ONL 181

Topic 2- Online Sharing and Openness

After participating in Topic 2, I had an opportunity to learn some new acronyms and definitions associated with online learning from collaborating with my ONL PBL3 and reading presentations and blogs posted by members of the ONL 181 community. Blended learning and OER(Government Gazette, 2017) is of particular interest to me on a daily basis as I lecture students on the Bachelor of Education degree.

Teaching and now lecturing is my passion along with sharing my knowledge and experiences with my pre-service student teachers about implementing teaching and learning strategies during their teaching experience period at schools. Pre-service teachers engage in blended learning by also interacting with a digital platform called VC learn which is module specific. The lecturer engages with students in  a “face to face” interaction during lectures discussing the relevant content related to the module and engaging students in activities to facilitate understanding and to develop critical thinking skills. Students are then, required to complete activities in this online space in their own time as each task has a time constraint. It is hoped that when students do this that it will assist them in developing critical thinking skills such analysis, application, synthesis and communication and that these skills will be transferred into assessments. According to Paul and Elder( 2008), critical thinking helps to improve one’s thinking so that there is self-regulation and independent thinking. However, on reading case studies on blended learning in Asia-Pacific countries ( UNESCO, 2017), blended learning also present some challenges in that not all students may engage in a digital platform on their own. In the report by UNESCO(2017), the Malaysian higher education sector is one of the leading education systems in e-learning. According to the above study, there should also be plans put in place by higher education institutes to provide professional development to lecturers on how to develop themselves in ICT so that this could be used to facilitate and enhance teaching and learning. This case study used a three stage blended learning model adapted from Graham et al. (2013) and Porter et al. (2014).  I think that most countries are on board with a similar framework and higher education institutes also share the same goal as Malaysia; that in higher education institutes, lecturers need to use information and computer technologies (ICT) more often to design and implement effective and interactive instructional strategies. Open Educational Resources, in my opinion, are useful when designing and implementing instructional strategies. As a lecturer, I find that one has to be open-minded and selective (Creative Commons ) as to what resource you will have permission to use for an activity or during a lecture presentation. I have found websites such as Kahoot! and Teachers pay Teachers useful in preparing for lectures and activities. These online tools also assist in assessing student’s prior content knowledge as well as includes the “fun” factor during lectures so that students are fully engaged. I have also used coggle, prezi and wordcloud previously and will include padlet as one of the new tools that I will be using as an ICT tool in the future as well as exploring the use of twitter to engage students in classroom discussions.

Finally, in my opinion, I believe that one has to be open-minded and ready to engage in ICT platforms and be willing to use ICT tools especially as a lecturer so as to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. The four skills needed for twenty first century learning according to Bialik and Fadel (2015) are creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. As I continue to engage with ICT, I hope to develop professionally and personally so that I can promote the development of these skills in pre-service teachers so that they become equipped with blended learning strategies and are knowledgeable about OER and how these can be adapted to be used in their classrooms. In this way, learners in South African schools, will become technologically literate and critical thinkers who could contribute to the economy of our country in the future.

Figure 1: Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (higher education)

Source: https://www.um.edu.my/docs/default‑source/about‑um_document/media‑
centre/um‑magazine/4‑executive‑summary‑pppm‑2015‑2025.pdf?sfvrsn=4

    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:4c’s

References

Paul, R & Elder, R.(2008). The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools, Foundation for Critical Thinking Press, 2008

Graham, C. R., Woodfield, W., & Harrison, J. B. (2013). A framework for
institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning in higher
education. The Internet and Higher Education, 18, 4‑14.

Porter, W. W., Graham, C. R., Spring, K. A., & Welch, K. R. (2014). Blended
learning in higher education: Institutional adoption and implementation.
Computers & Education, 75, 185‑195.

Bialik, M & Fadel, C.(2015). Skills for the 21st Century: What Should Students Learn?Center for Curriculum Redesign. Boston, Massachusetts

UNESCO.(2017). Blended Learning for Quality Higher Education: Selected Case Studies on
Implementation from Asia‑Pacific.France and Bangkok.