On this blog page you will find my thoughts on different theories of distance education including cognitivism, behaviorism, connectivism and constructivism. You will also find some of the best practices I found which includes aspects of each of these theories.
This course was very informative and challenging, but I appreciated it. When I saw the course would be theory heavy, I thought it would be uninteresting and just a read this and answer this question type of model. However, that was not the case. The way the instructor got us involved with the course content was engaging. Comparing and contrasting theories made them seem interesting. Being able to relate theories to our personal experiences and seeing the experiences of others was also very rewarding.
One of the highlights was the weekly wrap-ups and introduction to the new modules. Each new module the instructor would comment on discussions that occurred during the previous module and point out different students and their contributions to the class discussion. If I were to teach my own class, I would want to do something similar. It became a goal of mine to be recognized by the instructor and kept me even more engaged in the course. Revisiting behaviorist and cognitivist theories, which were my main focus in my undergraduate career in Secondary Education, to learning deeper about new theories, such as constructivist and connectivist, that are present in the DE field would seem like it would be overwhelming. However, in this course it was not. The breakdown and development of one theory to the next kept the class at a flow and once I got comfortable with it time flew by. Now we have reached the end. I definitely want to remember the different theories and how they can influence students, instructors, departments, and even the institutions. Students react differently to different theories and some may work better in the behaviorist/cognitivist realm. For some, the online learning is completely new and it can take some time for them to get used to it. These are the students that require the extra support. It is up to the instructor to determine what types of students they have and apply their resources appropriately. Departments have the responsibility to not only hire qualified professionals, but to also train them so they are able to adapt in the classroom, and complete their jobs effectively. Institutions fund departments and make the important policies and procedures that everyone must follow. Depending on the theory the institution is based on can determine who gets what funding and how policies change the way some different departments function. Really, from what I have gathered, this is a top-down trickle effect. Everything that happens at the higher up levels eventually gets to the students and can determine whether the institution will continue to thrive. Thus, it is important for all members to understand the theory and purpose associated with their institution. It is very obvious to me that the theories of a distance education institution and its courses tend to influence the best practices, policies and procedures of how a distance learning institution runs. The theories used should be considered as the foundation of the institution. So when an institution has more of a behaviorist theory, it may put policies in place that would make students react in a certain way to receive benefits, or to avoid consequences. On the other hand, if the institution is more on the constructivist and connectivist side students are more likely to be open and able to control their own learning.
It seems that the traditional brick-and-mortar institutions were built on the behaviorist/cognitivist theories and online institutions are leaning more toward the constructivist and connectivist theories. In the brick-and-mortar institutions it seems that students do have the theory that in order to do well in class you must go, pay attention, take notes, do homework, study, and do well on exams. Often, students make study groups or visit the professor during their office hours outside of the classroom, but this is not required at all. Contrary to that, online education allows for constant feedback and discussion with other students and the instructor. The instructor would seem to be more readily available at different times, although it may be asynchronous discussions. In both situations students have to seek out support although support systems are in place and also available. This leads me to my point of students taking their education in their own hands. No matter the theory, students sign themselves up for college and have to decide how their own college experience will be. Each person will have a different experience based on what they put into their college coursework and activities on campus. When students are more engaging in their institution they often have more opportunities opened to them and stay focused on doing well. It takes even more self-sufficiency for an online student to be active, as they are behind a screen more often than not. This can be a challenge for some. But with appropriate resources put in place, all students can be successful no matter the theory and whether they go to a brick-and-mortar institution or choose online education. In this module we talked about connectivism.
It was suggested as a possible theory, but most of us thought that it was more based on constructivism with a few additions. It is really hard to get a hold of on exactly what connectivism is. In the past looking at the developments from behaviorism to cognitivism to constructivism seemed relatively easy. However, thus jump from constructivism to connectivism was more like a bridge instead of a jump. A lot of connectivism just allows for connecting through the Internet, but it is still based on constructing ideas and networking your ideas. It is almost like you are changing the perspective on constructivism and looking at it in a new way. Another topic we discussed was MOOCs. MOOCs are not going anywhere. The biggest problem with MOOCs is that they are free and learners feel no obligation to complete them. Or, if they do want to get something out of the MOOC they pay for a certificate of completion, and actually engage and put in the effort to do well in the course. Honestly, if MOOCs were to start charging, and put obligation on students, it would require more teacher presence and it is starting to sound more like a credited course than a MOOC. That is not what MOOCs want to become, and not what they are used for however. I also believe that higher education institutions will continue to use these MOOCs and take some ideas from them as far as distance learning goes. I myself joined a MOOC once and was able to be a part of the environment for a week or two, but as I was in other classes at the time, those took precedent and the MOOC took the back seat. Eventually it was forgotten. I can definitely understand when students who have little to no motivation choose to try to start a MOOC but cannot finish due to life and other obstacles. It appears, I did not have as strong of grasp on constructivism and OCL theory as I thought I did based on the results from my last paper. This is a topic that I would want to go back and do more research on. Maybe go back and read the articles presented in class and do other research on the topic. I think because I had a stronger background in behaviorism and cognitivism, those topics were easier for me to grasp and create ideas for. With constructivism being something of a new theory to learn I should have dedicated more time to fully understanding it. So this module is about connectivism and MOOCs. I am not too sure about the connectivism theory, but I'm sure that once I start reading and getting more in depth with it something will connect.
