REFLECTION-BLENDED LEARNING

REFLECTION

         Futurelearn is a massive platform where you can gain knowledge by participating in variety courses. FutureLearnis the first UK-led platform provider of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that launched to the general public as a beta platform in September 2013. We can learn online for free by choosing a high quality free course from a range of topics from Science & Technology to Arts and Humanities, from Body and Mind to Business and Management.Besides that , we can learn step-by-step because this courses are designed to fit around your life, with short activities and clear goals to encourage you to make progress at a comfortable rate that suits you. We can learn from the experts such as educators from top UK and international universities have created videos, articles and quizzes to inspire you, and will lead discussions and debates. It encourages us to learn from each other:  Courses are designed to provoke questions and stimulate debate, so that learning becomes as easy and natural as chatting with a group of friends.

         I have attended five week course on Blended learning :getting started on 30 Oktober 2017 and finished on 2 December 2017. My motivations for doing this course were I’m interested in doing this learning completely and I felt the content might be useful for shaping for future of my teaching style.It’s been great over the first two weeks to learn alongside plenty of other practitioners from the vocational sector around the globe and it’s been highly beneficial to see the case studies that have been gathered from educators and their learners. This blog will be updated as each week of the course progresses.

WEEK 1

         I was introduced to the most effective ways of using digital technologies to increase learner success.It enables independent learning. It extends learning. Technology in education is a necessity as teachers and students now demand more. I’ve used flashcard sites and apps for ‘glossaries’ recently. Quizlet and Study Blue are ones I would recommend. The students can then maintain their own sets of online flashcards to learn and revise from- the flashcards are interactive and sets of activities are automatically generated. I moved away from static lists and towards flashcards as they were more conducive to learning. I have also seen a colleague teaching maths maintain a class glossary (using Google Docs) of mathematical terms, definitions and they could include links, videos and images as a reminder of the meaning of each term. This, over the Moodle version presented on this course, is far more user-friendly and accessible to learners and staff.

Having experimented with flipped learning several times, I’ve found that generally using online tools to extend learning outside of the traditional classroom has been preferable. This is perhaps due to my own preferences of working and planning lessons but it’s also the extent to which a class is affected if the learners have not completed the flipped content. Instead, getting them to work on a project over a number of weeks that further develops their subject specific skills has been of greater benefit. Watching the hairdresser speak about her approaches to the use of technology was of great use as she spoke honestly about her approaches and the benefits she’d been able to see. Equally, the fact we heard from the students about the impact technology has had on their learning was useful.

WEEK 2

This week we move on to consider the ways in which you can introduce or enhance blended learning within your teaching practice. We will think about why people use digital technologies in education, and consider how they support learning outcomes. I learned about mobile learning, social learning and problem-based learning.

I learned some tips about classroom tools. Economics can be a dry subject and using blended learning helps to engage learners she would otherwise use. Nearpod allows the lecturer to share presentations and build in quizzes and polls for the learners to work with. It’s great to send across work to absent students as well- they get the same activities used in class. Using the interactive whiteboard means that you can move the lesson so that the students are leading the learning.Technology has enabled variety and pace in the classroom.It’s great as a teacher to try new technologies, to learn new things and not know what’s coming next.

I get know about e-learning packages such as Prospect Training Services- Dreams- custom-made 3D animations, video and audio introductions to a new subject- before the teacher moves to more traditional teaching & learning activities. The students are enabled through e-learning, to move their learning along at their own pace.Tutors will never be replaced but the technology can assist in engaging students with their learning in different ways.

Besides that, I also learned about google classroom.It can be viewed on phones, which means that learners can take it wherever they go. It saves printing in the classroom too. Students were completing different activities and uploading the answers/pictures of their answers to the online classroom, which means that other students could learn from their work- without having to complete all activities themselves. Checking on students’ learning and progress can be easy on the classroom as you can set formative assessments easily and it’s useful for enabling flipped learning as well as being great for summative assignment submission and grading too.

WEEK 3

Third week is an interesting and fun-filled week. This week, we’ll be exploring how to use digital technologies to meet learning outcomes and support our learners such as Virtual Learning Environments and getting the most out of them and .Openly available tools to embed into your practice.

I started exploring VLE. VLE is an online software tool that provides controlled access to course specific content. Yu can arrange content by module, week or activity. You can use the curriculum design and learning oiutcomes to arrange content. I found all material is available 24 hours a day. It ensure you provide materials in common file types so that they are widely accessible by learners.I found many interactive activities and learner generated content is vital on a VLE. We must remember to share information about privacy settings for learners. We also can set quizzes that provide students with instant feedback and define the purpose of any discussion forum and link to any face-to-face contact time too.I found out that we can arrange the VLE so that it encourages independent learning. Fuethermore, we can monitor learners’ progress with both formative and summative activities. I was asked to share and read the VLE activities of others on this Padlet wall .

