For my showcase post, I have decided that I wanted to reflect on my very first post for this class. I thought that it would be interesting to look back on the work that I produced at the beginning of the class and see where I came from to where I am now!

Instructor-centered versus student-centered learning was something that I am familiar with in my own experiences in schooling over the last decade, but something that I never actually realized was present in my learning experiences. As I am a full-time student studying at UVic, most of my classes are in person and on campus, it was interesting to compare and contrast my experiences in these classes as to various online classes I have taken, including this one. I found that when looking at in person classes, they appeared to be more instructor-centered, whereas I found that online classes were more student-centered. One explanation could be that professors that are teaching classes in person usually lecture for the entire class time, providing information for the students to retain and take notes of. As mentioned in the article written by Crosslin, M., the students end up relying on the instructor to tell them everything, and to fix everything too (2018). It is interesting to note that so many people are solely reliant and dependent on instructor-centered learning that they completely write off student-centered, or online learning, as something they are incapable of success in. Before taking EDCI 339 and many of the other online courses that I have participated in at UVic, I could say that I was in the same boat, but now I have come to the realization that there are many appealing factors when it comes to online learning. These factors include, but are not limited to the sheer convenience, the ability to work from wherever is most comfortable for you, or having access to a more student-centered learning environment. I think that these factors are so important given the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently progressing in the world. Luckily, students have access to online programs and more student-centered learning environments that allow them to complete their semesters despite the pandemic. One point that Crosslin, M., made that really stood out was the idea of having students post questions on an online forum and upvoting the questions that they relate to and like the most, with the professor answering the most popular (2018). This is something that I have never seen done before, but I think it is a super engaging and insightful idea to get students involved and active in an online class, where it can be difficult to encourage engagement among students or even between professors and students. I have experienced classes with forum posts, and typically students wait until the very last minute to complete the assignment for the week, which is also what Mark Lieberman said in an article that I found discussing new approaches to online forum posts. Lieberman suggests making the assignment more like a flowing conversation rather than a forum post by implementing video posts, which puts a new spin on forums!

 

Both asynchronous and synchronous classes have their place in learning, and depending on the student, one may be better for their best method of learning than the other. Personally, I know many of my friends are not capable of staying on track and time managing themselves enough to succeed in an online class such as this one, thus synchronous classes are what they are interested in pursuing. I have been finding that during the COVID-19 class adjustments, many of my friends have been asking me for online class tips, and help staying motivated and focused while completing online classes, which is something they are not used to doing. Alternatively, I know that I work very well in online classes, and I love the flexibility and freedom that they provide me as a learner. I like to consider myself somewhat of an asynchronous learner. It is so amazing that students now have the ability and technology to learn in any various way that makes the most sense for them, and we have technological advances and connections to thank for that!

Learning and accessibility to knowledge has changed so much over the last few decades. Now more than ever, it is easier to gain information about anything from anywhere in the world with just the touch of a button. As mentioned in the article by Siemens, G., connectivism allows individuals to have access to a plethora of information from various different sources, whether that be local or international, human or computer (2005). Though not what we think of as a formal way of accessing knowledge and becoming educated in various different topics, connectivism, in my opinion, opens us up to so many different ideas and perspectives than we had before. It is so refreshing to have the ability to pull out a laptop or cell phone and search for an answer to a question you don’t know, or even access information on a subject or topic that we may not know anything about and learn from some of the world’s experts. Connectivism has opened doors that our ancestors couldn’t even imagine, which I think it pretty neat

References:

Crosslin, M. (2018). Basic Philosophies of Distributed and Open Learning. https://uta.pressbooks.pub/onlinelearning/chapter/chapter-2-basic-philosophies/

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Siemens, G. (2005). International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1). PDF File

Lieberman, M. (n.d.). Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/03/27/new-approaches-discussion-boards-aim-dynamic-online-learning

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