Month: October 2022

Module 4: Open Pedagogy

On October 31, 2022

In Distributed and Open Learning, edci339

When I first heard the term open pedagogy, I freaked out because it sounded super complicated. However, open pedagogy is the use of open educational practises (OEP) and resources (OER) to support learning and share material and content (Hegarty, 2015). Examples of open pedagogy include Websites or textbooks in which many people can contribute and free online education platforms, otherwise known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

To fully experience a MOOC, I signed up for a beginner digital photography course through Alison. I love taking photos, so it would be good to have some educational experience to back up my portfolio. I enjoyed this first class so much that I signed up for two more: intermediate and advanced digital photography. Each course is organized with various units, such as working your camera, photographic techniques, and how to use multiple editing platforms. Further, each unit has subtopics. For example, the unit on how to work your camera includes sub-topics, such as how to clean your camera and set the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

If you are interested in a MOOC, here is a link to Alison! They offer many different courses, and they are a well-established MOOC.

Throughout my experience with this course, there were few options for interacting with other students or an instructor; however, if I needed help navigating the website or had any questions about the material, I could contact someone via the chat box.

Upon completion of each unit, there were quizzes to complete. To move on to the next unit, I needed to achieve a specific grade; otherwise, I would have to try the quiz again. Further, to sum up, for each course, there was a large quiz at the end, in which I needed to achieve a particular grade to earn the certificate.

Compared to my more traditional courses, this learning experience proved to be a legitimate, autonomous, practical learning experience. My digital photography courses through Allison were legitimate as they were created based on a combination of various facts and research from camera manufacturers and world-renowned photographers. Further, my experience was autonomous as I could complete my course independently and on my own timeline. Also, for me, this was a practical learning experience as digital photography is one of my interests, and it’s something that I would like to know more about so that I can take better photos. Buy more traditional courses are legitimate; however, they are not so much autonomous as I usually have to follow a strict schedule curated by professors. Sometimes my learning experiences in my traditional courses are not so practical as I often have to take courses that I am not interested in, such as computer science.

This MOOC should be considered an xMOOC. An xMOOC is a “space where students are introduced to core skills and concepts and can lightly apply the skills and concepts,” whereas a cMOOC is a “massive space for students, and anyone can share and critique each other’s projects, building a community around doing” (Caulfield, 2013).

Click here for more on the differences between an xMOOC and a cMOOC.

Based on my experience, the MOOC I completed is open. This MOOC is open as all I needed to do to enrol in my course was to create an account, which anyone can do with an email. The format was straightforward to follow, some videos accompanied the text, and the quizzes were relatively easy to complete if you followed along with the material in each unit. However, to get the certificate of completion from Alison at the end of a course, you need to pay a small fee to prove that you completed the course. For many, this fee might make Alison’s courses not open to all. Many people use MOOCs for free education from reputable resources to gain employment. Therefore, the price to get the certificate of completion may be difficult for some to accomplish.

I chose to do this learning activity because I am learning not only about open pedagogy but also about photography. Essentially, this was a two-for-one experience that I enjoyed. I learn best through completing an assignment hands-on, so being able to research open pedagogy through experience, helped me fully understand what open pedagogy is. From my experience, I learned that there are many platforms in which MOOCs are offered, so it’s essential to do some research and choose a platform with a good reputation. Suppose you take a MOOC to use the certificate on a resume. In that case, it’s essential to consider the importance of the platform you use to ensure your certificate is as credible as possible.

I hope you enjoyed 🙂

Amelia

References

Caulfield, M. (2013). XMOOC communities should learn from cmoocs. EDUCAUSE. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2013/7/xmooc-communities-should-learn-from-cmoocs

Hegarty, B. (2015). Attributes of Open Pedagogy: A Model for Using Open Educational Resources. Educational Technology, 55(4), 3-13. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/stable/44430383

Blog Post #8: Active and Passive Learning

by ariehl

On October 30, 2022

In edci337, edci337-blog, Interactive and Multimedia Learning

This week we learned about active and passive learning. To set the stage, active learning is when students actively engage with the course material, whereas passive learning is when the student is responsible for absorbing all the material themselves (Mathers, 2017).

