Month: July 2020

One rather important element to my current covid situation is that I’m not actually teaching in a classroom, online or otherwise. Which was obviously not the intention upon applying for TRU online teaching and learning certificate last year. I didn’t realize how crucial the resources I was hoping to have through the school I would’ve been working at, would have been. My assumptions about online and remote education have really changed due to these unforeseen global circumstances.
The social and ethical topics around education are of great interest to me, and my experience in teaching so far has not been from wealthy schools or privileged circumstances. I feel personally invested in my students and always try to have a positive impact on their life. So confirming basics like equal access to all resources for all students, is a priority in moving forward with the new normal. Having the appropriate technology and the available assistance when necessary will provide a more balanced opportunity for all students. This doesn’t of course guarantee success, but at the very least all of the tools one may need are accessible. As an educator I need to put more contemporary technology into use in my lessons, and become more proficient with software, hardware, apps and the networks for information. I will inevitably become more available and resourceful for students, the more confident and fluent I am with technology. To further that, something else I’d like to put into practice is a better learning design through the content and delivery. As an arts teacher I have acquired many soft skills, but I seek to achieve more of a balance by developing more hard skills. Even simple ones like organization, that would be a huge asset to my professional and personal life.
I also want to improve my own digital literacy and be confident in having more conversations about the idea of being a responsible digital student and citizen. Digital literacy is a part of a larger conversation about the media and politics, and the socio-economic gap between in societies which of course greatly affects education. Being responsible for your actions both in real life and online, and practicing respectful and constructive dialog with everyone.
As an arts teacher, my recommendation for a future employer would be a focus on the skill of improvisation, creative problem solving and holistic alternatives as a main idea to pivot from. Spending more time and resources for developing strategies to be adaptive and flexible, which comes is good for learning and everyday life. I see some version of hybrid learning environments as the inevitable future of teaching and learning. Not many people, myself included, would prefer to be doing all of their studying online, all of the time. So if possible, some face-to-face and group learning scenarios would be highly beneficial even if it’s infrequent. I believe humans benefit from physical interaction and real time free play with others, and ideas are best translated through context, rather than content. Years ago in rural Nova Scotia I participated in a very productive workshop that was conducted entirely outdoors, and was essentially ‘lessons from nature’. I found that creating a learning environment in the outdoors, had a profoundly positive impact on everyone’s mutual engagement in the sessions.

The area of Southern Ontario that I currently live in, has a dramatic socio-economic divide that is very clear but completely unspoken. There is an upper class who champion the prestigious private schools and Brock University, there are as well handfuls of cathodic and public K-12 schools sprinkled in the suburbs and inner city. The industry here has always been tourism through the Falls and more importantly, wine culture which of course caters to a specific demographic. The homeless population has exploded over the past few years, while the price of housing and education continues to rise. The local areas relationship to education would improve if equal resources were supplied to all of the K-12 schools, and tuition costs were not so extreme for out of province and international students. I am happy to learn about all the countless programs, sites and resources already available to teachers and students online, and many of them free. I believe in making self-sufficient learners, who are proactive, prepared and adaptive learners.

Jesse

Video presentation by Lauren, Monica & Jesse

What is the main position, hypothesis, argument, or finding of the resource(s)?

The main argument in unit 4 is that more consideration and creative pedagogies could be employed to make the most of online, distance or blended learning environments with consideration to ever evolving educational technologies. With subtle or substantial technological advancements, it’s common to get focused on the tools for teaching. When more often the heart of the knowledge transferred isn’t through the medium of technology, but rather the personalized examples and deeper insights gleaned from the information. “Another myth is that computers personalise learning…. they don’t. They allow students alternative routes through material and they allow automated feedback but they do not provide a sense of being treated as an individual. This can be done in online learning, but it needs online intervention and presence in the form of discussion, encouragement, and an understanding of an individual student’s needs.” (Daniel, p.12)

What do you agree with or disagree with, and why?

