Month: May 2018

Learning in the Digital Age

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This week’s texts, A New Culture of Learning by Thomas and Brown and Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by Siemens, address the need for a new framework and theory of learning in light of the digital age. I resonated with the idea that a new culture of learning requires two elements: an unlimited access to information and structured environments with boundaries that allow for experimenting and growing in knowledge (Thomas and Brown). I share the view that students need to be able to interact with, question, and explore material at the individual and community level in order to learn. This makes me think of project-based learning, which allows students to explore, experiment, ask questions, collaborate, search for the necessary information, and make mistakes in order to learn, all within certain boundaries. However, Thomas and Brown shared how technology can enable learners to use their imagination and a learning community in order to learn from one another. As a mother of young boys, I kept thinking of my children as I read this and how their imagination and play fuels their learning. It makes me think that it would be so great for them to be able to learn in an environment that encourages their imagination and questioning and guides that through access to the appropriate resources. I love the idea of applying this to all generations. I was fascinated by Sam’s story and how he found the most valuable piece of his learning to be his interactions with others in the online community and I found this to be a great example of the importance of learning to learn from others (Thomas and Brown).

Thomas and Brown envision a new framework of learning based around making the general personal and then, through sharing, the personal adds to the general knowledge. I particularly saw this in the example of the diabetic who gained a vast amount of knowledge about his recent diagnosis through an online community rather than from his doctor or medical pamphlets. In this case, he was able to apply the information he found from others to his own life and situation. Then, through the individual contributions of himself and others, these personal pieces of knowledge and application formed a greater knowledge base for the entire community. The collective learning of each individual enhanced the learning potential for all the members (Thomas and Brown).

My skepticism comes in, however, in how each of the examples cited in the text – Sam’s story, the undergraduate gaming students, and the diabetic – had a common thread that was the intrinsic interest and motivation of the learners. From my perspective, this new culture of learning was driven in each of these examples because the learners were highly motivated and passionate about what they were learning. So how does the new culture of learning work in a learning environment in which learners are not motivated? For instance, at the K-12 level, students are required to take courses that they may not be interested in and they are not going to be motivated to seek outside communities or additional resources in order to learn. What are the implications for this type of learning environment? Is it the teacher’s role to create an environment that does motivate all students, regardless of their personal interests? I find this to be a challenge to seeing how this practically applies at all levels of learning.

In Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age, the issue of diminishing knowledge was discussed and the implications it has for how learning occurs (Siemens, 2005). In this digital age, knowledge is increasing so rapidly that we can no longer view schooling as a place where students gain the knowledge they need for their futures. Instead, we need to view schools and learning environments as places where students learn how to learn, where to find the resources that they need, and how to connect sources of information. Siemens state that “as knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses” (2005, p.7). In order to advance in most fields today, a person must be a lifelong learner, continually seeking new knowledge and connections. Siemens discussed older learning theories, such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, and their limitations because learning can be stored beyond the individual in organizations and technology, technology can now perform many operations instead of individuals, and information is constantly and rapidly changing. As a result, a new learning theory is needed in which knowledge flows from the personal level to the network level and back down to the personal, which is strongly facilitated by technology in this digital age (Siemens, 2005).

 

References

Siemens, George. (2005, January). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 2. Retrieved from http://er.dut.ac.za/bitstream/handle/123456789/69/Siemens_2005_Connectivism_A_learning_theory_for_the_digital_age.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Thomas, D. and Brown, J.S. (n.d.) Arc-of-life learning. In A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Retrieved from https://cms.psu.edu/WorldCampus/201516FA/201516FAWD___REDTEC467_001/ReadingMaterials/Thomas_Brown_Arc_of_Life.pdf