In the reading “To Learn, Students Need to DO Something” by Jennifer Gonzalez (2018), various issues about students actively learning in classrooms were presented. One overarching issue that was presented throughout this reading was that teachers forget to incorporate tasks for students to meaningfully process and apply the material (Gonzalez, 2018). However, there were various other issues that were causing this issue, such as the amount of documentation teachers are required to complete, the cycle of test taking, and the lack of time allotted for teachers to prepare a lesson (Gonzalez, 2018). To combat these issues, Gonzalez suggested activities to enhance the use of active learning. These suggestions included sorting, kinesthetic, work, discussion, graphic representations, writing to learn, mini projects, anticipation, guides, quality, note-taking, retrieval practice, and collaboration (Gonzalez, 2018). Many activities were suggested; therefore, I will only address a few that I found particularly interesting and would like to implement in a classroom someday.

This is a diagram comparing active and passive learning.

First, I find kinesthetic work to be an exciting activity to use with students. Kinesthetic work can range from doing short skits to creating visual representations of the material, such as models out of Play-Doh or popsicle sticks. An example of this work I have experienced throughout my education is building models of buildings or bridges. For example, when I was in middle school, we completed a unit on monumental buildings throughout the world, and as our final project, we were tasked to create a model representing this structure. My monumental building of choice was the twin towers in New York City; therefore, I created a large model of the twin towers and surrounding buildings. Creating this model, I had to research what each part of the twin towers was used for to label them. Overall, this activity increased my overall knowledge and understanding of the twin towers! It was a very fun and effective active learning experience.

Here is a fun video for more examples of kinesthetic work!

Second, group discussion is a very meaningful way to actively learn the material from one another. Group discussion is a way in which I find I learn best, and it’s very easy for teachers to implement in a classroom. For example, to use group discussion as an activity for active learning, teachers simply need to give students discussion prompts and tell them to discuss for a few minutes. It is a very quick and easy activity to implement in a classroom; however, it could be difficult to grade. To easily grade a discussion, the teacher could simply give completion or participation marks rather than grades on the content of the discussion. Another way to easily grade a discussion is to have the group write a summary of what was discussed. Overall, a discussion is a powerful and meaningful tool to enhance active learning.

Here is a useful infographic on the advantages and disadvantages of group discussion.

The last strategy Gonzalez (2018) presented in her article that I will discuss is retrieval practice. Retrieval practice is when students are asked to recall information to help them increase their understanding. Retrieval practice is relatively easy to implement in a classroom, as an instructor can do so by asking lots of questions. In a lesson plan, it’s really important to include the types of questions you will ask so that you won’t forget to ask them. Questions are an essential and important part of learning as it helps guide student learning, show students what they are expected to know, and help the teacher judge how well their students are learning the material. There are many ways retrieval practice can be built into a lesson, and questions it’s just one of them. Teachers can also plan activities, such as review activities to complete at the beginning of one class to review the material that was presented in the last class. In fact, this is a strategy that I have used in my past teaching experiences. I find that retrieval practice helps solidify student learning, so they feel confident with the material.

For more information on retrieval practice, click here!

Overall, active learning strategies are vital for meaningful and effective student education.

I hope you enjoy 🙂

Amelia

References

Mathers, B. (2017). Wikipedia – Active vs Passive learning.https://bryanmmathers.com/wikipedia-active-vs-passive-learning/ CC-BY-ND (images for Active/Passive Learning interactivity)

Gonzales, J. (2018). To learn, students need to do something. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/do-something/

Blog Post #7: My Experience Using the SECTIONS Model

by ariehl

On October 25, 2022

In edci337, edci337-blog, Interactive and Multimedia Learning

This week in EDCI 337, we learned some neat techniques to evaluate multimedia, such as SECTIONS and TPACK!

I applied some of these strategies to my own multimedia and had an exciting experience! I enjoy creating videos with my blog posts because it’s fun and makes my blog more personal and accessible. However, I sometimes wonder if my videos meet the needs of those who view my blog or if I’m wasting my time and resources. Bates (2019) created the SECTIONS model, and here is what the acronym stands for:

Here is a poster I made summarizing the SECTIONS model.

