The readings, podcasts and videos shared this week made it clear that there are both benefits and challenges inherent to online learning and communication. The flexibility in terms of time, place, and pace seemed to be the primary benefits the were mentioned frequently, while potential social isolation, technology barriers and the self-regulation required by the learners were the most frequently mentioned challenges. In looking at these more closely, it seems as though the flexibility offered by online learning environments is itself both the greatest benefit and the greatest challenge as it is the flexibility itself that requires the learners to be skilled at time management, and self-motivated enough to participate fully in the learning activities and communicate both with the instructor and their fellow learners. What can be a benefit for one person, can be a challenge for the next.
I found the format of this week’s seminar to be a good example of this flexibility paradox and the ways in which the format of a course itself can impact learners in different ways; motivating and supporting some, while being challenging for others. The facilitators set this week up in a way that I would refer to as rigid asynchronous. There were no synchronous activities, but there were specific timelines established for activity participation and completion throughout the week in order to help each learner stay on track to compete all of the activities, and to support learner to learner communication. The timeline for the week that was provided was a strategy clearly aimed to counteract the significant challenge around learner self-regulation. For me, this highly structured format felt too rigid, and in turn made me feel less engaged in the learning, I found I was completing the tasks more for the sake of checking items off the to-do list, and spending less time digging in to the specific pieces that interested me the most. One of my primary motivations for choosing an online program was flexibility of time and pace, and with this format, the pace piece was being determined for me rather than by me. Many other learners in the cohort however expressed an appreciation for the clear timelines and felt that this supported them in engaging with each of the resources and activities throughout the week. This reminded me of a key takeaway from our reading of Teaching in a Digital Age, by Tone Bates, in OLTD 501: “There is no ‘best’ design model for all circumstances” (p. 125). That being said, I do believe that an important element that should be present in any method of course design should be a clear focus on knowing the needs and motivations of the learners. This may change from year to year, meaning that the course design and teaching strategies employed may also need to change, just as they would in a face to face teaching context. References: Bates, A.W. (2015) Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Designing Teaching and Learning Vancouver BC: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-9952692-0-0.
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