Reflection on topic 4: ... the challange was not to get used to online learning, but to reach a good level of collaboration

 

Online learning carries a stigma of being lower quality than face-to-face learning (Hodges C et al. 2020 https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning ). And I must admit, that before entering this course I naively thought likewise.

I like many others grew up with face-to-face learning which makes me feel comfortable, before as student (not that I remember much of my biology studies 😉) and now as teacher, because that’s what we knew. Through participating in that course I gladly realized that I have been able to think outside the standard box being exposed to various possible solutions that help meet the new needs for our learners and communities trying to provide more flexibility and individualization. And this as I learned can be realized through the use of new technologies and implemented in online or blended learning designs.

Difficult to believe for me at first….Research shows that despite a reduction in classroom time between 30 and 79 per cent, equivalent learning outcomes were found. Consequently, blended learning with reduced classroom time is not systematically more or less effective than conventional classroom learning. (Müller C and Mildenberger T et al. (2021) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X21000178?via%3Dihub )

...and what finally changed my mind was this weeks topic 4 assignment. In agreement with  Müller C and colleages our PBL group 5 provided some real-life example of where this balancing act of student collaborative work within a blended learning environment has been achieved successfully, as you will see. "Success" is here defined from the faculty point of view, where student learning outcomes are of primary interest, namely learners achieved the intended knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes that were the focus of the instructional experience.

The enrollment in this ONL221 course challenged me, but not as initially thought by getting used to online learning, the challenge was rather to reach a good level of collaboration and commitment within the PBL group to successfully work on common task during all those weeks.

When I (as student in this case) work independently, I can feel more in control of my study experience because I´m reliant and responsible for myself only. In Collaborative activities I must become reliant on others and equally, acknowledge that their input is required to help progress. I adjusted to work to a different timetable, forcing the pace of my own study. It took some additional time in the beginning to acquaint myself to this new way of working. To my surprise I felt very comfortable and it felt very rewarding when we have finalized results in form of a presentation in the end of each topic. The take home message for my own teaching is to improve students’ experiences of collaborative learning no matter if future teaching will be face-to-face, blended or online teaching.

Comments

  1. acfonl21 May 2022 at 12:58

    It was nice to share your ideas and refer to our PBL5 case.

    ReplyDelete

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