Besides that, I found out that exploring tools are free, accessible tools available on the internet. They can be used to collaborate, share, create and present. Apps can be for smartphones or web-based.WordPress for blogging- store, display and share a lot of these open tools. This can be a host for all of this material- one space to bring everything together and share with learners. It can be used as a VLE or to complement a VLE. There are many tools such as Prezi for creating interesting presentations, Audacity for recording voices Google tools for making sharing and collaboration easier, Google Hangout for video conferencing Padlet for virtual post-it notes. We also can use ThingLink to add multimedia links to a standard 2D image and using the cloud makes things more flexible and accessible

WEEK 4

This week i looked at curriculum design; considering the difference blended learning makes to the process of designing a course such as Ffexible learning, personalised learning, inclusive learning and engaging learning.

Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology, written by Diana Laurillard, is a recommended text to explore.These ideas are designed to provide inspiration and to lead to more reflection on our own approaches to curriculum design.

I also found out that flipped learning is the process that something staff have been engaging with over time but technology just makes this easier and more engaging. Screencast-o-matic can be used to create a video tutorial. Syudents watch this via the VLE prior to the lesson and then during the class, the learners can spend more time practising and applying their learning. The learners can then access the video whenever they want to. It can only be effective if the videos are well-designed in the first place. I found that we can use good online resources where they exist already. We also can use screencasts to make your own Besides that, we also can use media colleagues to ensure the videos are watchable

WEEK 5

This week I found there are wider issues around technology in the sector such as employability,inclusiveness, quality and efficiency.

I used digital systems such as search engines, email, calculation tools, presentation tools and find, select and exchange digital information, and do this in an appropriate way, using the appropriate tools and systems. I also candevelop and present information, using a variety of types of information, display, and formats, appropriate to the task and audience I was asked if our students could do this. I would say a definite yes to that. Although more challenging, I think my learners could also do this:

I actually think that these are the skills learners need to develop more. I found that communication online sometimes called ‘netiquette’, how to use email appropriately, selecting the right tools for the task, adjusting to your audience. When doing self-presentation, we must being aware of your online identity, managing your online presence.

Beisdes that, online resources and activities allow learners to study at home, at work, or while travelling, as well as in their place of learning. Digital resources can be under learner control, so they can watch a video, or listen to an explanation, or do a test, as many times as they need to.In addition to the variety the teacher provides they can do individual work, join online social groups, or make their own blend of digital, physical and social. I found that the teacher or trainer can distribute their time in different ways across whole class, small group and individual support, and across face-to-face and online learning.

I didn’t know that mouse and keyboard settings could have such a difference on accessibility and is certainly something I’ll consider for making technology more accessible for learners in the future. Remembering to add screen tips to hyperlinks is something I need to do so that learners know and understand where they’re being sent. It’s really excellent to have access to this guide so that I can refer to it for specific learners in the future.

Strength and weakness

I would like a wider variety of content to engage with and videos are great and I’m really valuing the input from practitioners and their learners but I’m not afraid of a bit of research and reading; in fact, a great deal of the time, I’d prefer it. It seems to be the same collection of content and assessment approaches .I also wonder whether the videos are presented in the absolute best way possible.

Some of the activities’ questions have been problematic thus far: they’re not structured in a clear way, which means that when I get answers ‘wrong’ they’re not really wrong as the question has left so much open to interpretation.The real problem with MCQs and scaling online is that questions need to be written without ambiguity.

I don’t usually get an opportunity to complete the week’s activities before the weekend. I’d like to do it on the train during the week but the train WiFi won’t let me watch videos- problematic. As I’m accessing the course so late in the week, I’m finding hundreds of comments in response to one question and therefore I’m finding it challenging and time-consuming to interact with others. I will try to see if Twitter is more accessible to fulfill the more social side of my learning on this course.

I think there are two main things that are bothering me.The linearity of the content. The way it is presented boxed up and sequential, where you tick boxes that you’ve finished each part. I would not like this in a normal course I am taking, but I really dislike it in a MOOC, where I am likely to want to dip in and out of different parts. I know I can still do so, but it is more difficult to differentiate the resources from the discussions from the assessments. I can’t see a big picture and this does not suit my learning style.

The discussions. I hate that there are no separate discussions that can be a  learner-initiated, and  searched, threaded, and organized in some better way to allow people to truly interact. The idea of “following” people misses the point that sometimes you want to “follow” a thread and see if people are responding to you .As it stands, I am occasionally dipping into the online discussions if I find anything worth responding to in the top five or so posts by others, or if I have some burning comment to add. I am resisting following the content sequentially even though sometimes the sequence makes sense but I need the flexibility.


Discussion :
How do you will apply blended learning in your school? Do comment.