Personal Learning Philosophy v.1

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There are several requirements in order for real learning to occur. One is that multiple modes  of processing and multiple intelligences are utilized. Several philosophies have included the need to receive information via numerous media in order to absorb it, such as the theory of multiple intelligences. For instance, having the opportunity to listen to, read, and see a new concept is more likely to result in learning than just reading. The idea of multiple intelligences is important because each person may have specific methods of processing that result in learning, which differ from someone else. This is only the first part of learning, however. The second part is that learning occurs when students can then relate and connect what they have learned to their previous knowledge and experiences; in other words, they integrate the old with the new to make sense of how it fits together. Bloom’s taxonomy models how this can occur when there are opportunities to create, evaluate, analyze, and apply based on new learning. The lower levels of this hierarchy (remember and understand) result in superficial learning but true learning occurs when a student is given opportunities to utilize the higher levels of the hierarchy (create, evaluate, and analyze). As Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

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In a learning environment, the role of the teacher is to provide the necessary opportunities for learning. This includes multiple opportunities to interact with material in order to reach all learners (i.e. videos, readings, projects, writing, creating, etc.) and to create assignments and activities that require students to reach those higher levels of thinking on Bloom’s taxonomy. It is also imperative that a teacher creates an atmosphere in which both students and the teacher can interact and build knowledge off of each other. Students need to have the chance to learn from others and teach one another. After all, one learns best when they teach. The teacher also has the role of creating opportunities for frequent, informal assessments and feedback for students. Students need to be able to see their own progress and make improvements based on feedback. On the other hand, learners have the role of taking ownership of their own learning by taking advantage of these opportunities, such as by participating in discussions and asking questions in order to learn from their peers and teachers. They also may need to independently adapt learning activities in order to meet their own needs. For instance, if instructed to take notes on a reading, they might create a graphic organizer or pictures instead based on their own learning style. This individualization of one’s own learning should be facilitated by the teacher but it is also the learner’s role, even when it is not required by the teacher.

Technology also plays a role in learning in that it can provide access to resources and materials that students couldn’t access otherwise, such as virtual simulations and experiments, microscopes, and a plethora of research materials to enable students to become experts and then teach their peers. This enables learning to occur from many sources and people as opposed to just the teacher and course resources. Technology also allows for collaboration among students. For instance, students can simultaneously create a presentation via Google Slides or they can engage in peer review to improve the quality of their work. Technology also opens up the opportunity to use virtual learning platforms such as Google Classroom, an LMS, or other virtual resources in order for students to get immediate feedback on assignments, complete practice assignments at their own pace, conduct virtual labs, or engage in virtual discussions outside of the classroom, which might engage students who are less likely to make contributions in a physical classroom. Technology can also save time in the classroom by facilitating the creation of student products, such as presentations or graphs from an experiment. This can also facilitate the process of assessing students both formally and informally in order to determine if learning is occurring. Frequent formative assessments, such as participation in discussions, the contribution of original ideas to class discussions, brief assignments or quizzes, are useful to assess student learning along the way and that formative assessments that require higher levels of thinking provide concrete indicators of learning. The more that students can demonstrate how they connect and apply concepts to other knowledge or experiences, the more their learning will be evident.

Learning Communities: “We participate, therefore we are”

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The dramatic growth of the Internet and especially using it as a tool seemed to really occur after I had completed much of my own traditional schooling. As a result, I found my mind being stretched through the readings this week, Minds on fire and Learning, working, & playing in the digital age. Shifting my own thinking of the role of a teacher to a facilitator has not come naturally, yet moving into my role as an online teacher over the past two years has helped in this process as my students must take on more responsibility for their own learning and I am there to provide them with resources, answer questions, and guide their learning process. The Web certainly has been a significant resource and platform for me to be a facilitator of my students’ learning but not to the extent that this week’s readings shared. For me, it has been an informational resource but not a medium for social construction of knowledge. According to Brown in Learning, working, & playing in the digital age, “the Web becomes not only an informational and social resource but it could also become a learning medium where understandings are socially constructed and shared” (1999).

