ONL had suggested that I attempt this blog by answering the following five questions. I will begin each of these questions with a popular quote, just as I have made the quote by Michelangelo as the title of this blog. He succinctly embodies my sentiments after completing the ONL module. I have learnt many new concepts and approaches that may be helpful in my journey as an educator in Engineering. ONL has not quenched my intellectual thirst on learning, in fact, it has encouraged me to continue to search further and has made me realize that my journey will never end and I am not disappointed.
Let’s move forward with the questions:
1. What are the most important things that you have learnt through your engagement in the ONL course? Why?
The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.
Carl Rogers
I have learnt many things in the ONL course. The foremost of these is surely meta-cognition. Meta-cognition in brief is thinking about one’s own thinking. It calls upon the need to be mindful of one’s learning and to be present in the now. These are concepts that I have read about in the literature of self-realization. This has resonated with me deeply and provided me with my very own “WOW!” moment. Carl Rogers has so ably captured that special moment in his words.
2. How will your learning influence your practice?
A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.
W.B. Yeats
I think of teaching as the process of mainly transferring information to students. Therefore, teaching as I have defined is dead and Yeats agrees. The Education of the future will focus more on how to learn rather than on the information that is required. In my humble opinion, there will be a cultural revolution of some fashion, where all stakeholders (students, parents and institutions) will, first and foremost, embrace learning and view information retention as secondary. Once this becomes part of our cultural heritage, it will be very easy to make learning the cornerstone of an educator’s responsibilities. The educator will embark on a shared journey where learning is universally accepted as the endgame. However, when this cultural norm is not in place, the usual negatives, such as the over-emphasis on grades and only learning how to answer past exam questions will continue to prevail.
On my part, even if it is a losing battle in the short term, I will emphasize learning and introduce meta-cognitive approaches in my classes. “It may only take a matchstick to burn down the forest” of ignorance, there is never a guarantee that the spark I light will create that outcome. Nevertheless, it will be the right thing to do.
3. What are your thoughts about using technology to enhance learning/teaching in your own context?
Learning never exhausts the mind.
Leonardo da Vinci
Engineers create Technology. As an engineering educator, technology excites me. Therefore, seeing technology being used or implemented to enhance learning in my own practice will be most natural and very welcomed.
However, we have to be very mindful that every technology is like a tool in the carpenter’s toolbox. Each tool has its place and purpose. You cannot use a chisel on a screw (well you may actually, but you will definitely damage the chisel). Therefore, a careful and patient evaluation of the tool is necessary before it can be used effectively. In addition, it may also be prudent to evaluate several tools before applying the one with the best result. If cost is an issue, then the tool with the better value/cost ratio should be employed. By value I am referring to any metric that is able to quantify learning. On a lighter note, the following quotation on the cost of learning will place all anxieties of over spending to rest.
If you think education is expensive, try estimating the cost of ignorance.
Howard Gardner
4. What are you going to do as a result of your involvement in ONL? Why?
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
Mahatma Gandhi
ONL has offered me a completely new perspective towards learning. Gandhi’s advice is very apt as I have often noticed the reverse of what he is expounding. Students at my institution are viewing learning as short-term, often, only doing what is barely minimal to pass the exams. Once the exam is over, they will want to forget everything that they have learned in that semester, so as to make space in their brains or mind for new stuff in the following semester. Is this not “learning as if we will die tomorrow?”
I will attempt in my classes to show the students how the material that is covered will be useful to them in the future. Even if my message is contrary to all that they have perceived in other modules, it is imperative to impress on them that we should “learn as if we will live forever.” Every morsel of knowledge will make us a better person and it is not important to be “efficient” where students will pick and choose what they deem to be important – often based on analyzing past exams.
5. What suggestions do you have (activities and/or in general) for development of eLearning in your own teaching or context?
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
Voltaire
I will devote myself to creating this “sustained thinking” that Voltaire so eloquently states. I will move away from emphasizing information retention. I will rather emphasize meta-cognitive methods and encourage my students to think about their thinking. I believe that this is especially important in my role as an engineering educator.
Engineering is the application of the sciences, such as physics, chemistry and biology. Mathematics serves as the binding language between the sciences and their application (engineering). A serious review of the engineering curriculum must soon be attempted. Solving engineering problems can take many different approaches, but whatever approach is taken, the underlying fundamental physical quantities, such as Energy, Forces and Momentum are in fact universal. Indeed, approaches such as “Bond Graphs” have emphasized that Energy in a system is exactly the same irrespective of whatever disciplines we approach the system from. Approaches such as these attempt to unify the various engineering disciplines. However, these approaches are extremely rare.
Concluding remarks
When I first enrolled into ONL, I was overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity of learning models and literature. With the PBL discussions and deliberations, it was a very quick initiation in learning and I do not feel overwhelmed any longer. I became aware of many learning models and approaches. The one important thing that I have learnt from ONL is that there are many ways to learn and one should adapt and explore these various approaches. Indeed, it may take a lifetime to grasp everything there is to know about learning. My lifetime awaits with excitement. Therefore, I am still learning.
