Reflection on EDUC 6115

This class was beneficial to me in a variety of ways, and not just within this new program that I am pursuing. What I initially found striking was that the information regarding the learning theories coincided directly with when I was starting my side position as an ESL teacher for kids across the globe. I had just completed a TESOL certificate with the company, which also talked about learning theories. It felt like a lightbulb moment, as if I was absolutely in the right place at the right time. That has helped my motivation for the course significantly.

            Another thing I found striking was the information about multiple intelligences. I had learned about multiple intelligences during my master’s program 10 years ago, but I honestly don’t remember learning that they were “capacities” and not types. Of course, that was 10 years ago, and I have learned a lot since then, so maybe now was when I was truly ready to learn it.

            In terms of my personal learning, I have a few ways of reflecting on it. As I mentioned, my master’s program was 10 years ago. That was also my first experience with online discussion boards, which I didn’t find useful at the time. In particular, I remember in one of my courses, we were learning about student development theory (probably Kegan or Perry) and a professor stating, “when students are at a certain level, there’s no point for discussion boards, they just sit around and share ignorance!”. Maybe that tainted my view of discussion boards. Maybe I was still too young and inexperienced. But now, I get it. Now that I’m an “adult learner” and have some prior knowledge and experience (even if it isn’t in instructional design), I have more I can contribute. And I can learn from my colleagues. This has given me a new-found appreciation for discussion boards.

            Additionally, I’ve come a long way in terms of how I view technology. Ten years ago, I would have thought technology and online courses were pointless (brainwashed into traditional Student Affairs and higher education). But now, having experience both learning online, learning about learning online, and also working for an online school, I can see that the benefits of technology are endless for many adult learners everywhere.

            I am so glad that this course comes first in the certificate program. I tend to be one of those people who ignore the background information and just try to dive in. But I know that I also miss a lot when trying to just “do” without knowing “why”. This class provides that background information that an instructional designer needs to think about when creating a course. It’s not just about nice graphics and design, it’s knowing your learners and what works.

           

Looking back on the first discussion

Looking back on the last seven weeks of this course, I can see that some things have absolutely changed in how I think about learning. Others, not so much. In my first discussion, I wrote about my experiences as an online ESL teacher, my belief of what theory fits me best, and what my learning styles/preferences are.

In the beginning, I equated my teaching with mostly behaviorist theory, providing a stimulus and receiving a response, then rewarding with positive reinforcement. And while this is very true for younger students, it is not so simple for the older students or with more complicated information. In the ways I engage with students, I am also trying to make information meaningful to them, asking them questions about their lives and experiences. I also want to see those students relate the information they’re learning to other material. I often use charts and graphs to correlate information and show relationships, which is cognitive/constructivist.

Also in my post, I talked about the theory that fits my learning style best, which is cognitive/constructive. New knowledge must be meaningful to me in order to understand it, meaning I need to be able to relate it to something I already understand. As I’ve mentioned, I have tried to learn project management before. Since I don’t have experience in project management (or business) this was a stretch, and didn’t go well, as I wasn’t motivated to keep moving forward. As Lev Vygotsky discussed, this was not in my zone of proximal development. I can take smaller steps towards that information in order to get there, but the leap I took was too much without a “knowing other” (Laureate Education, n.d.)

The part of my post that was completely off was the discussion of learning preferences and styles. I realize now, looking back, that my understanding of these fell into some common misunderstandings. I am not a visual learner, but I do prefer to see things in order to help myself create a mental picture. This makes more sense than fully classifying myself into category that I cannot escape from.

Connectivism, a brand new term for me during this course, makes a lot of sense in terms of how information and knowledge is organized now. We are no longer confined to a library in order to do research on a topic or find a useful book. Websites, blogs, social media, and easy connection to other humans means that knowledge is much more dispersed. This benefits many more people as knowledge can be accessed easily, though it also does mean knowledge can be easily distorted when taken out of context.  

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Behaviorism and instructional design [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Reflections on Mind Mapping

In the mind map, I’ve focused on the three areas I consider important in my “learning” right now: career advising (current full-time job), instructional design (where I want to go), and teaching English as a second language (part-time job).

When I was younger, and a full-time student, my network was mostly my graduate cohort of students. We learned from our instructors and from each other. But things have changed in the 10 years since I finished that program. Not being in an in-person program changes how I interact with others, and what the content of that interaction entails. Many of my networks now are online, or at least mostly online. Given that I also work entirely online, most of what I learn happens in short bursts. I try to spread out my learning in order to not spend my entire day in front of a computer. This helps me stay motivated and gives my mind a break to help it absorb more information.

I enjoy webinars and videos for learning. However, if it is a video with no interaction, I prefer them to be short, or able to be broken up into segments. Webinars or videos that are too long without any engagement tend to have my mind trying to multitask, which results in no learning whatsoever. But webinars that include plenty of engagement encourage me to stay with it and practice new skills or take notes. Another tool that works for me is social media groups, such as Facebook groups. I know that sounds strange right now, but I consider myself a “lurker” on a variety of groups. They keep me updated on what’s happening in my various learning areas and also provide ways for me to check my learning if I have questions. Some people in those groups have reached out on LinkedIn for more of a connection, so I know that when I have a question that I can’t find an answer to, I have someone that I can reach out to.

Essentially, I believe that my personal learning network supports the tenets of connectivism. Some of the tenets put forth by Davis, Edmunds, and Kelly-Batement (2008) include a diversity of thought, currency, and the ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape. While I love reading in order to learn, reading an article or a book that was written ten years ago does not meet those tenets. Seeing the problems and issues facing instructional designers or people in the career advising realm (especially in this new COVID-19 life), and how those issues are being handled, provides that currency of knowledge that I cannot get from a book.

Davis, C., Edmunds, E., & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008) Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives

on learning, teaching and technology. Retrieved from http://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Mind Map of Learning