Abstract
This assignment suggests teaching online necessitates adopting technology while faculty complain of moving from the classroom to online instruction which requires additional effort, inadequate training, and lack of technical support. Some faculty perceive online learning to be ineffective or not as effective as face to face brick and mortar instruction. This paper responds to these comments by identifying my experiences with the above suggestions, will give my opinions on whether resistance to online learning still exists, what I see as barriers to adopting technology, what needs to happen to overcome these barriers – if any, and is the online teaching community moving too quickly in adopting new technology?
Journal 1 – Pedagogy of Online Learning
COVID-19 left few post-secondary institution faculty members with instruction options as the virus reshaped instructor’s teaching practices while scrambling to adapt how they go about instructing in the transition. Perhaps this assignments suggestions have some merit, but are the complaints consistent with the one and one half billion students around the world in 165 countries who were engaged in remote learning at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020 (UNESCO, 2020). In Canada, more than 2/3 of all Canadian post-secondary institutions now offer online courses and/or programs (Beatiie, 2019). It is clear to me as a future online instructor, that online instruction is here to stay and can only improve over time. I have had a wonderful experience with online courses in the PIDP and EDUC programs finding the instruction as good or better than face to face instruction. The online teaching community is aware of the many technological sources available for online learning, but I feel faculty and instructors become aware very quickly if the technology they are using is working or not working.
Objective Questions
What have you learned about this topic?
There appears to be two primary reasons for instructors to instruct online. Instructors were hired/directed to teach online as part of their teaching contract while some instructors had a desire to experience the new media involved in instructing online (Telmesani, 2009).
Prior to taking the EDUC, I feared using the myriad of technology used in instructing and teaching online courses. Technical issues were my primary concern, whether acquiring the proper technical skills, or dealing with technical problems regarding the online platform. I spent more time dealing with technical problems than understanding the material. For example, changing from a personal computer to Macintosh. It is like learning a new language.
My experience has been instructing only face to face and my future lies in instructing online at Okanagan University in the Criminology and Social Justice Program. While conducting research in EDUC, my fear has turned to mild trepidation and genuine interest in technology. WordPress, Facebook, Wikipedia are simple and easy to use but what about incorporating animated Graphical Interchange Format (GIF’s) or adding humor with funny images or videos containing text (Memes). Although I have seen many examples of GIF’s and memes, I had no idea how to design and use them for my instruction. Will I receive the training at Okanagan University when I design my course? I have learned the best choice will be to be proactive in learning the technical skills required to develop my course and not rely on others who may or may not be available or willing to help.
Whether synchronous or asynchronous technologies are used, technology can support the work of instructors in enabling learning. Online learning will not replace face to face instruction, but it is a close second and gaining momentum. Faculty must understand that the focus across the higher education community is to provide more connection, more support, and more presence for their learners, not less.
Content posted on the online course is important but careful interpretation and reflection is more important to make the content meaningful and authentic. The learner may understand the content, but engagement, questioning, and exploration of the content are more important.
I will consider how the use of the technology will benefit my learners. The article from Quality Matters on using humour to improve student learning made it clear to me how memes can generate excitement, spark creativity, and improve learners critical thinking skills. Because one of my teaching goals is to have fun while learning, I will be using memes in my course.
It is clear online courses must meet the demands of 21st century society, using skills such as the use of relevant information technology, software, and data within a discipline. The development of such skills requires learning in rich and complex environments, with plenty of opportunities to develop, apply, assess and practice such skills. As a potential instructor with a connection between learning and future employment, my technical skills are related to my employment opportunity at Okanagan College. Should I want to satisfy my instruction career, I will have to put in the effort, training, and ask for technical support.
Reflective Questions
What has been your experience with this topic? How has it impacted your life (as a student or as an instructor)?
In time, I would like to continue face to face instruction or blended. My formal education was at a time before calculators and I used a slide rule in my math and physics classes. I am a digital immigrant who grew up before the internet and other digital computing devices were ubiquitous, so I have had to adapt and learn new technologies. Prior to PIDP and EDUC, I could be referred to as a luddite.
I have neither designed an online course nor taught one and I have not shared my course outline and content with an IT professional at Okanagan College. I am learning in EDUC what is required for an effective learning experience based on other learning models and theories which I will apply to my course. I can see how having inadequate training combined with a lack of technical support could exasperate efforts to design an online course. As a potential faculty member, I am not aware how great my struggle may be with learning online course design and how much support I will need or receive. I will have advantages and challenges of designing and instructing online which will be different to my experiences with face to face instruction.
