techchic212

Final Reflection for ONL231

On June 6, 2023

I liken my journey in ONL to be like an aircraft flight.

During take-off, the learning curve was steep and there was slight uncertainty and anxiety, but it eventually cruises during the flight — we became comfortable with each other’s virtual presence, had fun talking and sharing ideas, completing the assignments without much friction (“turbulences”) — and then at the end of the flight, it was a quick landing.

I’d be honest that those 3 months were quite intense (amidst all our other busy work) and it is not for the faint-hearted. But it was worthwhile! We pulled through together because of our group mates’ mutual support and the sense of comradeship. Other than intrinsic motivation to always complete what I had started, extrinsic motivation from the group members kept me going — they had positive attitude to learn, were open to share and actively doing their part in contributing to the group work. I learnt how to communicate and work with group members from different cultures and backgrounds — this experience is helpful in improving how you facilitate group projects for your own students.

Going through this course concretised the learning theories that I had known. My biggest take-away is how the FISh (Focus, Investigate, Share) approach of problem-based learning can be effective and engaging in collaborative work. As much as I had contributed by introducing new tools to my group, I also learned and seen how other groups used innovative new tools.

I’m grateful for all the organisers, facilitators and guest speakers for volunteering to be part of this open initiative. If you are a potential learner reading this and still considering to enrol in future ONLs, go for it! I believe you will be gain much and be thankful for the learning experience.

This is not the end of the many possible new “flights” or learning journeys I may embark on. But for now, I am taking a break and focussing on enhancing my creative skills in content development for blended learning projects.

Tack och adjö (Thank you and goodbye in Swedish)!

Overcoming obstacles of implementing a blended learning course

By Wanyun

On June 5, 2023

In Design for online and blended learning

Generated by Adobe Firefly AI

Where do I start? This is going to be a post sharing my personal journey and the first-hand experiences I had supporting a blended learning initiative.

I was heavily involved in the first rollout of Blended Learning 2.0 @NUS. It was challenging because everyone had a different understanding of what blended learning was.

In general, blended learning is the meaningful integration of asynchronous (online) and synchronous (in-person or online) interactions. Because it should be meaningful, there is no one-size-fit-all — the course design and type of interactions differ from course to course depending on the subject, learning objectives, assessments, timing, audience and so on.

However in large-scale top-down implementations, the management had to come up with institutional frameworks and guidelines for the faculty members to know if they were doing “Blended Learning of Your Institution”, not just any type of blended learning. Most of the faculty members felt they were already doing blended learning in general because of the pandemic. The suggested guidelines may be helpful for those who are new to blended learning, but some may not agree with the given definitions as they know best what works for their students. Those who were early adopters of blended learning would done many iterations over the years to improve the teaching, cognitive and social presence outlined in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

There are many benefits to blended learning as mentioned in this Guide to Blended Learning, but unfortunately, some instructors have realised that university students are not self-directed in their learning and instead of adopting better blended learning strategies, they prefer reverting to traditional in-person lectures (without any recording) after the pandemic. They also do not see value in spending time and effort pre-recording didactic contents for the students’ learning at their own pace. In my view, this is forfeiting the majority of the students who are self-directed learners and are keen to review the videos again to familiarise difficult concepts, or to revise during the exams. Everyone learn at a different pace, even take down notes at a different pace.

So how can we design more engaging and meaningful learning activities in the online environment?

Pedagogy: Much of the CoI had been discussed in this ONL course so I shall skip reiterating the concepts. Fiock provided a comprehensive list of instructional activities that are practical and helpful for improving each CoI presences — pick and choose as you deem fit!

Technology: Leveraging on the affordances of technology and choosing the suitable tools can help to overcome physical limitations and support your implementation of both the synchronous and asynchronous activities effectively. It’s helpful to have some imagination about the virtual world and space that characters (students) are in.

Pedagogy and technology are tightly integrated — sometimes, technological developments influence the way we design our courses and assessments. A good example is the latest hot topic on generative AI. It forces us to rethink how it augments in a blended learning environment. It’d helpful to have some imagination of the online learning space as a virtual imaginative world — how these story characters (your students) may use various mediums to communicate with each other and with you.

In a poll by EduCause, 83% of the respondents agree that “Generative AI will profoundly change higher education in the next three to five years.” It is interesting to note that this issue is big enough that middle and senior management in educational technology units are tasked to look into the AI capabilities and guidelines for the faculty’s appropriate use of generative AI for teaching and learning.

“The “technopositive” among us may simply be quicker to use and look for the benefits of new technologies.” – Mark McCormack

This may be challenging but we simply cannot run away from using technology or from the existence of today’s virtual world. So we might as well embrace it and try out some of these tech tools and instructional strategies to see how it transforms your students’ learning!

References:

Cleveland-Innes, M. and Wilton, D (2018). Guide to Blended Learning, p. 5, Chapter 4, Chapter 7. https://oer4nosp.col.org/id/eprint/35/1/Cleveland-Innes-Wilton_Guide-to-Blended-Learning.pdf.