I agree with this approach wholeheartedly, and have always been focused on generating a holistic learning environment where the bigger picture is an element of all education. Constructive conversation and different angles of comprehension allow for empathy and understanding, which in turn create balance in and out of the classroom.  Skills that show the student thinking for themselves are the most rewarding, such as creative problem solving, critical discourse independently or with peers and ultimately a sense of self-sufficiency as a student. I believe technology can aid the process of teaching and learning, but I want to feel that if the technology were to fail me, I’d know how to keep the students attention on the subject. I look to find the threads of interest running through a classroom, and try to capitalize on collective energy and pushing that forward. My goal is to get students thinking about their place in the world and how they can improve, challenge and engage with it. “People are not blank slates but begin with models and knowledge of the world and learn and exist in a social context of great intricacy and depth.” (Anderson & Dron, p.3)

How does it/do they apply to your own context or a setting you are familiar with?

As an arts teacher, my focus when teaching is seldomly reliant upon technology. I believe that educational exercises are most successful and impactful when the student can substitute one tool for another. Breaking it down to percentages, I support using 20% of a lesson in theory/focused mode and the remaining 80% on diffuse/creative mode. Therefore dedicating a significant amount of allowance for considering the deeper threads between lessons and how they may relate in an obvious but also an abstract way. An equal measure of purpose, content & technique can provide a balanced lesson that can put the learner into a self-sufficient mode where they are motivated and engaged enough to think critically about the topic. No matter what the subject may be. Though this is from an earlier unit, I found the following case study to be a very interesting angle of consideration towards pedagogy and technology;  “For  instance,  in  the  late  1980s  the vocational  focus  by  the National  Commission  of Nomadic Education in Nigeria provided funding for radio programs to educate the rural nomadic Fulbe community in Nigeria (Usman, 2001). The program covered prevention of animal diseases, information  on  animal  and  crop  practices,  production  of  cheese,  milk,  and  butter,  cooking  and nutrition  programs,  and  religious  programs.  The  funding  agencies  and  organisers  of  these programs however failed to consider the difficulties Fulbe women experienced in gaining access to  radios,  which  were  purchased  and  used  mostly  by  their  husbands.  Broadcast  times  did  not easily fit around the busy lives of these women, who also had domestic obligations and financial responsibilities  for  the  dairy  products. “ (Gulate p.4)

What recommendations would you make for your organization in relation to what you have learned?

I believe it’s important that there is transparency in any organization between everyone involved, especially with respect to education. For example; if a strike happens at the school students should understand why their teachers are striking and the circumstances surrounding the decision. Educating individuals, young and old,  about the realities of life outside organizations and institutions can only help in preparing them for the real world and its complexity. I’m less concerned about teaching the latest technology and more interested in providing students with the knowledge and power to make up their own mind, create change, and think objectively and empathetically. Not only in regard to their own life circumstances but the people and the world around them. As Anderson & Dron point out “To a large extent, the generations have evolved in tandem with the technologies that enable them: As new affordances open out, it becomes possible to explore and capitalize on different aspects of the learning process. For each mode of engagement, different types of knowledge, learning, and contexts must be applied and demand that distance educators and students be skilled and informed to select the best mix(es) of both pedagogy and technology.” (p.5) From an unrelated piece of writing by David Toop about making the most out of the tools and technology we’ve got available “ultimately these holes in the ground address a basic problem – how to make a small thing bigger – and by applying the principle of resonance they fashion an elegant solution whose imprint will gradually soften and crumble into an impression rather than a scar. We could learn something from that.” 

-Jesse

References:

Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2011). Three generations of distance education pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(3), 80-97. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/890/1663

Daniel, J. (2012, December 13). Making sense of MOOCs: Musings in a maze of myth, paradox and possibility. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2012(3). https://jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/2012-18/

Gulati, S. (2008, February). Technology-enhanced learning in developing nations: A review. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 9(1). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/477/1012

Toop, D. (2017, September 29). gone to earth https://davidtoopblog.com/2017/09/29/gone-to-earth/