I love Brown’s discussion of “learning to learn” and how this occurs naturally when one participates in a community of practice. Brown’s example of tech reps at Xerox who learned more through collaboration and a community of learners than through individual training really stuck out to me (1999). Learning occurs when we really have the opportunity to interact with others around knowledge, especially those with varying levels of expertise. The example in Minds on fire of university students who participated in small study groups demonstrated higher levels of achievement than those who did not also resonated with me because this is something that I could facilitate in my own classrooms (Brown & Adler, 2008). Both of the readings this week discussed the role of the Internet in making the line between consuming and producing knowledge more fluid in how it enables open access to resources and high-quality tools as well as how it supports such communities of learners. According to Brown, the Web is key for knowledge sharing because it makes it easier for experts to interact with knowledge consumers and its potential for how far it can reach is limitless.

The role of the learner and facilitator in such a learning community differs from a traditional learning environment in that the learner is also able to contribute to the learning experience rather than just receive information, as in a traditional environment. A facilitator’s role is to encourage and motivate students to share their knowledge and experience in order to grow the community mind, not just the individual mind. I also see a facilitator focusing more on learning at the level of the whole group rather than of the individual. In Minds on fire, the ideas of social learning and learning to be were discussed. I found these ideas important in shaping my own way of thinking about how to design learning environments, especially the idea that “We participate, therefore we are” (Brown & Adler, 2008). If understanding is socially constructed and the process of how one learns is more important than what one learns, then how can I create the opportunities for social construction in my own classrooms? This means that I need to provide the place and time, either physically or virtually, for students to take on the roles of both learner and teacher and to interact with scholars and other students in a field. This requires a significant shift in thinking as a teacher from the mindset that I need to impart my knowledge onto my students to a mindset that my students need to learn from one another via participation and from other experts. The Web provides abundant resources in order to support this mindset and method of learning.  I hope to continue to learn practical ways to implement these tools in order to establish effective learning communities in my virtual classes.

References

Brown, J.S. (1999). Learning, working, & playing in the digital age. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/seelybrown/

Brown, J.S. & Adler, R.P. (2008). Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail, and learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review. 43(1), 16-32. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2008/1/minds-on-fire-open-education-the-long-tail-and-learning-20

Introduction

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Hi! My name is Lauren McNally. This is my first semester in the LDT master’s program. I received my B.S. in Secondary Education from Penn State 10 years ago and I am certified in 7-12 Biology and Chemistry. Soon after graduating I moved to Lima, Peru to teach science at a small, international school there. I lived and taught a variety of secondary science courses there for 8 years, got married, and had 2 children before moving back to the U.S. with my family 2 years ago. My boys are 2 and 5, so between my job, my family, and now working towards my degree, I don’t have a lot of extra time, but I do enjoy running and exercise in general as well as tutoring Spanish because I have come to love the Spanish language and culture. Here is a picture of my family!

For the last two years I have been teaching high school science for an online academy that serves students here in the U.S. but also all around the world so a lot of my experience in education has been with international students as well as American students who move or travel around the world frequently, which is why they have chosen an online education. My role as an online teacher consists of maintaining regular communication with students and their supervisors, providing prompt feedback to their work, making regular improvements and additions to my courses in our learning management system, Skyping one-on-one with students, and teaching virtually via GoToMeeting.

This past year I have also been a course author, which has consisted of designing and writing a new course in our learning management system. This upcoming school year I will be moving into a curriculum developer role, which I am very excited about. This will consist of overseeing course authors as they rewrite courses in the learning management system as well as completing curriculum-related projects. I have discovered that I really enjoy teaching online and particularly online course design, which is why I have decided to pursue this program with a hope of eventually working in higher education and/or in instructional design within the field of education.

Due to my experience as an online teacher, I feel comfortable with learning management systems and course design but my previous school was behind in technology so I do feel that I lack experience and comfortability with Web 2.0 technologies. I have become familiar with making videos, such as with Camtasia, as well as FlipGrid and GoToMeeting in my classes, but I have not utilized blogs or other tools in my courses. I am often hesitant to implement certain technologies so I recognize my need for this course and hope to learn a lot that I can immediately apply to my current classes. I look forward to a great semester!