Topic 2: History and Context of Distributed and Open learning.
Formalized Discussion Question: What learning theory/ies fit/s E-learning Edtech Trend.
Over the weeks, we have encountered various learning theories that might be able to support open learning, from Behaviourism to Cognitivism to Constructivism to OLC (online collaborative learning) to Connectivism, I learned that there’s no single theory that is perfect and without critics. E-learning has a different set of challenges compared to conventional learning, but it also offers students more opportunities. In a globalized world, everything is moving very fast, information is updating every second, and if we do not make good use of technology in the education system, we will be outdated. In reviewing Bates (2014)’s blog about learning theories, I think connectivism best fits with E-learning. Even though Bates (2014) has pointed out that this theory is still developing and face a lot of criticism, I think once this theory is developed, it will be the model of how we learn in the future.
According to Weller (2020)’s chapter 17 “connectivism”: “By the late 2000s though, with the advent of greater connectivity, user-generated content, and social media, a number of educators began to explore the possibilities of education in a more networked, connected model that had these new developments as core assumptions” (Weller, 2020, n.p). In my view, new knowledge in the digital age is not generated from the vacuum, there must be some kind of interaction and some collaboration going on in the process of knowledge-making. It is the process of numerous ideas and perspectives clash and then emerging.
My peer wenzhuo from my social pod adviced me to add my personal experience to this blog, which I think it is a very good idea. Reflecting on my experience of E-learning, I love how my peers build on what I wrote, and receive constructive comments so that I could improve my previous writings. In the pandemic, I see teachers are trying a different method to make online courses engaging, and I remember one time my teacher assigned us various political readings that are controversial, and send us a link to a collaboration website, which the whole classroom can use and add annotations on the readings. There’s really no guide on how or what to highlight on the readings, and what kind of comments are expected, but that excites many of us, and we make hundreds of comments on that website, and this experience allows me to see the possibility of making new knowledge in social interaction, and such interaction can be made without teachers’ guidance. This experience resembles very much George Siemens’s talk, which I included below, Siemen’s work is also discussed in Weller (2020)’s article, so I think he is very important.
I love the idea of connectivism because I think the aim of E-learning is to form social interactions. However, the kind of social interaction that E-learning brings does have many shortcomings. For example, in Weller (2020)’s article, he pointed out that some individuals might find absolutely confusing when there’s no structure or guidance offered by teachers in the learning process, or they may find E-learning very chaotic. But same with the conventional learning approach, some people find it less engaging. I think E-learning and connectvism theory sends the message that it is possible to have multiple learning outcomes rather than a set of pre-determined learning outcomes, and I believe this is the most intriguing aspect of E-learning and connectivism.
Here are the links to my original topic 2 blog and Wenzhou’s peer feedback:
References:
Bates, T. (2014). Learning Theories and Online Learning. [Blog post]. Retrieved from
https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/07/29/learning-theories-and-online-learning/
Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 17 –Connectivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/198057f5-1a3e-4436-a4b8-c6e1a3e0bd69
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