MOOCs I do have experience with. There was another MDE course that actually asked us to sign up for a MOOC. I used CourseRA at the time. Now I constantly get emails from them asking me to sign up for more MOOCs. I have not done so yet as I am taking these classes for the MDE, but I think I will take advantage of the resources once completed this program. Getting more information about MOOCs is always a good thing. I know people are often turned off by them since they do not trust the validity of the information provided and the content is too open-source. However, if you find the right MOOC I think it can work out. For example, if you are looking for a MOOC to help you brush up on your Algebra math skills, I feel that would be easy enough to find and would be reliable since math is universal. I think it's all a matter of doing your research. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting more information on connectivism. This module was interesting. I knew more about Constructivism than OCL. I did not realize that Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) was not as complicated as I thought it would be. Actually a lot of these theories are turning out to be not as complicated as I originally thought. There has actually been some overlap between this class and my other course DETT 607 and many other courses and OCL.
Throughout the article by Koohang, Riley and Smith (2009) they reinforced the following ideas: incorporating exploration/experience in the online classroom relating real world experiences to the class assignment collaboration with peers scaffolding to gain higher thinking reflection: either self-reflection or reflection on peer’s theories feedback from the instructor These were critical to me and have been critical throughout this entire MDE career. From the beginning we have always been encouraged to give introductions and share experiences from outside the classroom in our own lives. This has given us that connection to what we are learning and to our peers from the beginning. We are also encouraged to collaborate with our peers. Each course has discussions we are asked to participate in and respond to our peers and even give feedback in some cases. A lot of courses ask us to reflect on what we have been learning either through this learning journal or in the course assignments. Feedback from the instructor is important especially to set expectations in the beginning of the course and to keep students on track throughout the course. All of these to me are key elements in having a successful online course and are things I will want to remember in the future. So this module is about constructivism, OCL theory and social media. I am quite familiar with constructivism and social media as I am active in social media regularly, and constructivism seems to be the basis for most of the courses I have taken at UMUC under the MDE program. I am unsure about what OCL is at all, as I feel as though I have heard the term before, maybe even in this course, but am not sure where I originally heard about it or what it means. I am interested in learning more about it, however.
In this module we also have to incorporate a social media aspect for our next assignment. I like to be creative when it comes to including social media in assignments so this sounds like it should be enjoyable and I am looking forward to that! Let's see where the next step in the journey takes us! This module was very encouraging and refreshing connecting previous knowledge to some educational theories. With behaviorism and cognitivism we see connections to education today.
The article by Kanuka actually references a few educational theories that were very interesting to read about. I found myself most closely related to the behaviorist philosophy, but I can remember making a few activities that took concepts from the progressive and humanist philosophy. We came to the conclusion as a class that there is not one theory that completely encapsulates the right educational philosophy, but it takes a few of them combined to meet the needs of the students. We also went into a bit of depth in rubrics and specifically the difference in holistic and analytical rubrics. I did not realize it, but most of the time I would grade my students based on analytical rubrics. I think it was the behaviorist in me that liked that I could set criteria and based on the student's performance they would be graded. Students would know what to expect based on that rubric and their grade should not be surprising. I feel as though holistic rubrics tend to work better for courses in the humanities that are more abstract, but each instructor is probably different in the way they create and use rubrics in their classrooms. I am glad I was able to make this connection in the end as I was worried about how everything would tie together in the beginning. References Kanuka, H. (2008). Understanding eLearning technologies in practice through philosophies-in-practice from The Theory and Practice of Online Learning (online book). Retrieved from http://www.aupress.ca/books/120146/ebook/99Z_Anderson_2008-Theory_and_Practice_of_Online_Learning.pdf As I predicted, we went into a bit of depth in both the behaviorist and cognitivist theories that I had studied back in my Intro to Psychology undergraduate class. This time we related it to pedagogy though, which I had also done before in one of my secondary education courses. It was nice to bring back memories of not only Pavlov's dog but also Skinner's rat and theories on positive and negative reinforcement.
One of the points that I did not recall from before was that the cognitivist theory actually was based on the behaviorist theory. It's almost like the cognitivist theory graduated from the idea of the behaviorist theory. This is basically where the schema theory came from as well which was the main point that we were to use in our education courses. It is important to relate what students are learning to what they already know or have experienced. Once again, it is all about knowing your students, their experiences, and their needs. It is definitely refreshing to see familiar topics and see how everything connects to what I have been learning all along. I can see these theories being put in action in my classes which will be helpful in my future in the DE field. I still remember, quite clearly, learning about behaviorism in my PSYC 100 Introduction to Psychology course for my undergraduate degree talking about Pavlov's dog, conditioning, and positive and negative reinforcement. I really enjoyed that class and learning about behaviorist. It came up again later on in a couple of my education courses when we were talking about psychology in children/teenagers. I remember again enjoying that part of class especially. I am hoping it will happen again in this course.
The other part is about rubrics. I have developed a rubric or two in my teaching days. We had to not only make rubrics, but use them in the classes we were teaching for my teaching internship. I've also used the LORI instrument in a previous course to compare a couple of technologies and we got to be the judge to determine which was the better one to use. I found that interesting. Based on this, I am not sure how behaviorism and Quality Assurance quite fit together, but I am sure it will be an interesting module. |
AuthorGarid Gibbs, B.S. Secondary Education and Math Archives |