Technologies for Literacies) (44:36)

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 6 – 1999 E-Learning. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/2f403890-5fb5-431a-baf8-876144a4656d#ch06

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 11 – Open Educational Resources. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/ad633722-07b5-494f-80e7-a572f543bc1c#ch11

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 4 – Constructivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/0442be0f-0347-40eb-9c19-de80b7e13d47#ch04

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 17 –Connectivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69#ch17

Weller, M. (2018, August). Twenty Years of Edtech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech

Individual Discussion Post:

Prompt – How can equitable access to authentic, meaningful & relevant learning environments for all learners be afforded to all learners in open and distributed learning contexts? What did you already know, what do you know now based on the course readings and activities, what do you hope to learn?

Coming into this course I definitely would have had a different response to this question. Before diving into different learning contexts and beginning to understand the variety of learning environments that exist in our digital world, I would have talked about educational equity in terms of physical ability, mental ability, sex, race, gender, and class. Throughout my teacher education journey up to this point, I had only considered breaking down barriers for my students who are already present in my classroom in front of me. The best tool that I have found to break down barriers for my students has been the UDL guidelines that I have now had the opportunity to revisit in the readings this week. I believe that these guidelines are a great resource for anyone involved in education as they present themselves in a simple format to check-in and reflect upon what sort of educational environments they find themselves in. The purpose of the guidelines are “to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities” (CAST, 2018). I believe that any educator that takes the time to look through the guidelines and to critically think about the learning environment they create and what they can do to improve their own practice is certainly taking the right steps towards creating authentic, meaningful & relevant learning environments. 

With that being said, UDL guidelines and breaking down barriers are great places to start in traditional classrooms but when it comes to open and distributed learning contexts there is far more to consider.  No longer are we talking about inclusion based on individual factors, with open and distributed learning contexts the question of access becomes increasingly daunting. When deeming an educational resource “open” this implies that it is accessible to anyone without any legal, financial, or technical barriers, however, I think that we must consider how “[o]penness is contextual, but it is also personal and continually negotiated” (Cronin, 2017). Around the world, there is a large spectrum of “technical, financial, and even mechanical issues” that must be addressed before truly considering an open or distributed learning environment equitable (Czerniewicz, 2020). The lack of material resources not only question whether or not digital learning environments are accessible, but the global North also has extreme power over the research space and perpetuates biases that keep researchers and learners from the global south stuck facing steep barriers. Nevertheless, we must consider those learners that have personal barriers that need support beyond access to the education itself in these marginalized communities.

Looking forward, there is clearly plenty of room for growth and development when it comes to my understanding of what I need to do to help create equitable learning environments. When I access open resources in my future classrooms, it will be hard to do so considering how many learners will not have the same level of access to education that my students will have. However, this does not mean that I need to just sit and feel guilty about my privilege, I want to become an advocate for change in the education system and do all that I can to support learners all around the world. I plan to consider these issues beyond this course and explore the ways in which I can help to provide equitable, inclusive, and accessible education for all learners throughout my teaching career.

Resources:

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Cronin. C. (2019). Open education: Walking a critical path. In D. Conrad, & P. Prinsloo (Eds.), Open(ing) Education: Theory and Practice. Leiden: Brill. Open Access Version http://eprints.teachingandlearning.ie/4345/

Bali, B., Cronin, C., Czerniewicz, L., DeRosa, R. & Jhangiani, R. (2020) Open at the Margins. Rebus Community Pressbooks. Retrieved from: https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/

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

Link to Jamboard:

https://jamboard.google.com/d/1svJNGPuB7nqyxGsIxho1BB7loyBaymEma2EuBq8uWaM/edit?usp=sharing

Assignment 1 Summary:

