We’re looking at TEL concepts and approaches this week. The challenge for this week is to work out what doing your course or learning opportunity feels like. #octel
Storified by Elizabeth E Charles · Tue, Apr 16 2013 04:45:38
If you only do one thing... 5 stories
From the 5 stories presented I initially selected: Eric Mazur, Sugata Mitra, and Stephen Downes and George Siemens. #ocTEL
After reviewing them I was more drawn towards Eric Mazur's and Sugata Mitra's stories. That is not to say that I am less interested in MOOCs because if that was the case I wouldn't be on this course but I felt that the first two had points of interest that would have a greater impact on my teaching practice at this time.
After reviewing them I was more drawn towards Eric Mazur's and Sugata Mitra's stories. That is not to say that I am less interested in MOOCs because if that was the case I wouldn't be on this course but I felt that the first two had points of interest that would have a greater impact on my teaching practice at this time.
The reason I find Eric Mazur's approach so powerful is because it seems to more closely align itself to the subject I teach - information and information skills. The bringing of "peer instruction into the lecture theatre" [1] results in students having to actively engage with the subject, assimilation to take place, and collaboration. The idea of posing questions along with small group work (2-4 in a
group) with clickers or any other type/method of voting device is doable
and scaleable; from delivering a session in a large lecturer theatre, or a workstation rooom, through to a room with just one PC. It would also work in an online/distance learning environment using perhaps 'Blackboard Collaborate' and break-out rooms for small group work to take place - then reconvening and sharing findings with the whole group.
My current practice is all about the transfer - telling how to do it, mainly because with large groups and very little time for hands-on sessions there or afterwards one has to cover as much as possible. There is also no time or opportunity to find out what their previous levels of experience/attainment are! It is also not possible for me to know how many of them actually move from the transfer to using what they have learnt. The variety of previous experiences that students bring to the class, further lends itself to this approach of having small group work - to get them to collaborate and share their experience before hearing how others have undertaken the task. That sharing of experiences and ideas can then be augmented by any guidance that might be needed to bring about better/more refined results before they depart. That is a powerful enough reason for me to choose this story instead of any of the others. I am sure that if I was teaching a different subject/discipline my choice might well be very different.
[1] ALT ocTEL week 1
My current practice is all about the transfer - telling how to do it, mainly because with large groups and very little time for hands-on sessions there or afterwards one has to cover as much as possible. There is also no time or opportunity to find out what their previous levels of experience/attainment are! It is also not possible for me to know how many of them actually move from the transfer to using what they have learnt. The variety of previous experiences that students bring to the class, further lends itself to this approach of having small group work - to get them to collaborate and share their experience before hearing how others have undertaken the task. That sharing of experiences and ideas can then be augmented by any guidance that might be needed to bring about better/more refined results before they depart. That is a powerful enough reason for me to choose this story instead of any of the others. I am sure that if I was teaching a different subject/discipline my choice might well be very different.
[1] ALT ocTEL week 1
After I wrote this piece I came across the following:
Mazur on Flipped Classes. Assimilation is more difficult so let's do that in the class #the2013
Course blogs and discussion - powerful modes for discussion and discovering that peers can be useful learning resources #the2013