COVID-19 created a wholesale, sudden shift to remote instruction, and instructors had to adapt how they go about teaching in the transition. An online learning survey by Bay View Analytics in April 2020, surveyed 641 American colleges and universities and 826 faculty members. Some of the results were controversial by identifying how instructors changed their requirements for or expectations of learners in the shift to remote learning. The results are: 66% changed the kinds of assignments or exams, 48% lowered their expectations for the amount of work learners would be able to do, 47% made it easier to pass their courses, 46% dropped some assignments or exams, 18% dropped some of the readings, and 32% lowered the expectations about the quality of work. Realizing COVID-19 was an unusual event, the survey results are disturbing and worth making note of for future online course design.
The online teaching community is not moving too quickly in adopting new technology but must continue to identify appropriate and purposeful technologies to implement in the course. The apps used will have to align with the course objectives, which should reflect the range of levels of cognition in Bloom’s Taxonomy (Darby, 2019). Examples include, Zoom to help learners understand complex concepts, Quizlet to help learners remember facts and vocabulary terms, Hypothesis helps learners analyze, and Google Docs and Slides helps learners synthesize and create.
Interpretive Questions
What are your “aha” moments related to this topic? What new insights do you now have?
I had an aha moment during my PIDP 3240 course while completing the online animated educational video using PowToon. It was a lot of work! I had no idea where to start but I jumped in with both feet by completing the research, locating a web site with step by step examples, and my video is on Utube. I felt empowered to have accomplished this task and a lot of self-satisfaction. My apprehension and anxiety turned to a feel-good feeling and an appetite to explore technology further.
It is clear to me that aligning pedagogy, subject matter, assessment, learner access and success with appropriate technologies, software, and online strategies is an ongoing challenge of online instruction and learning (Teachonline, 2020). I am a novice learner in online design and instruction, especially when facilitated through technology.
To deal with my personal barriers to using technology in online learning, it is clear to me reflection on how to meet the needs of both instructors and learners is required.
Although instructors are encouraged to implement different technological components to produce meaningful learning experiences for learners, they should be aware of the fact that offering the tools to provide information for learners does not guarantee that they will employ these resources for their own understanding (Land & Greene, 2000).
Decisional Questions
How can this new learning be applied in your online course?
Knowing I cannot ‘opt out’ of learning technology and avoid using it in my course, I will embrace it as a positive tool and integrate it into my instruction wherever appropriate. Technology can be intimidating but I can feel my self-efficacy and instructing confidence growing with each new technology I discover.
I am aware the use of technology is a positive tool and there are many ways to integrate technology into my online course to improve my presence in face to face instruction or online. I will investigate and learn instruction skills utilizing short lectures, animations, simulations, virtual demonstrations, memes, and other formats to include interest, humour, and fun while learning.
Ways in which I will apply this learning into my course include:
- Have my course focus on content from learning theories but use best practices from each.
- Use technology to intentionally build community because I know it impacts on the success of my learners.
- Include plenty of opportunity for personal communication with my learners.
- Focus on learning practical skills rather than on developing theoretical knowledge.
- Listening to students to make the course better.
- Use communication tools such as Zoom, Email, and Moodle, to speak with my learners to deal with real issues of isolation, fear, frustration, and social anxiety. I will be available.
Conclusion
Technology is changing the way we teach and learn, leading to the emergence of a new pedagogy (Teachonline, 2020). Advances in digital technologies, social media, and mobile devices give the instructor and learner much more control to create and share knowledge. Developments in artificial intelligence for teaching and learning, virtual and augmented reality, and simulations and serious games have further emphasized the importance of technology. (Teachonline, 2020)
To support the growth of online learning, there needs an expansion with innovative programs such as the one proposed by the Province of Ontario that support faculty. The Province of Ontario “…is aimed squarely at providing faculty with the digital fluency to confidently take their teaching online.” (Porter, 2019)
As a future online instructor, I cannot support the criticisms identified in this essay and am looking forward to designing my online course using technology tools as a strategy and a way to help my learners find relevance in my course and therefore feel more motivated to engage and learn. Using technology requires me to constantly consider my role of an instructor and how learning is achieved and measured.
References
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