Coming Full Circle

As my fifth course in the Masters of Ed program comes to a close, I am left to think back and reflect on all the wonderful experiences and bits of knowledge I have acquired throughout the last 12 weeks in EDUC5101G.

1. Online Learning Theories:

Learning about different Online Learning Models such as Siemen's Connectivism Theory (2005) and Linda Hasarim's Online Collaborative Learning Theory (2012) has made me think about how this course has been carefully structured and designed by our professor Dr. Powers. Both theories recognize the importance of collaborating in an online setting as a means of engaging students and facilitating in the acquisition of knowledge. Both models understand that the teacher acts as the main link to the learning and the community. How the educator sets up this experience is crucial.

I think that Dr. Powers has ensured to create a learning environment that promotes this group connectivity and collaborative experience through our PBL activities as well as within our Blogs. Working with the same students in the PBL tasks allowed us to feel comfortable and make meaningful connections with our peers. Together, we joined our experiences and our respective expertise to solve authentic problems. The tasks were open ended which enabled us to make decisions on the direction we wanted to take the assignments.  The blogs were also open-ended allowing us to focus on our own personal interests and learn from each other. As such it is evident to see how Dr Powers has set up a collaborative learning environment to facilitate information sharing and the co-construction of knowledge for all of us to thrive in.

2. Instructional Design:

This is the first time I've had the opportunity to learn the theory behind instructional design. It has really opened my eyes to the different models like ASSURE, ADDIE and ARC and how each can be catered for different instructional goals. It was great being able to use these first hand too and really get to apply our knowledge in the PBL activities!

3. Tech Tools and Social Media:

One of my favourite parts of this MED program is being introduced to new tech tools I can then bring back to my classroom.

Some of the tools I was introduced to in this course include: Explain Everything, Happy yak, Tinkercad and Moovly.

The Blogging requirements of this course have also made me more comfortable blogging and has exposed me to other programs other than Blogger available for blogging (ex. weebly and wordpress). Sharing these with social media has also led me to learn how to use my twitter account which has been idle for so long! This is something I will definitely be using on a more consistent basis in a professional realm.

4. Peer Reviews:

To top our overall experience, Dr. Power has incorporated peer reviewing into our course. At first I was a little skeptical, but after having gone through this experience it is one I am surprised more professors don’t use more of! It provided me with another opportunity to think about my learning and allowed my own knowledge base to continue growing by seeing how other peers have interpreted the assignment and how they have merged and connected what we have all learned in our course. It truly encourages self assessment and adds a piece of extra accountability into the projects. The fact we can choose to publish our papers is icing on the cake.

Overall, this course has been one of my favourites. In just 12 weeks I have learned and applied so much of what I was learning. It is great seeing a professor teach and model the right way of doing things through the use of technology! 

Thank you friends and thank you Dr. Power.

References

Harasim, L. (2012) Learning Theory and Online Technologies New York/London: Routledge

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), January 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.html