From the Middle

I found the article by Chris Dede informative, and also interesting in the explanation of the “constructivist” approach to learning that the course used. This term is one that has been bandied about quite a bit lately. Perhaps it is because of the ever-growing access that we have to technology in education, or because more educators are coming into the schools with a comfort level with technology that was not there even ten years ago. We of course have been using these things without online learning since before it was called “constructivism.” Good teachers have been using the “constructivist” method forever, so the more distributed learning can help teachers to continue to do so the better.
I appreciate this type of learning environment as well. With our class online, I only have to worry about my kids home alone one evening a week instead of two, and like the students in the paper, I need to use the technologies we are learning about in order to understand them. Last week’s experience with TappedIn, for example left me feeling a little overwhelmed as I tried to follow the conversations going on in the text, and some people type faster than others, and sometimes when you respond the teacher or others have already moved on to another topic. Part of that for me as well is my need to make sure everything I type is spelled and punctuated correctly! In the paper it states that only 18% of students who participated in a study of online learning courses responded that they had a positive experience. My experiences have be mostly asynchronous, and probably barely that. I wonder if the students who responded had similar experiences like I did; Read this, take a online test, do this project, e-mail it. There was never any feedback from anyone other than the teacher. As instructors become more familiar with technology the courses are changing, and I hope that online courses can become more interactive like the one in this paper and the one we are taking now. One of the reasons I was reluctant to take an online program (U of Phoenix for example) was the boredom factor, and the feeling that I didn’t learn anything. These problems could have been overcome however, with the teacher having a better understanding of the technology available, and a thought to reaching students using a variety of learning styles.
Of course as a middle school teacher my thoughts turn to how I could apply distributed learning to my classroom. The key is to make the learning something that makes the middle schooler’s life more manageable, not more complicated. Being able to use a blog or a sychronous media like Tapped In would be helpful to a middle school teacher for many reasons:
The anytime anywhere access to the media. Middle schoolers are forgetful, and being able to log in to a blog on today’s literature lesson or a discussion board on a current curriculum topic would be helpful.
They have busy lives that are not under their control. A middle schooler can’t go to the library or bookstore by his/herself, they need a ride, and often extra curricular activities that seem to be becoming more and more important for success in high school and later, college, make it difficult to stay after school for help or to work on projects.
Methods that educators use to enhance instruction that are highlighted in this paper (collaborative, cooperative learning, reflective learning etc) can be used with technology through e-mail, listservs, discussion boards etc. Middle schoolers are often shy in class and students who would not normally respond in class may due so more often when given the time to think through and respond without pressure of face-to-face embarrassment.
A teacher could assign “code” names that only she and the student knows, further allowing students that anonymity.
One important developmental skill that middle schoolers begin to perfect is working with others. Oftentimes it is difficult for middle schoolers to work on group projects because of time and distance constraints. A teacher using computer mediated communication can allow her students to meet and work on projects without having to leave their homes or school.
These are things I see as ways to overcome some of the problems with CMC. Mostly I believe that it is up to the teacher to use the technology effectively when teaching.
The most valuable thing I get from this article are the findings that suggest that online learning, like any teaching done without adequate preparation is ineffective. The perfect class seems to be one that combines distributed learning with face-to-face learning in order to appeal to all learning styles. While some students reported enjoying enhanced access to materials, others felt overwhelmed. The instructor, especially if a teacher were to use distributed learning in a K-12 classroom would have to throughly prepare the class and be constantly monitoring the progress of her students. Making sure that the teacher and the students are well versed in the technology and the use of it are crucial to having success at this.
So far I feel like this class is well run in that way. (I am not sucking up either!) In the past I have had classes where the instructor was not prepared each class, and was not open to explaining things and assumed that we knew things and we were left to figure out much of what we were learning on our own. For some this may be a benefit, but for me, it was very frustrating. As a teacher it was good for me to feel the frustration of a class taught without a lesson plan and clear objectives. Hopefully that will make me a better teacher. I like that you have given us clear instructions, and the sychronous nature of the class are helpful. You respond in a timely manner. This class seems to be following the model of the course at Harvard.