I've decided to split my post into two parts. There was too much information to say in under two minutes. So what I decided to do was to post the video about my learning theory meeting the needs of online/mobile learning at the end while the rest of what you see below is the other information I could not fit into this post.
Enjoy!
Overall, online and mobile learning has changed how education is done. The thing that was changed most was probably flexibility (Carter, Michel, & Varela, 2012; Liang & Chen, 2012). Going from all learning happening in one classroom with everyone present to students learning at their own pace (Carter et al., 2012). Carter, Michel, and Varela (2012) also pointed to saving costs as a student. These costs are saved through various means of traveling and everyday needs. Other areas include student interactivity as well as collaboration (Liang & Chen, 2012).
Online and mobile learning, as great as it is, does come with some challenges and problems. One of the biggest problems that arises in the discussion of online learning is the quality of education being received (Carter et al., 2012; Liang & Chen, 2012). Because of the emphasis of using technology, especially online learning, there are classes being created that have not thought through the quality of the class. In essence, they are merely doing it for the sake of doing it. Among these issues also rises high dropout rates,delayed feedback (Carter et al., 2012), and copyright issues (Liang & Chen, 2012)
References:
Cater, John James, I.,II, Michel, N., & Varela, O. E. (2012). Challenges of online learning in management education: An empirical study. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 17(4), 76-96. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1114670307?accountid=12085
Liang, R., & Chen, D. V. (2012). Online learning: Trends, potential and challenges. Creative Education, 3(8), 1332-1335. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1282096373?accountid=12085
HI Jason,
ReplyDeleteIs this your assessment blog post? Here, you are addressing learning theory. Mod 4 discussion topic focused on assessment. I'm confused.... :)
Alright, let me hopefully explain where I was thinking about this. As I was thinking about how online/mobile learning has revolutionized education, I did mention some other areas outside of assessment. However, flexibility remains one of the biggest proponents of assessing depending on which side you are from. There is the flexibility of the teacher being able to see exactly what the students understand. It isn't done on the spot as in a traditional classroom. The flexibility also allows the student to be able to think about their answers and work through the material. This allows them to fully develop their understanding before coming to a complete response about what is being assessed.
ReplyDeleteAs for challenges, probably one of the biggest is not having instant feedback. A teacher can go through content in a typical classroom setting and judge by how the students look at them, if they get it or not. With online classes, the teacher only has one method to truly see if the students understand the material or not. And that way is only seen through the work that is turned in. So in part, much of the assessment is done individually, which may require more effort on the teacher's part.
As for the students, much of the work is done individually without working directly with others. Commenting on someone's post is not necessarily working with them, it is more of providing a form of peer feedback. There seems to be a lack of collaboration done with peers.
I enjoyed watching your video. I agree that when students make connections with concepts they already know, they retain the information longer than if they had no connection to the new information. It is well known that students need a strong foundation in a subject to be successful. With this strong foundation, students can begin to build on it and understand the 'why' behind new concepts. For example, a student who has basic knowledge of adding can relate this skill to multiplying. In another example, a student who has basic knowledge of prefixes can begin to formulate a definition of an unknown word by dissecting it into smaller parts.
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