Checkpoint (1799-6)

As I ponder over what I have learnt in this course so far, I find there have been lots of opportunities for meaningful education:

- - There has been a lot of choice in review of articles which means that we could choose what really meant to us.

- - Our group project was also based on group consensus. The suggested list of topics was very broad and additional thoughts were welcomed as well.

- - The individual project was an overwhelming idea but we had the opportunity of thinking about what we were passionate about and thought would be a worthwhile topic to explore and express. There was also an ongoing discussion about our topics which helped to get review and feedback as to the credibility of the idea.

At a PD workshop once, I had realized the importance of offering choice. In fact, the facilitator had suggested offering choice of assessment as well. I have used this approach occasionally in my classroom and found it to be extremely beneficial in harnessing the strong points of all the learners.

I guess, having control is what makes a big difference because then the learner can work with what best suits him.

Desigining a course: Critical thinking and Media (1799-5)

The world is constantly engaged – or rather, immersed – in media. It could be the perfect platform for students to apply some thinking and ‘see’ the reality behind media. This formed the basis for our team assignment. As my team partner, Gus and I discussed how to teach critical thinking skills, it dawned on us that kids these days ‘believe’ a lot of what they see and hear on media (besides Santa of course!). We could either hold media responsible for ‘dumbing down’ their thinking or actually put it to use to encourage their reasoning and critical thinking.

We read a chapter from the book Designing Instruction for Technology-Enhanced Learning. The chapter discussed the structure and organization of a higher-ed course set up in a blended learning format. A point that really struck me in the reading was creating an opportunity for students to experience a variety of different tasks and activities. Often, when using online forums, it is very easy to get into the rut of posting text and reading papers. We totally lose out on the multiple intelligences theory and diversity of learners. However, while using online platforms, it is just as simple – if not easier, actually – to utilize audio and video resources and to harness the power of Internet to connect with field experts.

For the course design, the types of activities we organized were influenced in part by the activities in the present course. Free exploration and exchange of ideas guide the direction of our assignments here. While doing some independent academic research, I read that “the methods of constructivism emphasize development of learners’ ability in solving their real life problems. As a result, problem solving and free discovery come together” (Huang, 2002). On the same lines, we wanted to ensure that the course we design allowed for sufficient flexibility for students to exercise their own opinions and perspectives around the topic being taught.

So, the course design we have in mind will give students an opportunity to explore, discuss and evaluate some media forms (like music, Reality Shows, ads etc) on the basis of a Critical Thinking Framework that will be taught and reinforced. It already looks and sounds like a course I might want to teach!

Critical Thinking (1799-4)

Last week, we got a chance to explore the collection of papers from TCC Online conference (http://etec.hawaii.edu/proceedings/). In choosing a paper to review, my criteria were that it should be current (something that would give me a glimpse of the present day direction in this field), something that would relate to online learning as well as something that would give me a chance to apply in the classroom as soon as possible. I found Shenkman’s article to be a suitable fit for this purpose.

I found myself nodding in agreement to the statement that critical thinking is like a disciplined approach to evaluating information. At the end of a teaching day, I often ask myself whether what I taught today encouraged students’ independent thinking and gave them an opportunity to stretch their minds to consider perspectives they had not seen before. And the answer often does not leave me satisfied. In an article titled ‘The Thinking Teacher’ from the journal Educational Leadership, Scherer states, “Being able to respond to both "why" and "how to" questions requires that the teacher have not only content knowledge and expertise but also the instructional skill and the time to intelligently guide students toward meaningful thinking about the content.”

The reading made me look into more resources for Critical Thinking and reminded me of a useful conference I had attended two years ago titled ‘Critical Thinking Workshop’ led by Garfield Gini-Newman. I fished out the notes and resources from there as well (feeling sad that some of our learning sits on shelves and in binders) and hope to apply some of this disciplined approach to my teaching this coming year.

What is Holistic? (1799-3)

We have been discussing course outlines and overviews and structure and organization for some time now in this course. Amidst everything I had lost focus of the fact that I am here to learn what holism is and how I will adopt a holistic approach to information technology (the title of the course).

Selia’s posting in the All-Class discussion forum titled ‘What is Holistic’ was quite stirring for me. She talked about one of her ‘aha’ moments of realizing that student-centred teaching and learning had a name: holistic learning. Things started falling in place in my brain. To me, holistic was a vision of ‘all-roundness’, but I was not quite being able to place it in the context of constructivism. A link provided by Selia (http://astralsite.com/holistic/HolisticLearning.html) gave me a clear idea of how holistic learning is about touching all aspects of the learner’s personality and life. Thus ensues meaningful learning. Students need to take charge of their own learning in order to acquire from it what they need according to their circumstances and contexts. Holistic learning is a practical and pragmatic approach to learning involving concepts like making connections, problem-solving approaches, cooperative learning, inquiry process, community building etc. Since holistic learning has so much to do with the mind and the spirit of the learner, I feel that the process would not leave the facilitator untouched either. Such a process would be holistic for the teacher too.

Computers: Use for betterment (1799-2)

This journal is in response to the first article I read: A conversation with Brenda Laurel on Human Computer Interaction

In reading the above article, I found quite a few interesting points. The first was the computers and the Internet should be ‘child’s playground’, i.e., it should be something that a user can make connection with and can use it as a medium for expression and learning. This is possible only if it is utilized appropriately.

I really liked the connection made between drama and simulation. In fact, Aristotle’s Poetics was referred to as well. Wikipedia informs me that “Aristotle's Poetics (c. 335 BCE[1]) is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory.” In traditional school of thought, theatre used to be considered a form of bringing public thought together, a forum to bring forth ideas that people need to discuss and to stir conversation among the general public. Today, as the article suggests, the Internet can perform the same function.

At the same time, the article spoke of human reality being the basis for the design of the digital environment. I am in total agreement with Laurel’s statement, “The computer should be tasked with supporting and conforming to the person's needs and constraints, and not the other way around”. For some reason, it brought to mind the violence and aggression that is evident on the Internet these days. All online and video games seem to have an aggressive (and in some cases, another inappropriate) edge to them. I wonder if that is the reflection of human life these days? Or is it the other way around? Is this type of simulation and the young generation’s active engagement in it, causing a harmless world to become aggressive?

CTL1799: Holistic Approaches to IT begins :)

Let’s begin by admiring technology. Who would have thought it would be feasible to take a course and a vacation at the same time? Well, I arrived in India a couple of days ago – to spend the summer with my family reviving some nostalgic memories and making some more. But my grad studies continue. I started the course CTL 1799: Holistic Approaches to Information Technology last week. It is an online course utilizing a variety of learning management systems like Blackboard, C2C as well as the instructor-created course information site. The latter caught my attention as being a very valuable resource as it contains not only specific information related to this course but is also linked to several other very useful resources.

Previous online courses that I have taken had all utilized one Learning Management System. Having two for this course makes it kind of tricky to keep up. It tends to get overwhelming and I have this constant nagging that I might be missing something on some forum on some platform. On a positive note, though, I find C2C quite interesting. I have to say that KeC is still one of my favourites but C2C has some great features as well. Navigation across the forums is a bit time-consuming but once in, there are quite a few tools to skim through, read and mark, read the note info etc.

An essential that Selia mentions is that this course is based on a constructivist-model of building knowledge. Sometimes we are so used to structure and organization that having the independence and discretion to do what works best for us, in the way that best suits us – can become a bit difficult. But since constructivism, inquiry-based learning and knowledge-building are topics that I am very interested in, I am totally looking forward to what is to come.