In applying the SECTIONS concept to my blog, I determined that including videos in my blog is not a waste of my time or resources. Here is specifically what I found:

S – My viewers are university students who are often tired of reading, so my videos allow them an opportunity to complete their school work while giving their eyes a break.

E – My blog is easy to use. I am technology illiterate, and if I can navigate my blog, I believe a monkey could navigate my blog. I have purposefully designed my blog site to be clean, organized, and easy to navigate

C – Below Average is free for both me and users to use; however, creating these blog posts takes me a while to do well, but they do not take much time for viewers to read through my blogs.

T – Topics are based on education for the purpose of education, and therefore my blog has an appropriate teaching function

I – The comment tool on each blog post allows for interaction between myself and the reader. However, to leave a comment, one needs an OpenEd account.

O – Each blog post contains various links to free resources on the internet. This includes links to news articles, pictures, scholarly articles, videos, and other websites.

N – My comments tool allow blog users to connect and check out one another’s blog sites.

S – My blog promotes privacy and security, as those who leave comments can choose to do so anonymously or with the username attached to the comment.

As I was applying the SECTIONS tools to my blog and learning what exactly it was, I found that it relates to Universal Design for Learning principles (UDL). A UDL “is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn” (CAST, 2018). A UDL employs guidelines such as a UDL must offer multiple means of engagement or motivation, multiple means of representation of information, and multiple means of action and expression (allowing students more than one way to interact with the material (CAST, 2018). However, in order for students to be engaged, have multiple formats of information and have more than one way to interact with the material, the lesson needs to be inclusive. To be inclusive, a UDL must consider what students want to learn and how they want to learn, which pertains to “S” in SECTIONS. For a UDL to be accessible to learners, it must be easy to use and promote interaction, per the “E” and “I” of the SECTIONS tool. Essentially the SECTIONS tool and UDL utilize various strategies and evaluation techniques in order to optimize a learning environment to further promote learner success and inclusion.

Visit this website to learn more about UDL.

Further, there are some more learning strategies ad theories embedded within the SECTIONS tool. For example, I find that the SECTIONS model is connected to other multimedia principles, such as the Engagement principle of Merrill’s Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2002). The Engage principle states that “online learners [are encouraged] to engage with the [multimedia] content” (Merrill, 2002). This engagement can be done in various ways, such as individual or group brainstorming, reflecting, and discussion. Therefore, as Merrill’s Principle of Engagement promotes connecting with others for learning, so do “I” and “N” of the SECTIONS tools.

This is a brief video on Merrill’s Principles of Instruction.

A constraint in using the SECTIONS tool is that it can be difficult to use for evaluation purposes. For example, I had a difficult time assessing my blog for organizational issues and privacy and security issues. These concepts and suggestions are rather broad and, therefore, can be difficult to apply, especially if you do not know what you are looking for. Another downfall of the SECTIONS model is that it does not take into account all factors that are necessary to consider when evaluating a multimedia tool. For example, SECTIONS does not consider your own specific circumstances, such as what resources are available to you to create a useful multimedia tool.

SECTIONS should be used as a tool in addition to other evaluative strategies, such as the TPACK framework, which “focuses on the dynamic relationship between technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK) when integrating technology into a learning environment” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Also, when using the SECTIONS tool, it is important to consider your own circumstances and what is available to you to use and provide to your learners.

Visit this website to earn more about the TPACK framework.

Hope you enjoyed 🙂

Amelia

References

Bates, T. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age – Models for media selection. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/9-1-models-for-media-selection/

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. ETR&D, 50, 3. pp. 43-59.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for integrating technology in teachers’ knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108 (6), 1017–1054

Blog Post #6: Storytelling

by ariehl

On October 18, 2022

In edci337, edci337-blog

This week we learned about storytelling with video for learning! This is a widespread technique used in education settings, and a technique that I have often used when teaching.

