My Lifelong Learning Path

[learningpaths]

I want to post here a couple of questions that I think are really interesting from the online course I am doing right now Blendkit14

1. In what experiences (direct or indirect) will you have students participate during your blended learning course?

2. Will there be a consistent pattern to the presentation of content, introduction of learning activities, student submission of assignments, and instructor feedback (formal and informal) in blended learning course?

The first questions is particularly interesting because it asks us to consider the experience of the student first before thinking about the content we want to present and the assignments we think are right. It really drives the design to a more student-centered approach. The second question is interesting because it is asking us to think about how important or not is structure of content presentation. It also asks us to rethink previously existing structures that might be influencing the design.

[learningpaths]

Worth remembering

Here are some notes from week 2 interviews and webinar for the course Blendkit2014 that I am following at the moment:

One of the guests mentioned that Peer assessment interactions worked better face to face because everybody gives feedback and these interactions provoke a discussion between the students

Debate activities seem to work better online than f2f. Online the students have time to post more in-depth responses.

Question index cards that students have to bring to class after doing the reading and video watching online. These questions are the base for the discussion in class. 

homework activities: discussion forum, term papers, quizzes

Sharing information with your fellow students and discussing questions in the quizzes is not CHEATING. It is a perfectly valid way of learning.

Stay away from a linear mode of thinking for blended courses. Don't do lectures in the class.

Collect student feedback even half way through the course

Discussion forum questions should be more personal, reflective and asking to share personal experience - more successful and natural discussions (have you ever...what happened?)

make sure that every piece of information/activity online is necessary. Ask what is the value of it online?

[learningpaths]

Design for 'techno expression' in online and blended courses

I am not sure if this term 'techno expression' will stick (it sounds odd to me) but I find that the concept that it is defining is really useful -  “a technology-based process by which one or more people, either individually or collaboratively, use words and/or media to articulate ideas or thoughts”. In my own words techno expressions are all means of self-expression using technology. My own experience taught me once the importance of self-expression for the students not just through words but through pictures, videos, and even design.

I used wikis as part of the assessment for a course in Varieties of English Language. Students were encouraged to collect different kinds of data for their assignment and create a wiki about their research project. After some research I chose the platform pbworks for the assignment because it had all the functionality that I thought we need. But soon after the students started working on the projects they started coming to me with questions on how can they customize the design, the fonts, and the look of their wiki. Unfortunately, that was quite limited and even not possible on their end. Customization of avatars, web pages themes and design are means of expression and they are as important ways to communicate as words, comments, likes, votes, etc. Lesson learnt.

Another interesting take-away from the second week of reading for the Blendkit2014 course is the suggestion to allocate roles in the online discussions. I consider role allocation very important in group work but I have to say that I have never really thought of extending it to online discussions and interactions in general. I love the idea. I can really see how that would work. 

BlendKit2014 Reflections

[learningpaths]

I am really tempted to start this online course. But I have too much on my plate right now. I am a big fan of Skillshare. I have already completed a number of courses offered on this platform - Learn the Ins and Outs of Illustrator, Beginning Infographics: Information Driven Storytelling, Reign Repeats: Perfect Repeat Patterns, Typography. Here are the reasons why I like Skillshare courses and why I end up completing the courses much more often than the more traditional academic MOOCs:

- The courses are project based. At the end of the course you always end up with a product, something to show for. The process of learning is creative and connected to practice automatically. 

- There is no timeline and the content of the course is available for life (or at least the platform exists). You can sign up and complete the course in your own pace.

- We are encouraged to document the process of learning at every step and that process is shared with all learners. The projects that we are working on are posted online so everybody can comment and like your work. It is pretty amazing when your project gets likes from other people.

- The courses are paid, it does not cost much 10 to 30 USD. I know this is an issue for some people because MOOCs should be open access but actually personally, I have found that even paying as little as 10 dollars motivates me that little bit more that I complete the course.  

Hmmmm  to enroll or not? That is the question.

[learningpaths]

BlendKit2014: at the start

A very interesting start to this course. Some very motivated and engaged people and lots more to learn. 

I want to say a few words about my experience with Canvas so far as this this first time I am taking a course on this MOOC platform. I have been learning how to create courses with Canvas in the last few months as it seems to be a platform that is coming up strongly into the market of MOOCs. I have a good impression so far but as a learner right now, I can see some areas that I find a bit confusing: discussion forum is hard to navigate and very hard to really recognize the individual threads.

In terms of the course design so far I like most of the elements really but I find it a bit confusing the jumping between content which is on the official BlendKit website and the info that is directly in Canvas. I like the website info more but I guess I get a bit lost so I have to check over and over again if I have completed all the bits or I have missed something. Something to consider when integrating an existing website materials with the platform.

I really enjoyed the reading and some of the discussion on the forum. There was a very interesting thread about the definition of Blended Learning and also the distinction with Flipped Classroom. Some of the opinions and thoughts I would like to remember:

Jolly Holden: " it is a systematic process of selecting the most appropriate mediafor a specific learning intervention based upon the learning objectives" 

Patrice Prusko: " Typically in a flipped class the face to face seat time is the same. students watch the video content before class so that class time can be spent on more active learning. In a blended course some seat time is replaced by working online. "

A model I need to research further Rotation, Flex, A La Carte, and Enriched Virtual: Blended Learning Model 

When I was reading this thread I was thinking about the way we position  online learning and F2F learning. We seem to still think about classroom learning first and then adding the online learning (even if it is more than 50% online). I am not advocating that we should think of the opposite instead I focus on the learning application at the start. I ask myself these two quesitons:

1) Where and how will the piece of knowledge/skill be applied in the real world?

2) Then, what environment and resources can we create that simulates best this real world application? 

[learningpaths]

Learning

I like to know. I seek information. I love learning.

I know most of us learn something new everyday but for me it is a conscious understanding that I need to know more about everything and every day I have an opportunity to do that. You can imagine what happened when I first found out about MOOCs in all of their forms. Free learning, are you kidding me? I am all in! 

At any given time during the last 3 years, I have been enrolled in at least one course if not more. Surely, I don't get a certificate every time - I have life and work after all - but I learn something new every time, even if that is how not to teach/learn online. I am an instructional designer and learning is part of my profession but I am not interested in learning because I am an instructional designer. I am an instructional designer because learning is what I do every single day.

I am currently enrolled in two courses: Reign Repeats: Create perfect Repeat Patters with Illustrator (offered on Skillshare) and BlendKit2014 Becoming a Blended Learning Designer (offered on Canvas). And it is the latter course that prompted me to start this particular blog.

I want to turn this blog space into a place where I collect my observations and experience as a learner and course developer. I am currently a part of a team developing and supporting 2 MOOC courses and 1 blended course at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.