Category: Reflective posts

• This week I learned an interesting reading about the Floe Inclusive Learning Design Handbook is a free Open Educational Resource (OER). It is designed to assist teachers, content creators, Web developers, and others in creating adaptable and personalizable educational resources that can accommodate a diversity of learning preferences and individual needs. There are many new concepts, ideas, and issues in Floe. Here I will list three points that I think are important.

 

• First of all, a very interesting idea came up in my mind is co-creation. Co-creation involves building deeper relationships between students and teachers and between students and other students. Education is considered a joint effort, and learning and teaching are done with students, not students. This perspective is a very novel and new perspective for me, and it is also very different from what I previously thought of education. In the previous learning process, I think what we did was to learn the knowledge and skills from the teacher and then teach these to my future students. I have overlooked that education is a common endeavour, something that can be done together between teachers and students. This is very important because teachers and students are at two different ages. When their various interesting ideas are mixed together, the learning process will become more interesting and may have some new inspirations. Teachers do not necessarily know everything, and it is not difficult for students to make interesting points. When teachers and students, students and students can co-creation, I believe the teaching results will be more exciting.

 

• Secondly, an important idea is translating the Handbook into other languages. I deeply appreciate this. Sometimes even if the content is simple but not in a language you are familiar with, you can’t understand it at all. When I first came to Canada to attend high school, I couldn’t adapt to the environment of English. Mathematics in Canadian high schools was not that hard at the time, and I learned this a long time ago. However, I sometimes misunderstand some concepts taught by the teacher because I can’t fully understand the course content or some language comprehension errors. If the handbook can be translated into a language familiar to international students, this may be more friendly to students who are new to Canada.

 

• Third, another important idea is Creating alternative presentations of the Handbook. For example, it contains some suitable versions of electronic devices or offline reading. This is especially important in this special period now. When our physical health cannot be guaranteed nor can we go to school, we can learn well with a suitable version of mobile devices. Furthermore, some people will prefer the electronic version. For example, I myself prefer the electronic version of the handbook. The electronic version will not only allow me to better organize these learning content, but it will also be more environmentally friendly.

• When reading these two weeks of readings, there are two concepts that I have difficulty understanding. The first one is to Derive, remix, and reuse the Handbook’s content. I also saw other students annotated this and said they want to learn more about this. The second the Creative Commons 2.5 Canada License. I don’t understand what this license is and why all content in the Handbook is licensed under this 2.5 Canada License.

 

• Finally, I got the last question that is in relation to universal design that was not addressed in this module. Universal design should meet the needs of potential students with a wide variety of characteristics. Disability is one of these characteristics. For example, one student could be Hispanic, six feet tall, male, thirty years old, an excellent reader, primarily a visual learner, and deaf. when we are designing a course, the universal design requires consideration of all characteristics.

 

Preferences:

1. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1083971/massive-open-online-courses-learning-revolution
2. Retrieved from https://udlleurope.wordpress.com/

     In my life experience, I do not have much experience in online classes. There is an online education class that reminds me of it was last summer. I had just finished the Edci 337 course before that, and I had a good experience with this online education course. So I decided to return to China for the summer and I signed up for an online course at Thompson Rivers University. In this online course, I didn’t feel any humanization of online learning at all. The course design of this course made me feel like I was fighting alone, and the design of the course was very different from the difficulty level of uvic. In this course, I deeply felt the sense of distance brought about by not having a common physical location. I don’t know who the classmates who are attending the class with me. I did not have any frequent contact with the professor. I struggled for two months and learned this course on my own every day without any substantial help. Eventually, I decided to drop this course, and so far I think it is a decision that I won’t regret.

     In this failed online course experience, I began to think about two aspects: synchronousity, and the course’s grading system.

     First of all, about synchronous interactive sessions during the course. Teaching presence is very low during this course. The course design does not include virtual office hours or live sessions. The moment I got the book, I started the self-study mode and couldn’t get any help. Later, I discussed this educational course with my other friends, and they both failed the course. It is conceivable that there are certain problems in the design of the course, and some more interactive sessions should be carried out. For example, the professor can set a fixed time every week to video chat with us or a fixed time for Q & A.