A meaningful learning experience that started with a story was when I was in middle school, and we had a speaker named Robb Nash that came in to speak to our school about mental health. When Nash was 17, he was in a near-fatal car crash where he almost died. He was found not breathing with no pulse, and a first responder resuscitated him, saving his life. This traumatic event sparked Nash’s long battle with depression. Nash’s story is extremely emotional and terrifying to imagine being in his shoes. Further, to enhance his message and goal, Nash uses music to reach out to students and teachers. What made Nash’s story so impactful for me was how he described the event, how he felt, the sheer terror he felt in that car accident, and the sadness and grief he felt after surviving a car accident.

Robb Nash is from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His story is truly inspiring and tugs on the heartstrings. Click here to learn more about Robb Nash and the Robb Nash Project.

Ultimately, Nash’s goal in this presentation was to ignite the discussion about mental health and work towards ending stigma, but to do so, he used a few storytelling techniques that we reviewed this week, such as using a conversational tone and making the presentation powerful and accessible. Nash’s conversational style was friendly and enthusiastic, creating an environment that viewers couldn’t take their eyes off; his story encapsulated everyone. This use of conversational tone is Mayer’s Personalization Principle (Mayer, 2005). Further, Nash went as far as to include a PowerPoint with captions displayed and had an ASL signer to ensure his presentation was accessible to everyone, thus following Universal Design for Learning guidelines (CAST, 2018).

I made this video to share a little bit more detail on the Robb Nash presentation and the strategies he used.

I hope you all enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

References
“About UDL” from CAST (2018)http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_about

Mayer, R., & Mayer, R. E. (Eds.). (2005). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning. Cambridge university press

Module 3: Universal Design for Learning Framework

by ariehl

On October 17, 2022

In Distributed and Open Learning, edci339

This module taught us about accessibility, diversity, privacy, and ethics in learning and learning environments. Throughout my blog post today, I would like to discuss how the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework applies to a topic I have previously taught to students.

In one of my past university courses, I created a presentation for an assignment, and my professor asked me to come to teach it in their middle year’s classroom. I will discuss this presentation and the parts of it which reflect the UDL framework for learning.

Here is a copy of my PowerPoint presentations to follow along.

I prepared a video walkthrough of my UDL PowerPoint incase you don’t feel like reading 🙂

The first thing that you will notice in this PowerPoint is that it is colourful and very blue. I have purposely chosen these colours as they are high in contrast, or not colours that are commonly associated with colour blindness, and are exciting to look at. Often times slideshow creators select colours that do not contrast with each other, are challenging to read, or do not consider colour blindness. Colour choice and contrast are essential in a UDL so that information is easy to access, read, and see (IDRC, n.d.).

Next, you will notice that information is offered in more than one format. Students can read the text on each slide while they listen to the instructor present the information. There are also visuals and graphics to help enhance understanding. Further, there are engaging videos throughout the slideshow. Another noteworthy mention is that for each activity, there is a description of it that students can refer to while completing the activity.

Overall, this slideshow supports a UDL as it presents the lesson’s goals, includes various teaching methods, incorporates various materials, and includes an assessment activity for each topic to ensure student understanding (CAST, 2018). Students must know the lesson’s goals to understand the important takeaways (CAST, 2018). Further, not every student learns the same, so presenting the information using various methods with various materials will help ensure every student can be included in the lesson and be successful (CAST, 2018). Lastly, assessment is essential, and students expect assessment (CAST, 2018). Each assessment activity is different and can be modified on the spot to be done individually, in groups, or as a class, depending on the needs of the students

I chose this learning portfolio prompt because I am passionate about inclusion in the learning environment, which is fostered when a teacher has prepared a UDL. Essentially, I learned that a UDL is when a lesson is optimized to ensure learning and success for all. Teachers can create a lesson that adheres to every individual’s needs in their classroom to avoid any challenges that can be faced when teaching the lesson and help everyone feel included and welcomed in a learning environment.

Hope you enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

References

Inclusive Design Research Centre. (n.d). What is inclusive design? Inclusive Design Research Centre. https://idrc.ocadu.ca/about/philosophy/

“About UDL” from CAST (2018) http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/udl_about

Blog Post #5: Principles of Instruction and Instructional Design

by ariehl

On October 10, 2022

In edci337, edci337-blog, Interactive and Multimedia Learning

Hi everyone! This week we learned about Merrill’s first principles of instruction, instructional design, and lesson planning. I wanted to discuss Merrill’s principles and how I would use them.

