Education, teaching, formalities and support.

 This week I have focused on the similarities and differences in teaching on net and live. The similarities are many. The difference is that we do not have close contact with the students, we are not in the same house, we  may not even be in the same country. We may not have the same conditions, technical, economic elller politically. Awareness of the differences mean that we need to be clear, so clear that we can bridge the differences. 
There is a lot to take in account -To get to our students both in and out throughout the course. Hence the need for awareness of pedagogy perspective on learning - we learn in different ways. Despite differences in learning methods are meeting and discussing important.
 How should and can get you get your students to start a discussion on the web - without coercion? How might we examine thousands of students in a course, is that even possible?

This course is approaching its end. And  it has opened my eyes to all that online learning offers, Moocs, and Google +, blogs, twitter etc. The pedagogy of online courses is something I realize I want to familiarize myself with even more. And still there  are theories (Andersson (2008), Salmon (2013)). And so much, much left to know ,,,

Salmon, G. (2013) Scaffolding for online learning. Available here

Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning . Athabasca University Press. Available here 

So different - and the same

Pedagogy - teachich

the fifth week - getting to know more?

All the technic, the google+, wordpress, paddle, twitter , adobe, all of it is becoming familiar, at least a little. now I dont have to spend more time on looking for where and how compared to reading and taking part of the course. still I am confused. Today nobody else had written anything on the fish document - maybe I still am at the wrong place? Or maybe it is like in the text I wrote after reading Weller, M. (2014). Battle for Open: How openness won and why it doesn’t feel like victory. London: Ubiquity Press. Available here 

there is a lot to it - more than anyone can  get a glimps of (in the  few hours that is in this course) in my life ?

Wiki for students - an experience

I had decided that in the new course which began March 30, the students would be given the opportunity to make a wiki - for real. One of the  students came the following day and said: 

I wrote out my wiki, I had chosen health apps . I wrote five lines and would fetch a referens and left the computer a few minutes. When I came back, five people were had changed  "my" wiki, only the first two sentences I wrote were left. I changed back and then it became a debate where I gave up. Incredible .


There was a lively debate. Many students were  surprised, how can there be critic so quickly? Where the criticism justified?
A log was picked up by another student, and everyone could see the debate within the wiki. Then we had a discussion of credibility  it  was rewarding, even for me.
I had no idea that wiki was so "monitored".

I came to think about whats a wiki is it something more than a short form for wikipedia OR ?
Any one who knows?

Flexibel learning flexibel teaching

The fourth week under the topic flexible learning makes me associate flexible learning with flexible teaching. Let us work smarter and go back to discussion-based learning. Lectures can be recorded, flipped classrooms. Time can be spent on discussions with the help of twitter in the "lecture time," or other  technical aids. Perhaps the small group discussions, peer evaluation, evaluation of other students. And why would a teacher lecture, a topic more than once? Let students learn critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, originality, planning with the help of teamwork, problem-based learning using social media and the Internets all  facilities. 

Universities are unique learning isntitutions. Let us look forward to the diversification of teaching methods. Let freedom give the width, let the amount of students and the width of the students drive the process. Must courses be planned in detail ?- why not solve the course objectives with the support of the students during the course? Let the goals of the course  be the goals for the students to come up with the how to - be up to the students to solve in interaction with the teacher.  Use mentimeter to democratic discuss and decide how to ? Or maybe not . Maybe it will not work - but I would like to try.

all the thougths above is due to  Bates.A.W.Tony (2015), Teaching in digital age. open.bccampus.ca