     Secondly, I have some opinions on the grading of an online education course. I like the grading system for online education courses. In school courses, we will lose the grades we should have due to attendance or other objective reasons. Some people may have a good understanding of the course content, but get a very low score because they are often late. One of my high school classmates has this experience. He is a very intelligent student and understands the course thoroughly. However, because he was often late, he was warned by the school and eventually transferred to another school. I think that’s part of why I like online education courses. 

     Everyone has their own lives, and they have different ways of working and resting. The purpose of learning itself is your understanding of the course content, rather than following all the technical instructions perfectly. For example, many people want to register for a course after work to improve themselves, then we can’t stipulate them according to a fixed schedule. Online education courses do a great job in this area, and I think online education is more focused on learning itself. In online education, each of us does not need to complete the same learning progress at the same time, we can also adjust the learning plan according to our schedule. Learning itself should focus more on the process rather than the rigid learning arrangements. I can reach the school classroom for attendance every day at 8:30, but my learning efficiency may not have improved during that time. Rather than this, I am more inclined to arrange my learning progress and plans.

     In conclusion, whether it is an online education course or a face-to-face education course. The most important thing is to understand the course content, not follow the step-by-step follow technical instructions.

References:

1.(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=humanization of online education&sxsrf=ALeKk01iPjtEwVsuKsak-rdKM4dikIjIRA:1583728172786&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiii6OZx4zoAhXIvJ4KHa8_CIEQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=1100&bih=683#imgrc=mOjHc6Q2ELjqFM

2.Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9lF9W-FKoI

• With the development of science and technology, the ways of education have become more diverse. We can quickly get the learning resources we need from various places. When we browse the Internet, what resources do we have that can be reprinted, modified and used at will? During this week’s study, I realized that there is a difference between online educational content and publicly licensed informative content.

In my understanding, I think online education content is an excellent learning resource — an advantage of online education is that as long as we have the network and terminal equipment, we can learn anytime, anywhere. Open license education content is also a type of online education content, but the difference is that these educational resources all show an open license. The four most popular licenses are usually the most popular, and there are a total of 16 combinations. When we want to access, copy or modify these educational resources to apply to our courseware, we need to understand the rights reserved by these different licenses.

• Generally, OER is the learning material and teaching that are freely accessible with an open license or in a public domain. Under these different licenses, the users can use, remix, improve and redistribute. Here I will show you where to find open learning resources, and I will give an example of an OER.

 

 

 

 

• Based on the evaluation guide found in the tutorial, I feel that the information given in this instructional video is accurate without any significant content errors. The information it provides is also clear and well understood. For multimedia resources, the quality of this video is also high. In the video, the instructor encourages us to try it ourselves. However, I think he should better give an example to lets us participate more in the class. Here the given license is CC, which is the most common one. It used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that the author has created.

• In conclusion, OER can help our learning quality more efficiently. As a student, OER has a lot to do in my daily life. For example, textbooks are always a costly expense, and I think it is also very unfriendly, and it is too cumbersome to carry. After knowing OER, I can better search the learning resources I want online, such as e-books, so that I can learn at any time as long as there is an internet. For those professional workers, OER can also help them to find suitable courseware to better build their teaching content without being overwhelmed.
  All in all, I think OER is a significant development. There are still many weak areas in the world where children cannot get the same education as others. As online resources become more comprehensive, these children can get a good education as long as they have an Internet connection. In other words, while providing so many learning resources, OER also guarantees high quality, allowing us to ingest professional knowledge that is sometimes incomprehensible in the classroom.

