Category: Answering comments

Learning space – thoughts after these two weeks.

s1690803/ / Answering comments, Ideas and thoughts, Weekly task

On my first post of this block, I described a learning space like “a prepared environment where the student can interact, play and learn from it. We can find a learning space in real life, however, I am thinking in a place that is designed, it pretends to simulate the real world in a challenging but also no-threatening way. It is a safe space of not judgment and where the student can feel free to investigate and challenge their abilities with the support of materials and knowledge.”

After these two weeks, I have been going back to that post to examine my previous thoughts after reading the articles,  everyone’s metaphor, and especially the comment you left. This has been resonating in my mind the whole week. “I wonder whether this accommodates the contemplative walk where we find ourselves working through a problem, or the moment in the middle of the night where we might be struck by an original idea, and so on? Can a learning space not also be somewhat more impromptu and unplanned? I suppose it depends on how we define learning?“

It is well exposed on Bayne et al (2014) and Nordquist, J. & Laing, A. (2015) articles, that we are in the situation to affirm that technology has changed the way we can work and learn such that the constraints of time and place are re-defined. Learning space is a fluid and mobile concept and it goes beyond a class or virtual class. However, ‘contemplative walk where we find ourselves working through a problem’ can be defined as a learning space?

I completely embrace the idea that learning can happen everywhere, anytime! Also, I totally share the idea that you can learn while you are walking around or sitting in a cafe. However, where do we draw a line here? depending on what is happening in our brain? I mean, if we are in a cafe solving a problem, then we are learning and the cafe becomes a learning space? but if we are in a class thinking and planning the next summer (without following the class activity), we are not in a learning space?

Going back to the idea of “prepared environment”, I am still thinking that a learning space requires some preparation/intention behind, of course, a cafe can become a place where learning might happen, but not sure if it should have the category of learning space. I hope I can explain myself.

When I think about “prepared” I mean, that someone (the teacher) has an idea in mind, they is thinking in a specific goal to achieve by the students. This set up doesn’t mean that the activities and steps to rich the goal will happen in only one space, in a specific time or with concrete resources. If I use this course as an example, I would say that the prepared environment is: the IDEL virtual portal, with all their elements: announcements, forum, materials and curated articles. Teachers of the course don’t know where the students will engage with the materials and when this will happen, but you know and have some ideas and expectations of what students have to do in order to show progress and learning, don’t you?

That way, I would say that even that I can find my self walking around thinking about the course, and having unplanned learning moment, I would argue that this moment was somehow planned by you (James, as a teacher). Because you were anticipating (and hoping) I would have an “aha moment” and I would learn something. I guess for that reason, we could call ‘learning space’ to all the places I have been thinking and engaging with the materials (physical or virtual).

I remember, when I was teaching people that will become educators of after school classes, normally people with a little background in education. I remember I selected and designed some activities that I thought it was a journey to arrive at a certain point. I expected they would be able to change their view and preconceptions about children. I didn’t want to arrive at the class and make a statement. I wanted them to think about and arrive at their own conclusions, obviously with my particular bias because we know that education is never neutral! I wanted them to have an “aha moment”, and probably that didn’t happen during the hours we were together in the class. I also prepared reading, poems and song for them. I am sure they engaged with those on different places, and probably they critique, answered or made questions about the materials in their minds, far away from the class. I would consider those moments as something prepared. Does it make sense?

Of course, I think that someone can learn without anyone acting as the puppet master of their process of learning! this is not what I am thinking. But, for me, in order to consider a “learning space,” there is involved this idea of preparation and of course interaction with someone acting as a guide, and the design behind.

Learning environments are successful because users are motivated and educated to learn how to use them in particular successful ways. They are helped, educated, and supported to use environments in new ways. This is particularly the case when technology becomes an increasingly significant aspect of the learning environment. This means that the planners, managers, and leaders of learning environments have themselves also to become active agents in the curation, facilitation, and activation of the networked learning landscape that they have helped to brief, design, and construct.

Nordquist, J. & Laing, A. (2015)

 

As a conclusion, I would say that my previous idea of what is a learning space has not been changed completly, but it has been enriched with more arguments and thoughts. Today I would say that learning space can be defined as the structured context that has been designed to let students play, think and learn. The prepared environment is not only a place where students can learn from, the kind of preparation can make that students engange and learn from a huge range of fluid and open spaces.

