Seven days of relief teaching has put a surprisingly large spanner in the blog-production works. In addition to my busy days, I have also been rediscovering the joys of calculus on Coursera, working with the absolute nature of numbers has been really quite soothing after all this intense reading and writing.
I am enjoying the topic of ‘openness’ – again I have been forced to confront essentialist narratives about technological ‘progress’ in education. Assuming that the ‘educational aims of’ are akin to ‘innate qualities of’ educational technology, seems to be something that the mainstream media does quite readily. The critique of the open education movement by Jeremy Knox was a really good read. The concept of negative liberty was a really helpful framework to examine the notion of ‘open education’. ‘Freedom to’ enjoy liberty (or education), as it was described in the article seemed somehow prescriptive and restricted whereas ‘freedom from’ barriers to education seemed to afford individuals more agency. I’m really starting to appreciate how entrenched neoliberal thinking has become in my own world view and that makes me feel a bit uneasy given everything I have been exposed to on this course so far.
Unfettered freedom to learn and to exercise agency over the direction of one’s learning on the surface has a certain appeal. I could liken it to rambling the South African countryside without a map, one could serendipitously discover ancient bushman paintings whilst enjoying the spectacular scenery. That is but one of many outcomes that could arise from taking such a journey. At the other extreme end, without the guidance of a map, in unfamiliar territory, one could miss the cave paintings entirely, get horribly lost and die of heat exhaustion.
The map in my analogy refers to the teacher, the person whose pedagogical judgement is there to help you get the most of your learning experiences. Perhaps my analogy is a little extreme but my point is that given the limitless educational outcomes that could result from self-directed learning (assuming that it is even possible) some are bound to be valuable but what about the missed opportunities. Knox echoed concerns about implied de-prioritisation of the teacher within educational technology rhetoric, that I have read repeatedly over the past few weeks – Biesta, Bayne, Popenici and Kerr to name but a few. It made me think of the Learning Paradox that Beista quotes in “Giving Teaching Back to Education: Responding to the Disappearance of the Teacher”
The learning paradox is the predicament, posed by Meno, as to how one can go looking for something when one doesn’t know what one is looking for, and how one can recognise what one is looking for if one doesn’t know it (Plato, trans. 2008).
On a practical note, my own experience of MOOCs began in 2015 with Coursera. I had just had ankle surgery and was confined to my bed for three weeks. As a working (primary school teacher) mother of three young children, the prospect was sublime. I just needed something to keep my mind challenged and excited. I don’t recall how I came across the Calculus course on Coursera but I found it nonetheless. I distinctly remember being blown away by the whole concept of no barriers to entry (freedom from application, registration, payment).
Jim Fowler a mathematician from the University of Ohio presents the lessons in videos such as this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MrH499MvHw
I think he does a pretty good job of explaining complex ideas in clear, concise lessons.
I don’t know if the app existed back then but I only discovered it a week ago and downloaded it. The app is a rather pleasant user experience. I was able to see the course structure and available resources in a way that I wasn’t able to four years ago. I haven’t felt under pressure to part with any cash and was able to continue where I left off. Which I duly did and spent two evenings working on Maths problems rather than blogging or working on my assignment. It was a fun experience but it felt slightly procrastinatory in nature. It was a form of escapism much like watching a series on Netflix. I haven’t even looked at this weeks reading on badges but maybe my efforts need recognition; some sort of validation, for the work to be meaningful.
Sounds like you’ve had an interesting week in lots of different ways.
The idea of educational qualities as innate qualities (or immutable mobiles) of edtech also seems to be ubiquitous among technologist led edtech companies and venture capitalists. Also, as you say, the notion of personalised learning as a form of individualistic ‘free’ agency is also embedded in discussions of educational technologies in the press and in policy discourses. Part of the justification for the critical approach of this programme is to surface and to problematise and resist these assumptions within digital education.
I liked your analogy of the unmapped ramble in the countryside that works well with the Plato quote.
The calculus course sounds like a good experience (not to my taste but there you go) and I had actually forgotten about the Coursera app but good to hear that it was a positive experience. Returning to your rambling analogy, I suppose the main question is where would you go next with your learning? To more formal education or do you feel suitably competent to be able to ramble over less formal terrain?
I really value the critical approach of the IDEL course. It has taken a while to get ‘comfortable’ with the various theoretical approaches that have been used to challenge assumptions within digital education. I still have much to learn, one thing I know for sure is that I need formal structure and direction. I am extremely unlikely to ramble alone in the educational wilderness.