In this age of network development, people can gain knowledge through many resources and channels. I don’t know when the relationship between the teacher and the student has gradually changed. In this article called “Basic Philosophies of Distributed and Open Learning,” I read some fascinating ideas and concepts I haven’t heard. There are three aspects that I want to publish in this blog: some ideas for students and teacher-centred learning, asynchronous and synchronous learning, and Connectivism.
In the era when the Internet was not very developed, teachers considered to be the sacred profession of “sages on the stage” by all learners. At that time, teachers were naturally the best way for us to acquire knowledge, but perhaps not the only way. No doubt, the teacher was the center of the class at that time. Slowly due to the development of the Internet, more and more online courses are getting better and better. At this time, the identity of the teacher has gradually changed. They are no longer just people who pass on the knowledge in our textbooks, but show how to control the overall direction of our learning and guide us on how to achieve “self-directed learning.” I have a deep understanding of this significant change. As an international student from China, I genuinely feel the difference in instructional design between China and Canada.
When I was in China, the teacher was a “sage on the stage.” We have never developed a sense of self-directed learning, but have relied entirely on our teachers to impart knowledge to us. Students are not allowed to bring mobile phones and electronic devices in the school. All of our learning steps follow the teacher. Teachers in China have high majesty and are the center of the curriculum.

When I first came to Canada, I was not used to the difference. I couldn’t learn independently. I always rely on teachers to teach me all aspects of knowledge. When I first registered for an online course, I was stunned about the design of this course. In this class, learners need to learn independently, to start their weekly study and complete the homework of that week at each period. Taking an online course is a very novel experience for me, and I feel it has improved my learning ability. I am a very poor learner in China, but the online courses and self-directed learning design in Canada forced me to plan my own time and to study by myself. Gradually, my learning ability gets significant improvements. That is all due to a substantial shift in teacher rights and control dynamics in online courses.
The second interesting new concept is asynchronous learning and synchronous learning. In most schools, the courses that need to conduct with teachers during the course called synchronous learning, while online classes on the Internet are called asynchronous learning. I think everyone has their preferred method. I prefer asynchronous learning. In asynchronous learning, everyone can adjust the learning progress according to their understanding ability, instead of not missing the teacher’s content every minute like in synchronous lessons. I think it will make me very nervous in the synchronous course. When I miss a little bit of the content of the teacher, I will fall behind the whole class. Asynchronous courses do not require everyone to have the same progress. Everyone can enter at different times and complete assignments at different times. There is no time limit in asynchronous courses. If you want, you can browse the course content countless times late at night or early in the morning. This course design not only meets the needs of students but also meets the needs of office workers, who can also acquire knowledge after work. Of course, I am not saying that asynchronous classes are 100% good.

For example, some people may lack the ability to learn and manage themselves. They may have severe delays that prevent them from completing assignments and learning within the time frame specified in the asynchronous course. There was a case that happened to my friend who had missed online exams and duties due to severe delays. Simultaneous learning also has its advantages. We may have our misunderstandings when learning autonomously. In synchronous learning, the teacher tells the correct knowledge to help us understand. A conclusion of mine is a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning is the best, totally depending on how the company or teacher designs the course.
There are many different learning theories for the digital age, and a critical one is Connectivism. There is no doubt that if we know how to use this theory correctly, our learning ability will be significantly improved.

In short, Connectivism means that you can obtain the knowledge you need through various resources on the Internet, and then you can share the new information you have learned with others. In my understanding, a vast network of relationships has formed between you, and this information will circulate in this network of contacts. I think the advantages of Connectivism outweigh the disadvantages. The power is that when I can’t clearly understand what the teacher tells in class, I have other resources that I can rely on to find the right information. And on the Internet, we can obtain information from all over the world, and everyone’s opinions can be published online. But the shortcoming of Connectivism also happens to be here. How can we distinguish the correct information? For example, my grandma often saw blogs online to share knowledge about how to become healthier. She never doubted the accuracy of this information and believed it. Another example is my younger brother, who already knows how to scold others in the game because of developed Connectivism
For myself, I get more help from Connectivism than weaknesses in my daily life. I enjoy the process of learning from the master through these resources on the Internet. As long as we screen this information correctly, Connectivism is our best learning theory.