 

Poseur vs. Impostor syndrom

s1690803/ / Answering comments, Ideas and thoughts, Is that the future?

Thanks for transforming my impostor syndrome to something interesting and worthy to connect with the programme! , I have been thinking about your comment on my “In a rush!” post.

“Perhaps it’s a feature of online and predominantly asynchronous learning, however, I wonder whether it is easier to get the feeling that everyone is more productive? Is it may be the case that you’ll notice other members of the group who are posting more regularly, but without knowing what is happening in their blogs or whether they have circumstances that particularly allow them to do more reading, and so on?”

I made this picture half an hour ago, that is the reality of the majority of the time I am checking the platform. Online user: me and myself! Sometimes there are a couple of people, but I have never interacted. I never thought of opening a direct message and say “hi, how are you doing?” Maybe because the functionality is one to one? It could be cool to have an open general chat where you can comment without sending a direct message?. If we were sharing a physical space I would say something for sure, at least waving everyone being in the space. I cannot imagine myself entering a class or study room and don’t say hello to my classmates. I am sure that we would have started a conversation about the readings, the activities and maybe some personal topic. Is this expected on online learning? Is this something cultural? The fact that we are a cohort based around the world make this interaction more difficult?
“Maybe in the physical campus, it would become apparent through corridor conversation that, in fact, lots of people are in the same position as ourselves? You’ve made me wonder whether there is any existing research around this – the idea that online we are more inclined to inflate or be intimidated by the output or energy of our peers? Fascinating!”Thanks again, what I am finding fascinating the capacity you have to see the potential of a paragraph I wrote when I was tired and overwhelmed after a long week! Maybe you made me see a great example of what a teacher can do and not a simple facilitator ;).

After your comment, I did a quick search about the topic, very quick! I end up finding many articles that talk about the impact of social media in the perception/satisfaction of the students.  I feel this could answer some of the questions are formulated. When I read your comment I connected the context and feeling with something it is a hot topic now: the impact of the social media and how it seems that we live in the era of poseur culture. So, maybe these articles could give us some clues? Saddly, I was not able to read many, because were not free (also, lack of time!) and I got stuck in the abstract. Find some examples underneath.

Overall, what I have seen is that studies talk about the benefits of using social media, and how this improve engagement and communication among students.  Here, though, we can read the summury of the authors and they conclude that: The study finds that: (1) perceived usefulness of social media has positive effect on the use of social media in student learning; (2) perceived risk of using social media discourages the use of the tool, and (3) SMU has positive effect on student satisfaction.

Without reading the full article, I suspect the authors found out that the students are afraid to use social media in terms that usually this expose to much of their personal life, maybe something they don’t want to share and want to keep it private because they are more aware of the consequences?. Maybe we are having a generation of students really aware of the importance of projecting themselves in one direction when they are using social media, or when interacting in a digital environment. Actually, I found some articles, like this one that highlights the idea that “Socially, millennials are indeed more risk-averse than older Americans, perhaps because of the reputation-damaging potential of social media.” Everyday, there are more studies that show the difference between the lack of risks taken by new generation compared with older ones. Also, what are the impact of insatisfaction, lack of realism and depression because of the use of social media. Can this be translated to online learning platforms?

The fact that we have students (and I include myself here) that grow up socialising and having a concrete realitionship with social media, (again, poseur culture, influencers, and all he superficiality that involves social media) maybe we are having the same actitud when we are learning online. Exposing only what we want to show and never show the complete picture…

Is this something that can be prevented? how? the teacher has a responsibility here? (if we narrow our questions to higher education)… Many questions a no answers…. yet!

I love this Ig account, showing all the strategis that advertising and social media use to modify reality and show something that is difficult to achieve!

 

 

 

 

 

References

  • Mahdiuon, R., Salimi, R. and Raeisy, L (2019). Effect of social media on academic engagement and perfomance: Perspective of graduate students. Link here.
  • Waleed Mugahe AL-Rahmi and Mohd Shahizan Othman (2013) Evaluating student’s satisfaction using social media through collaborative learning in higher education. Link here.