A Series of Reflections: The End

As the first assessment piece for EDSE12024 comes to a close, I find myself more prepared for the teaching world. This experience has shown me the many benefits and heightened learning outcomes of which can be the product of “collaborative learning”. For example, though I have learnt plenty throughout my own research and investigation in the effort to produce our weekly reflections, this assessment piece has provided the opportunity for subject mastery in that I may also learn from other’s Blogs. I say this because while we were only required choose from a selection of learning tools each week, we did not all chose the same ones. As a result of both this and the section of criteria which encourages us to comment on each other’s work, I have learnt about many different learning tools- tools that I cannot wait to embed into my own pedagogies. These facts demonstrate the potential for learning such exercises can have when in the hands of our students.

While this experience has been valuable and enlightening, unfortunately I was not able to absorb as much as I might have were the commenting or online discussions more involved. I found that for the most part well thought out comments were posted, however were only rarely replied to. This may have limited our collaborative learning gains slightly. In regards to my own involvement I believe I made around nine comments on a selection of student Blogs, and the only replies I got were consistently along the lines of: “thanks, I agree” -to which I struggled to reply to. This may have been a result of us all having just discussed the same thing. While differing in topic the thinking “lens” or criteria of considerations were the same for the last four parts of assessment piece one, and therefore limited the amount of relevant things we could comment on. Due to the standard of completion it was also hard to add to anyone’s posts via comment, further limiting a serious online presence in the form of commenting and discussion.

The same cannot be said for in class discussion though as it is purely sharing ideas and possible considerations for the responses due each week. This allows for ease when it comes to contribution or involvement as during these times we are in construction mode and there is work yet to be done. I believe this brainstorming and contribution of ideas to create, answer a question, or generally work towards a common goal physically in class, translates to online collaboration as well. This is where I feel our students would gain the most, not through commenting on the end result. Through my own contribution and the observation of others, I feel that this is the area in which online learning and opportunity for discussion can become as involved as this course intended us to be in our own trials. As most opportunities for learning are created in the dialogue, the conversation, the problem solving or not solving (Morrison, 2012) rather than in the observation of the end result- though learning may still occur here in the form of evaluation and improvement. 

I envision myself encouraging online learning through a platform much like Blogger, where students share assessment ideas and help each other out towards both their own independent submissions and their group ones. Rather than incorporating such a collaborative tools into the actual assignment allowing for the viewing of each others work and in turn the opportunity for plagiarism and potential feelings of inadequacy when others can’t help but compare the quality of the submissions.

So to conclude, and for your ease of viewing:

E-learning advantages

• Heightened employability (see my comment) -teacher
• Heightened ability to provide diverse learning opportunities for students (see previous comment) -teacher
• Greater opportunity for subject mastery -teacher and student
• Team building and opportunity for better staff/student relations -teacher and student
• The opportunity for the inclusion of more creative and diverse methods in the production of works -teacher and student

You may find some similarities upon consulting Weimer’s (2013) five things students can learn through group work:

1. They can learn content, as in master the material
2. They can learn content at those deeper levels we equate with understanding
3. They can learn how groups function productively
4. They can learn why groups make better decisions than individuals
5. They can learn to how work with others

E-learning disadvantages:

• Opportunity for cyber bullying or editing with a malicious intent (see my comment) -teacher and student
• Participating in E-learning inhibits the development of handwritten writing skills such as grammar, editing, punctuation, as most e-learning tools and platforms do this thinking for you. Consider the importance of such skills for state and national exams and competitions which are still handwritten -students

References:

Morrison, D. (2012). Online groups – cooperative or collaborative. Retrieved from: https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/

Weimer, M. (2013). Five things students can learn through group work. Retrieved from: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/