There is a scenario that immediately comes to mind where I have used Merrill’s principles of instruction. I am currently a visiting student at Athabasca University taking education courses, and for one class, I had to create a lesson plan and teach the lesson plan. The lesson was on globalization and how we can track where our T-shirts have been before arriving at our doorstep.

Click here for more on Merrill’s Principles of Instruction and this infographic.

The learner and I engaged in solving this real-world problem about how globalization affects our everyday lives and how we wouldn’t have the things we do without globalization. The learners’ knowledge about importation and exportation was activated and served as a foundation for new knowledge about globalization (Greenwood, 2019). The learner and I then explored an interactive documentary, “Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt,” by National Public Radio (2013). The learner applied this knowledge to a quiz I had prepared for them (Greenwood, 2019). Throughout the documentary, I had the learner track every place the T-shirt visited before arriving at their doorstep by tracing lines between the locations on a map, thus integrating the new knowledge into the learners’ world (Greenwood, 2019).

This is my instructional design example!

As Merrill (2002) suggested, more than only media and multimedia is needed to promote learning. It requires activation, demonstration, and application, which I used in the planned lesson.

Lesson planning is an essential part of effective teaching. It is vital to create a lesson plan by considering your plan’s big ideas, learning outcomes, evidence of learning, assessment, and learning activities (Kurt, 2015). Considering these five items will help you create a lesson plan that is easy for you to follow and understand while teaching as it progresses. In addition, creating a plan will help ensure that your lesson includes the curriculum you intend to teach. Lesson planning also enables teachers to go back and review their lessons and consider what worked well, what didn’t work well, and what they would change for next time.

I hope you enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

References

Greenwood, J. (2019, December 19). Merrill’s first principles of instruction. James Greenwood. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.james-greenwood.com/instructional-design/toolkit/merrill/

Kurt, S. “Instructional Design Models and Theories,” in Educational Technology, December 9, 2015. Retrieved from https://educationaltechnology.net/instructional-design-models-and-theories/Dr. Serhat Kurt, Instructional Design Models and Theories. Sept 28, 2022.

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. ETR&D, 50, 3. pp. 43-59.

National Public Radio. (2013). Planet money makes a T-shirt. NPR. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title

Blog Post #4: World’s Worst PowerPoints

by ariehl

On October 5, 2022

In Interactive and Multimedia Learning

Hi everyone!

After checking out the comical World’s Worst PowerPoint Presentations, I found they all had one thing in common: each looked like a party (Purewal, 2010). In other words, there was so much going on it was hard to focus, decipher, and understand all the information—they all looked like a busy intersection. In fact, these presentations lack many design and multimedia principles.

Brief explainer video!

First, each PowerPoint presentation violates the signalling principle, one of Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia (DeBell, 2020). The signalling principle states, “humans learn best when they are shown exactly what to pay attention to on the screen” (DeBell, 2020). If these PowerPoints were to align with this principle, they would ensure that the most important thing on each slide would be the most prominent (Phillips, 2014). Currently, these presentations are so scattered it’s challenging to focus. Further, if the PowerPoints were to align with the signalling principle, they would utilize contrast to guide learners throughout the information on every slide (Phillips, 2014). Currently, as I previously stated, the information on each PowerPoint is extremely jumbled together.

Next, the PowerPoint presentations lack the consideration of inclusive design and universal design learning principles, such as optimizing colour in design (Adobe, 2020). Each PowerPoint colossally fails to consider colour choices. For example, many slides use similar colours, such as yellow and orange, and others use colours, such as red and green, which are susceptible to colour blindness. To improve these PowerPoint designs, the designers would need to select colours that are contrasted. As a frame of reference, a good strategy for colour choice is to look at a colour wheel and choose colours that are opposite to one another.

I took the liberty of creating an infographic. While creating this infographic, I considered the signalling principle and optimizing colour. You will see that I chose a layout with numbers that signal the order of items. Further, the colours I chose are highly contrasted, which allows the design to be accessible for all users.

My infographic on Universal Learning Design!