Fiock, H. (2020). Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(1), 135-153.y

EDUCAUSE QuickPoll Results: Adopting and Adapting to Generative AI in Higher Ed Tech: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/4/educause-quickpoll-results-adopting-and-adapting-to-generative-ai-in-higher-ed-tech

Learning is Social

By Wanyun

On May 20, 2023

In Learning in communities – networked collaborative learning

Before I started ONL, I briefly read about the shift in learning approaches — from behaviourism (which was how we were taught growing up) to social constructivism. Behaviourism versus Constructivism

In my own education journey, we did not have much of project works or group work in our curriculum, but we sometimes hear the term “study group” — that’s if you are sociable in personality and manage to find a few good friends to study together or share notes. I was pretty much on my own, and I realise I could have learnt better if we were given the opportunities to work in groups.

I love this mind map by Assistant Professor Hróbjartur Árnason. As a lifelong learner, I can now appreciate that learning is indeed social. ONL is a really good example:

Active learning — Participating in attending webinars, reading and researching, contributing to group discussions and writing reflections.
Learner-centered approach — With problem-based learning using the FISh model, the individual learners had the liberty to focus and dive deeper into aspects that were close to our hearts.
Social interactive learning — A learning environment which motivates us to be open to share and fully involved in the collaborative work.
Knowledge is everywhere — We don’t just learn from the facilitators, but also from all the other group members’ personal or professional experiences. The discussions are then guided by the facilitators so that there is focus and coherence in our research and presentation.

But we don’t automatically know how to collaborate with others or work together. Sometimes introverts tend to be conservative in speech and needs some nudging. Collaboration is a skill that both teachers and students have to develop. For teachers learning to facilitate, here are some practical examples:

Fix the group members so that there’s continuity. Randomise the groupings for a good mix.
Get the group to do a self-introduction (e.g. using Google Slides or explore fun tools!) and another activity as an ice-breaker.
Set ground rules of dos and don’ts:
- Be inclusive, respectful and considerate.
- Group members take turns to be moderators to keep each meeting on-task.
- Every member gets to speak and contribute in a meeting.
- Everyone contributes to the success of the project.
Design and scaffold the group project with milestones along the semester, so that red flags can surface early (if any).
During the collaboration, encourage pair discussions (in-person/online) and guide students to provide comments on each other’s inputs (in an online document).
Use enterprise collaborative tools like Microsoft Teams so that you can set up the channels and have some oversight of the discussions.
For the completed piece of work,
- Students present each other’s portion, so that they need to internalise the contents.
- Use peer review to assess each others’ contributions based on a set of rubrics.

Academics may still face various challenges when some students are just difficult or conflicts arise, but hopefully that would not discourage you from providing the collaborative learning environment. Ultimately, the responsibility to learn, lies with the learner.

References:

Hassad, Rossi A.. “Constructivist and Behaviorist Approaches: Development and Initial Evaluation of a
Teaching Practice Scale for Introductory Statistics at the College Level.” Numeracy 4, Iss. 2 (2011): Article 7. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.4.2.7

Wenger, E. (2010). Communities of practice and social learning systems: the career of a concept. In Social learning systems and communities of practice (pp. 179-198). Springer London.

Cayubit, R.F.O. Why learning environment matters? An analysis on how the learning environment influences the academic motivation, learning strategies and engagement of college students. Learning Environ Res 25, 581–599 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09382-x

Open Educational Practices in the Asian Context

By Wanyun

On April 12, 2023

In Open Learning – sharing and openness

Topic 2: Open Learning – Sharing and Openness

Growing up in a typical Asian family, these values were predominant:

.. The more you give away, the less you have.

.. You’ve worked so hard, keep it for yourself.

.. There is no free lunch in this world. If someone gives you a gift, you should return it in some way and don’t owe a favour.

There was much deterrence in sharing one’s thoughts and vulnerability openly for fear of losing “face”. There was probably a scarcity mindset because life was hard. This cultural context and legacy is fundamental in understanding the barrier to open educational practices (OEP) in this region. As with any cultural change, it will take decades for educators to incorporate open education in their pedagogical beliefs.

Implementing Open Educational Practices (OEP)

From our ONL group discussions, it seems to me that an institutional push would probably most effective in kickstarting these practices, for example, if trainings are provided on Creative Commons Licenses, time-off given to create open educational resources etc.

To encourage more educators to share their teaching resources, it may be helpful to provide them with more opportunities to collaborate and connect with other educators internally and globally, as well as to educate them on the benefits and best practices of sharing resources.

An institutional repository can be a good stepping stone to the next level of opening up to a wider audience.

