For years, I’ve avoided using Blackboard Learn. Mostly because I hadn’t learned it. I sort of tried to learn it by going to a couple of pro-d workshops hosted by other faculty members at the college. I listened well and tried Blackboard out … and then afterwards, I didn’t practice it. So, it didn’t stick.
Why didn’t I practice it? One reason is that I took a year-long parental leave and BB never entered my mind during that time (however, I could have practiced it while my little one was napping). Another reason is that I believed I was still honing my practice of face-to-face teaching and Blackboard just didn’t seem relevant in that mix. I still believe that I am continuing to hone my face-to-face teaching practice, but now I also believe that Blackboard is part of that honing mix – that it can complement what happens in the classroom and be an extension or expansion of the classroom. A study I came across in OLTD 501 by Zhana, Zu and Yea of 814 freshman students enrolled in f2f courses indicated “that OLC (online learning community) … is an effective means for improving both active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitude” in those courses. There was evidence, therefore, that a LMS could complement and enhance the f2f education experience if used effectively, specifically, in the case of this study, to build community. My colleagues who were using Blackboard had never expressed a potential benefit of Blackboard so clearly. Mostly, those teaching f2f classes said it was “clunky” and an awkward tool to build course sites, and that they used BB to post their course outlines, post announcements (which they also announced in the f2f setting) and manage grades. Students could use it if they chose to – say, if they missed a class and needed to check the outline to see what was covered, or if they wanted to check the progress of their grades – but the use of BB was not mandatory. Therefore, before beginning OLTD, there didn’t seem much point in using Blackboard. After all, I was very thorough in my f2f teaching, and attendance in my classes has been strong. Blackboard, I felt, was useful for distance education, but not necessary for f2f. However, it was also a convenient excuse, because I had very little confidence using educational technology. I’d created a few simple Powerpoint presentations and used the projector a couple of times. However, I promised that I would challenge myself during OLTD. I am committed to reflecting on my practice. I am open to transformation of my practice. I am dedicated to enhancing my teaching practice the challenge of my final project in OLTD and to enhancing the learning experiences for my students. The learning and use of Blackboard Learn as an instructional tool became the challenge of my final OLTD project. There is only one way to test the effectiveness of a tool and that is to learn it and use it. I had to meet some fears head on – fears that I wouldn’t learn to use BB and that I would fail in my project. Failing wasn’t an option for me, but I was also fearful of the amount of time that I would need to learn the tools of BB. And, my final OLTD project was very time consuming – watching BB instructional videos, trying things and making mistakes, deleting and restarting, revising, meeting with my tech helpdesk colleagues – but I did build an English 115 (1st year essay writing and critical analysis) course site in Blackboard. It’s a “gateway” step for me. I have built some confidence with educational technology now. My OLTD 502 instructor, Randy Labonte, has challenged me further to consider how I will use my BB course site beyond just being a tool that students will access only if they happen to miss a class or need to check their grades. He has also suggested that I reflect upon why students would attend f2f class when all of the homework assignments and graded assignments are on the BB site. He noted that, while it’s a good thing that students are provided with a tool that gives them more control over their learning, it’s the f2f classroom experience that has the potential to be the most enriching. And, I agree. It is my storytelling of experiences relevant to the learning of writing, researching, expressing values and opinions that will keep the students engaged (at least that’s my take on it!). It is my facilitation of group writing and group discussions, the facilitation of debates and the facilitation of the opportunities for students to individually express themselves in response to topics that are of interest to them. In my experience, these activities have contributed to deepening the learning and to building community in the class, and they have helped make the class a productive, relevant and enjoyable place for the students. I will extend the class participation (which the student receive a grade for) into the BB environment by adding some discussion forums throughout the semester, and I will also make the BB site a useful complement by referring students to it for homework readings and assignments (thereby also saving on the use of paper). I expect some glitches, but I am looking forward to the semester. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zhana, Z., Xu, F., Yea, H. (2010, May). Effects of an online learning community on active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitudes in a face-to-face undergraduate course. Computers and Education, 56, 4, 961–968. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2010.11.012
1 Comment
Connectedness is the Revolution in Education: December 18, 2014
No one is saying that technology is not changing education. Clearly it is. There is debate, however, as to whether educational technology is revolutionizing education or evolving education. It is inspiring revolution, I believe. And it is doing so by expanding, what on-line educator Derek Muller of Veritasium ( https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium ) calls, "the foundation of social interaction between teachers and students" that is the essence of teaching and learning. I would add that the foundation of social interaction between teachers and other teachers and between learners and other learners is radically expanding as well. Muller says that technology is not revolutionizing education. But he's referring to forms of media - people in the past claimed that other inventions such as moving pictures, radio, television and even videodiscs, would revolutionize education. They didn't. And they didn't primarily because they are not interactive. While they might have expanded the learners' access to content, they did not expand the social interaction between teachers, and between students, and between teachers and students. Laptops, smartphones, smart boards, tablets and other gadgets are not revolutionizing education; however, the current (and presumably) future connectedness facilitated by the internet does allow access to infinite opportunities for social interaction that can be harnessed for the purpose of learning. When I began teaching 25 years ago, I was hired to teach a grade 5/6 class. I had a few content resources and strategies for grade 6 from a practicum I’d done a year previous. I had the provincial ministry guidelines and objectives. But, essentially when I walked into the school for the first time early that August, I had very little in the way of resources, and, therefore, began to create plans and materials and began to search the filing cabinets at the school district office. I was worried that I would not have enough prepared to get through even the first couple of weeks of school. About mid-August, my new colleagues, the experienced teachers, began to arrive at the school to begin their preparations. That is when my worries were alleviated. They took time to share resources and strategies with me, and they made suggestions as to how we might collaborate on special projects and, even, team teach. When those teachers began to arrive at the school that summer, my community of practice began to grow. Today, my on-site colleagues at North Island College are the core of my community of practice – the primary practice being that of teaching first and second year English. The faculty in my department are highly collaborative. It feels like we are a team on a joint enterprise. Increasingly, the IT department members are included in the community of practice as the department offers more on-line courses and more on-line supplementing of the face-to-face courses. Since enrolling in the OLTD, my community of practice/inquiry has expanded to the peers and instructors in the program. The program facilitates more opportunities to connect and share with fellow practitioners. Ironically, however, in OLTD 502, I have been less connected, especially with my peers. Out of necessity, I have given more time to other life priorities, and it has meant that I have had less of a social presence in the course and that has likely diminished my cognitive presence as well. Despite my lessened presence in OLTD recently, my belief in Connectivism and Communities of Inquiry has grown. I viewed the pages of several of the links provided in the weekly readings including Tony Bates’ “Outlook for Online Learning in 2013” and Lev Gonick’s “12 tech trends higher education cannot afford to ignore”, which included the growth of mobile learning, social networking replacing email, the growth of the flipped classroom model and, increasingly, the questionable value of a post-secondary degree. They are noteworthy reads, but the most valuable links for me during this portion of the course were the Google + communities of OLTD Shared Learning Community and EdTech Mentorship Network where I found the Veritasium link and a useful article titled, “How to Start Engaging Students Through Online Discussions”. My community of practice and inquiry spreads beyond the connections within North Island College, and recently, additionally, within VIU out to online communities of educators with whom I can share strategies and resources. For me, this is both an educational revolution and a revelation. |
Archives
February 2017
Categories |