Utilizing Twitter as a live discussion forum for educational purposes can be a refreshing experience for any connectivist learner.  The 280 character limit is one of the best features, forcing students to keep their answers concise, while hashtags make it easy to follow along as a fellow classmate.  Another positive quality is the ability to bring people together from all across the world at the same time, creating an amazingly diverse community of like-minded individuals.  User-friendly features allow students to hyperlink, share and mention others in their own tweets, allowing for more collaborative learning opportunities.  One possible negative about using Twitter as an educational resource is the risk of exposing your personal information/data in order to use the social media platform. Learners can be influenced while using online digital resources, like wiki editing, in many ways. Wikipedia is a place where anyone can add information as they please, of course, it will be monitored and fact-checked but it’s not always the most reliable source for some information. Some people who edit may have biases or misinformation that may influence the way they make changes on certain pages. Media and information come at us from all directions in this day and age. It’s important to be selective and careful of what we as the consumer take in and what we dismiss. A Visitor/Resident Map describes how we use digital spaces. A matrix was developed where the Visitor/Resident continuum formed the horizontal axis and personal/institutional formed the vertical axis. In my understanding, we are acting as visitors when we use an online space and then log off without leaving much of a trace, for example, logging on and conducting a google search and logging off. We act as residents when we leave some trace or resources behind after logging off. For example, commenting on an article or posting some questions on Twitter. I think this is a useful way of learning, which can help us summarize knowledge points and is more suitable for discussion.

K-12 OER Cheat Sheet is an Open Educational Resource. It is in the form of Google’s online documents and allows cost-free access, reuse, adaptation and redistribution by others. K-12 OER Cheat Sheet has a relatively concise and clear table of contents on the left so that you can quickly browse the branches of interest. Here not only provides the link of General Resources but also has Notes/Comments, which can save you a lot of time to find the resources you want. In general, it is a great OER that can help everyone learn better. We would say that there is endless potential for online digital resources and online participatory activities for those with the resources and support in place to access them. We think that the online repository “New America Resources” that we looked at this week is a great representation of the variety of resources available online for all school subjects and all ages. Looking forward, we think that the integration of technology and online resources is inevitable. In the digital age we live in, it is of utmost importance that teachers learn how to help their students access online resources and participatory activities in safe and effective ways and we think that this repository is a great place to start.

Resources:

K-12 OER “Cheat Sheet”

New America Resources

Barbour,B. (2019). Teaching Students How to Use Wikipedia Wisely. https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-how-use-wikipedia-wisely

Mali, B. (2017). Give & Take as Participation and empowerment #BeOpen. https://blog.mahabali.me/whyopen/give-take-as-participation-and-empowerment-beopen/

White, D. (2017). V and R mapping. {Weblog}. http://daveowhite.com/vandr/vr-mapping/

Porter, D. (2020). Open Educational Resources. Dr. David Porter – Open Educational Resources (Technologies for Literacies) (44:36)

Individual Discussion Post:

Prompt – What are the similarities and differences between constructivism and connectivism? Which “edtech trend” interested you the most from Weller’s (2018) article and why? How does your chosen “edtech trend” relate to constructivism or connectivism and why? What did you already know about the topic, what do you know now based on the course readings and activities, what do you hope to learn?

Constructivism and Connectivism are both learning theories that I believe in and plan on integrating into my future teaching practices. I think that the main similarity between constructivism and connectivism is that they both rely on past experiences and social connections. 

Last semester was the first time I heard about Constructivism and have been very interested in this learning theory ever since. I think that when it comes to the traditional transmissive teaching styles that I grew up with, there was a complete lack of acknowledgment for the learning that comes along with a conversation. As mentioned in the Weller article, this is not to say that there is no value in a more transmissive style of teaching. I just feel that in the school system I grew up with there was a lack of balance between the two styles. The constructivism theory of learning does a great job of explaining the value of introducing dialogue into the classroom. Making education about not only the material but the person learning the material creates a much more holistic learning experience that I believe is very important for learners of all ages. 

Connectivism, unlike Constructivism, is a brand new theory to me. Where Constructivism is all about conversation and interpersonal communication, Connectivism finds information elsewhere. Connectivism believes that “learning may reside in non-human appliances” (Weller, 2020). Living in the digital age that we do, I think that it’s impossible to ignore the power that comes with being able to research anything at any time without limitations. Connectivism embraces the diversity of sources and endless possibilities that come from virtual spaces. It’s social in the way that social media is where people can throw out ideas into the void of the internet and see what they can get back. Whereas constructivism is more of a private direct social interaction that relies more on the information found within those engaging in the dialogue rather than outside sources. 