To sustain these OEP efforts, findings in a study that surveyed five higher educational institutions in Canada had these in common:

Advocacy (Benefits)
- For the students — saving on textbooks
- For the faculty members — enhanced teaching and learning; social justice; feedback from wider audiences; career advancements
- For the institution — increased recognition and reputation
Policy
- Formulate guidelines as a foundation, governance and driver of the initiative
Leadership
- Visible support from senior administration
- Develop faculty and student leadership to extend the support of the initiative
Institutional Culture
- Develop organisational structures for collaboration across units
- Commitment of resources
- Deeper conversations with people across the institution

In the longer term, there are suggestions that the government may need to step in with a national strategy and to continue providing funding and resources. Regardless, the intrinsic motivation of more faculty that embrace open education would be equipped to design shareable learning objects and hopefully continue their open educational practices.

References:

Morgan, Tannis & Childs, Elizabeth & Hendricks, Christina & Harrison, Michelle & DeVries, Irwin & Jhangiani, Rajiv. (2021). How Are We Doing with Open Education Practice Initiatives? Applying an Institutional Self-Assessment Tool in Five Higher Education Institutions. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning. 22. 125-140. doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v22i4.5745.

Pawlowski, J., Pirkkalainen, H., Gervacio, J., Nordin, N., & Embi, M. (2014). Contextualization of Open Educational Resources in Asia and Europe. In B. Kim (Ed.), Open Educational Resources in Lifelong Learning (pp. 99-140). Seoul: KNOU Press.

Bossu, C and Meier, M. 2018. Exploring Initiatives for Open Educational Practices at an Australian and a Brazilian University. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2018(1): 16, pp. 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.475

Zhang, X.; Tlili, A.; Huang, R.; Chang, T.; Burgos, D.; Yang, J.; Zhang, J. A Case Study of Applying Open Educational Practices in Higher Education during COVID-19: Impacts on Learning Motivation and Perceptions. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9129. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219129

How can teachers develop digital literacy in the classroom?

By Wanyun

On March 16, 2023

In Online participation & digital literacies

It’s been an adventure for me at Open Networked Learning (ONL231)!

This is my first time writing a public blog and I’m still getting used to writing reflections. This post in itself, is an opportunity for me to develop my own digital literacy as a lifelong learner. Having attended a few online/blended courses the past few months and now ONL, the first-hand experiences embody my knowledge of how students today can learn effectively online.

Topic 1: Online participation & digital literacies

How can teachers develop digital literacy in the classroom?

“Technology will not replace great teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational.” – George Couros

“RECOGNISE”
meaning: to identify and acknowledge its existence

Teachers need to recognise that we cannot disconnect teaching from our fast-changing digital world. Students today learn in different ways.

It starts with the teachers’ mindset change and openness to try new digital tools based on your pedagogical approaches.
Maintain a positive attitude towards the use of technologies, as it rubs-off on the students! Be hands-on.
When designing the course, it is important to thoughtfully and deliberately incorporate technology into every part of the instruction.
Change your role to be a facilitator, providing a safe and fun space for students to collaborate with digital tools and to express creativity.
Explore the types of tools and media that can best present your subject matters’ contents and for assessments. (see examples below in Table 1)
Seek assistance from colleagues for support and training where needed. There are resources out there to tap on! This in turn can offer assurance to the students who needs some troubleshooting along the way in your course.

Students should recognise the need to develop their digital skills in this 21st century, just like any language.

For successful implementation, share your approach with the students at the start of the course for buy-in. It is critical that they are on board and understand the intentions and benefits.
Help your students recognise that these processes equip them to be lifelong learners, especially how to navigate in the online space, whether as a visitor or resident. Learning doesn’t stop when you graduate from college or university and online learning is prevalent in the workplace.

Table 1: Some practical examples for teachers

*For*	*Instead of..*	*Try this..*
Checking understanding of contents in a pre-recorded video	MCQ quizzes	Post or reply on the discussion forum or Teams channel (Student think critically; create contents instead of consume contents)
Creating a resume for your potential employer	Written assignment	Produce a short video to introduce yourself and your skills (Students can choose their own recording and editing software)
Sharing a research topic	Essay or PPT presentation	Create a podcast and embed in a blog (Example by A/P Chris McMorran, NUS)
Presenting the solution to a case study	Essay or PPT presentation	Create a series of cartoons or memes (Students can choose their own recording and editing software)

As a start, don’t attempt all at the same time! Just choose 1 or 2 components to test it out. Note that these examples should be contextualised in your subjects and disciplines.

With more awareness and openness, you will realise that it’s not such an onerous task after all! Leveraging on the affordances of technology can greatly deepen the students’ learning experience.

References:

Cleveland-Innes, M. and Wilton, D (2018). Guide to Blended Learning, p. 5, https://oer4nosp.col.org/id/eprint/35/1/Cleveland-Innes-Wilton_Guide-to-Blended-Learning.pdf.

Garcia, A. (2022). Unpacking Digital Citizenship and Digital Literacy for Student Learning. SingTeach, Issue 82 Sep 2022. https://singteach.nie.edu.sg/2022/10/20/unpacking-digital-citizenship-and-digital-literacy-for-student-learning/