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These are my reflections on ONL201 course. In a period of 2.5 months this experience has been like a roller coaster experience. At the same time than I did the ONL course the pandemic disruption transformed the society and there has been a sudden explosive growth of the use of digital tools. At the beginning of the course, I took the course as an interesting way to learn online learning that I could apply, but it became quickly an evidence that the knowledge learnt in ONL were core skills in digital literacy and online networked learning that became extremely useful during the emergency transition to online learning in my work as a teacher at Linköping university. As the proverb says: “Necessity is the motor of invention”.

The course required to learn new concepts and skills, there were many online Problem Based Learning (PBL) meetings and webinars which really helped to keep me motivated. At the same time than a certain obsolescence touched all types of human face-to-face social relations during the pandemic, I had a lot of zoom meetings in our PBL group, we learnt to use many digital tools and problematised collaboration and blended learning in an online setting (Bates 2019). Above all I reflected that I really understood that the ONL course was not only providing a set of tools but also a state of mind. Many of us are using online communication tools to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues and have our personal learning network, but during the course I reflected on the meaning of being in an online learning community in a much broader sense.

An other important aspect I reflected on during this course is how the diversity of learners can enhance quality and creativity in brainstorming in collaborative work. Heterogeneous teams are more innovative and creative because they may lead to multiple viewpoints and ideas (Holtzman 2011). In online PBL groups, learning is student-centred and is a result of active participation of students who collaborate to discuss subjects related to learning objectives of the ONL course. Collaboration in group implies consideration of other’s perspective and diversity in learning group might enhances learning (Singeram 2008). I experienced that the diversity of experiences in diverse e-learning areas and different learning styles of our group members allowed to embrace larger range of experiences in online learning than a homogeneous group would have allowed to. At the same time, despite our heterogeneity of experiences we had in common the motivation to achieve as a group to learn knowledge and skills in online networked learning. The amazing thing is that even though the PBL meetings were online I really had the impression than we could reach a “flow” in our learning experience at several instances during the course.

I also reflected that in a few weeks we had the privilege to have zoom meetings with learners from several countries, several time zones, several cultures, and several backgrounds. Despite these differences, we realize that we had a lot in common. We learnt with, from and about others in a virtual environment using the Community of Inquiry framework and emphasizing the role of emotions in online learning (Cleveland-Innes 2020). Above all I experienced that humour and ice-breaking strategies were facilitators to connect with each other as online learners and enable to create a good working climate and communication in our group (McCabe 2017).

When technology mediates the real time dialogue, there remains differences between online and face-to-face meeting maybe because we must concentrate and listen more intensively online due to the geographical distance and are limited by technical aspects. But the magic of all is that we were able to exchange ideas online and could collaborate to meet learning objectives. Time and space were no longer obstacles to have face-to-face online learning meeting thanks to technology.

I also could think and plan how I can apply the learning from ONL201 in my future teaching practice. My learning process was accelerated because of the pandemic disruption that forced me to make all my teaching online while I was learning online networked learning. I got lots of new ideas and reflected on which type of learning experience to give to students to reach the study objectives when designing a blended course. Planning future activities helped me to keep motivation high during this unique period. One thing that is sure is that the adjustment to teaching online due to the covid-19 pandemic has opened new pathways to conceive our work as a teacher and that there will be more need for online or blended learning in the future.

References:

Bates, A.W. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Vancouver, B.C.: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/

Cleveland-Innes, M (2020). Emotional presence in teaching and learning. Community of Inquiry What is it really about?

Holtzman Y & Andeberg J (2011), “Diversify your teams and collaborate: because great minds don’t think alike”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 75-92.

McCabe C, Sprute K & Underdown K (2017). Laughter to Learning: How Humor Can Build Relationships and Increase Learning in the Online Classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, 6, 4-7.

Singaram VS, Dolmans DH, Lachman N & van der Vleuten CP (2008). Perceptions of problem-based learning (PBL) group effectiveness in a socially-culturally diverse medical student population. Education for Health. 21(2):116.