Lastly, the edTech trend that is found the most interesting in the reading was the learning objects from 2000. It really caught my attention because I had never really thought about the idea of creating one learning object to teach a concrete topic. For example, having one video that explains how to do long division that everybody watches to be able to understand that concept. The idea of having one designated entity that can be used, reused, and referenced during technology-supported learning is quite interesting. On the one hand, when it comes to teaching and learning, especially online where students are already accustomed to consuming online content, why are we continuing to teach the exact same topics again and again? On the other hand, I found it very interesting to ponder the problems that may arise when it comes to learning objects like these. Like who decides what the best definition of any given topic is? What is the best way to teach the information? Where is the line between objective and subjective topics of creating learning objects for?

As for how connectivism and constructivism relate to these learning objects, I don’t see much correlation. I think that learning objects do have someplace in connectivism as digital resources for the learner however they don’t support social learning. Yet, I don’t view learning objects as having anything to do with constructivist learning.

Resources:

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 4 – Constructivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/0442be0f-0347-40eb-9c19-de80b7e13d47#ch04

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 17 –Connectivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69#ch17

Weller, M. (2018, August). Twenty Years of Edtech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4). Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/7/twenty-years-of-edtech

Individual Discussion Post:

Prompt – What is online learning? Using personal examples, describe how online learning has influenced your personal learning journey. How has data, security and privacy OR open educational resources affected your online learning experiences?  What did you already know about the topic, what do you know now based on the course readings and activities, what do you hope to learn?

I view online learning as a very vague term. The internet is such a vast space filled with just about endless resources and possibilities. When I reflect upon my personal learning journey thus far, the internet has undoubtedly been an essential part of my education. I feel that as I grew up, the  internet has grown up with me and that as the years went by I relied more and more on completing assignments using digital tools and finding information online. 

Of course, online learning has had an extreme impact on my learning journey throughout the past year and a half. At the beginning of this pandemic I was on campus in Victoria coming to the end of my second term of first year. Right  before finals, I was sent back home and watched  all of my face-to-face courses transform into virtual ones and complete all of my exams and final assignments remotely. Just like myself, the whole world had no choice but to change the way they work, learn and play from in-person experiences to interactions in the virtual space. 

With that, I can confidently say that this past year my relationship with online learning has grown exponentially. Had you asked me what I knew about online learning I would not have had much to tell you. Yet, I have now experienced two full semesters completely online. I consider myself proficient in Zoom, WordPress, Brightspace and all google applications. Throughout my experiences with online learning, I have found a lot of pros and cons. I think that I find myself having a hard time separating online learning from the pandemic itself because they both affected my life at the same time. However, pandemic aside, there are definitely plenty of benefits to online learning that I had never considered before. For example, the lack of need for people to be physically present in the online classroom, opens the door to a lot of opportunities for welcoming guests into the space. Last semester, I took a tech class that had weekly speakers that came in to share their experiences in education and edTech. Most of the speakers we had were working teachers or people from different places that would have never been able to visit our physical classroom. In all, I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to be forced to learn what I did about the online learning space and look forward to seeing how I will integrate my online learning experiences into my future classroom as an elementary school teacher.

Moreover, I really enjoyed learning more about these topics through the readings this week. As I mentioned, last term I took an EdTech class that touched on similar topics (open educational resources, online vs. in-person class, creating content, privacy) but I liked exploring them deeper here. As a future educator, I take a lot of interest in understanding how to create a healthy relationship between face-to-face learning and e-learning. I think that the articles made some great points about the benefits of online learning and it really made me think about the relationship between content and pedagogy/support structures in the education space. Moving forward I definitely want to research more about privacy online and how to create safe virtual spaces for myself and my students.

Resources:

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 6 – 1999 E-Learning. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/2f403890-5fb5-431a-baf8-876144a4656d#ch06

Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 11 – Open Educational Resources. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/ad633722-07b5-494f-80e7-a572f543bc1c#ch11

Regan, P.,& Jesse, J. (2019). Ethical challenges of edtech, big data and personalized learning: Twenty-first century student sorting and tracking. Ethics and Information Technology, 21(3), 167-179. DOI:10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2 Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-018-9492-2 Note: UVic login is required