I hope you enjoyed the read 🙂

Amelia

References

Adobe Express. (2020). 8 basic design principles to help you make awesome graphics. Adobe. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://www.adobe.com/express/learn/blog/8-basic-design-principles-to-help-you-create-better-graphics

DeBell, A. (2020, July 24). How to use Mayer’s 12 principles of multimedia learning. Water Bear Learning. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://waterbearlearning.com/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning/

Phillips, D. (2014, April 14). How to avoid death by powerpoint. YouTube. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo

Purewal, S. J. (2010, August 17). Top 10 world’s worst powerpoint presentations. PC World. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/slideshow/366369/world-worst-powerpoint-presentations/

Module 2 : Connectivism in Psychology

by ariehl

On October 1, 2022

In Distributed and Open Learning, edci339

Hi everyone!

Module 2 on identity, community, space, and place covers topics of digital identity and digital spaces. A concept I found particularly interesting in this module was the theory of connectivism.

According to Siemens (2005), connectivism is “the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.” In other words, collectivism is when learning occurs through connected peers and sharing opinions, views, and ideas—it is a collaborative process. In collectivism, there are four activities: aggregation, relation, creation, and sharing. Aggregation is when “learners access and curate a wide range of resources; relation, in which learners are encouraged to relate content to their earlier experiences; creation, in which learners are encouraged to create an artifact of their own; and sharing, in which learners share their work with others in the network” (Weller, 2020).

I study the discipline of psychology, where collectivism is not used much. Currently, in psychology, professors use learning approaches such as behaviourism and cognitivism. If psychology were to design a course that emulates connectivisim, content delivery would change drastically. Instead of lecture and exam-based learning, psychology classes would have to focus on discussion-based and community education. Further, if connectivism were to be employed in psychology classes, students would need to be provided more opportunities to make choices about learning. More ways that connectivism can be utilized in psychology classes are through group projects, discussions, and engaging with other people. These methods would entirely change the format of psychology courses.

Here’s a brief video for more about the discipline of psychology!

Considering the four key activities (aggregation, relation, creation, and sharing), here is an example of what they would look like in a psychology class. For example, a professor could ask us to write a group essay on a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). To complete this group essay, learners with me to explore various resources (aggregation), relate the information in these resources to our own experiences (relation), create the paper itself (creation), and share our essay with others in our class (sharing) in hopes of creating some sort of discussion.

As I stated earlier, employing connectivism in our learning would drastically change the teaching mode. Rather than using lecture-based classes and giving exams, professors would need to provide opportunities for students to work together on group projects, engage in discussions, and create more opportunities for students to interact with one another and discuss course content.

Further, because students would be engaging in so much group work, professors would need to evaluate us on this work as we would not have much time for other assessments such as quizzes or exams. To create a class that strictly employs connectivism, assessments would need to be based on group work.

Employing connective ism in a psychology class would not be a successful paradigm for psychology. The education of psychologists is held to a very high standard, with many concepts and items we must learn to advance to a master’s degree or a doctorate. Professors need to be sure that we completely understand all of the material being presented to us, rather than just a few items that the assigned group work covered. This is why psychology classes are primarily lecture-based, with exams as assessments.

Connectivism places a lot of emphasis on group work and discussion-based learning, which could pose some potential obstacles to learners, instructors, and institutions. A potential challenge for learners could be that some people just do not learn from discussions. For instructors, a potential challenge could be creating various activities for assessment that employ connectivism. Lastly, a potential challenge for the institution could be that students are not learning what they should be in class because groups are not focusing on all the material presented, just a few significant concepts.

Here’s a short video for more information on connectivity in the classroom!

I chose this learning portfolio prompt because I am interested in learning theories and how people might learn best. It intertwines with psychology as people are unique; therefore, people are unique in how they learn. I also thought it would be enjoyable to relate this learning theory to my discipline of psychology. Finally, this activity made me appreciate how my professors currently run their psychology courses, as I very much enjoy your lecture-based learning and exams as assessments.

Thanks for the read 🙂

References

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://er.dut.ac.za/bitstream/handle/123456789/69/Siemens_2005_Connectivism_A_learning_theory_for_the_digital_age.pdf

Weller, M. (2020). “Chapter 17 – 2010 Connectivism.” 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69#ch17.