We had a great discussion this week on the importance of empathy in distance education. I read from "the empathy approach to distance education", and the class discussed whether empathy is more important in DE than in traditional education.
"Something that stood out to me was Holmberg's view of teachers and students as equals, and that the teachers have superior knowledge of the subject that they want to share with the student(s). This reciprocal dialogue between teacher-student, and student-student makes the student feel like a part of the learning group. The student experience is important to the success of any learning environment" (Bjork, 2018). You can read more on OMDE 601's course page here. On a personal note, I'm enjoying the program, but it has been very challenging to keep up and find balance with career, school and family. It was reassuring to receive Professor Prinsloos email to let us know that many students struggle, and we have to prioritize the most important things to focus on. Most of us adult students likely do this everyday in the corporate world, and leaders are tasked with this responsibility on a daily basis. That little gold nugget was extremely reassuring to me and let me know that I'm not doing so bad. My problem is, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and to make matters worse, was diagnosed with ADD as an adult. I've learned to draw on it as a strength. Sticking to a task list is one tool I use. I think my next addition will be adding tasks to quadrants of priority (heat map), and eliminating the most important items and work down to the ankle biter type tasks. Wish me luck, I'll let you know how this goes, or if I have time to implement it! SB
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This week includes a group project on the waves of distance education in OMDE 601. My group is study group 4, and we have already struck up a dialog to confirm our platform. Wendell offered to create the template in google docs, after confirming that everyone has a google account. OneDrive is another option, which I can set up, if for some reason Google is not a go.
Group members are:
Future updates and the eventual final waves project can be found here. "To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge." Nicolaus Copernicus This week in OMDE 601 (Foundations of Distance Learning), I studied the origins of Distance Education. One epiphany moment was while exploring the changes in DE, the author states we are facing a "Copernican revolution". The term was used to describe a paradigm shift in how we look at education and learning. Changes have shifted things in such a way that "the learner constitutes the center of the universe." (Moore, 2012). This is a great way of describing personalized, and student-centric learning. I will be back with more captivating insights. I'm sure like others, I'm having a little trouble keeping up with all of the reading. I am enrolled in OMDE 601 - Foundations of Distance Learning and OMDE 610 Teaching and Learning in Online Education. OMDE 601 - First Wave 1. What was your initial definition of DE (the one posted in the classroom)?
To define Distance Education, you must first understand the entire system of education in which it resides. I thought I had a comfortable grasp of the term until I dove into this week’s reading. I had to take a few days to absorb and reflect on it. I knew less than I thought. Suddenly it was as if I was standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon of Education, and DE was merely a small boulder among the grand landscape of something much bigger. I enjoyed the analogy of the human anatomy as a "system" to explain how DE coexists in the system of education (Moore, 2012), where each part of the system has an equal part to play; however, I felt as if my understanding was so small when compared to the deep dive we took tracing the origins of its history. Distance Education occurs when teaching and learning takes place with the aid of some form of media and print - (i.e., computers, e Books, audio, video, graphic illustrations), or simply when a teacher and student(s) are not in the same location. For example, I am learning from home, on my computer. The education institution UMUC provided texts, and our professor is communicating with me and the rest of the class through announcements, discussions, emails, and even Skype. I am also communicating with our Teacher to create a two-way line of communication which is unique in the learning environment when many schools face large class sizes. What makes the experience more powerful, is the peer communications that are also occurring which creates multiple channels of dialogue and promotes learning. While our communication is primarily asynchronous, there are opportunities for synchronous interaction in group chats and one-on-one time with the Teacher. One misconception I had, I was using "online learning" and "E-learning" synonymously when I now understand that distance education is the superior definition as online learning is a facet of distance education. References Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2012). Distance education: A systems view of online learning (Chapter 1, pp. 1-22). USA: Wadsworth-Cengage Learning. 2. How has your understanding of DE changed after the first three weeks of class? Otto Pierce put things into perspective for me. After exploring the Industrialized Theory and Distance Education with Otto Peters, I will revise my description/definition to include two systems of education – face to face and at a distance. I’m also exploring the need for a distinct pedagogy for distance education from traditional learning. 3. What is your view of yourself as a learner? As an online learner? How prepared are you for online learning? Take the preparedness test and let us know how you did: http://www.adprima.com/dears.htm I enjoy the challenge of online learning and am self-driven and motivated to learn. I consider myself a lifelong learner. As I say on my e-portfolio “never stop learning” has become my mantra. I received 68 points on the preparedness test. 4. During Week 1, you were meant to review the OMDE601 Library Guide (http://libguides.umuc.edu/omde601). In what ways were you able to use this guide for your first assignment? How do you foresee using the guide in the future? I have become familiar with the UMUC Library in the last few weeks. I like the ability to send articles I want to save for use directly to my Google Drive, or email. There is also the handy "citation" feature, which allows me to pull information needed to properly cite references in APA (Figure 1). This has been a great feature; however, I still check my trusty APA desk guide and OWL Purdue. Did anyone else have the thought that the online library is a good example of how the traditional library model evolved due to advances in technology to improve access, not unlike DE? I am working on a paper for another class, and the library has been immeasurably helpful to explore topics, drill deeper to understand something, or apply it to my career. References University of Maryland University College . (2018, February 14). UMUC Library Detailed Record. Retrieved from UMUC Library: http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=12&sid=b5f33a40-507f-41ba-b1dd-1b30c1f0649c%40sessionmgr104 As the first week of my graduate school experience draws to a close, and in the spirit of the Taoist proverb “The Journey is the Reward, “ I decided to journal some first impressions. I’ve teetered between moments of excitement and wonder, to sheer panic that I will miss a reading, or an assignment. I’ve also spent more time in a dictionary than I would care to admit. I will have to be content to be a beginner, and a student of learning. I have read from several resources this week for OMDE 610, and OMDE 601, and I am impressed with the diversity of content. I am especially fond of the open source textbooks, and numerous articles and tools in our course content such as “Easy Tips for Difficult Reading," or “Writing for Success,” (Saylor.org) in OMDE 610 have been extremely helpful. For example, the e-portfolio project was intimidating at first glance, but after reviewing the videos, links to samples, and the article “the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework from OMDE 601,” I now understand the value of creating a summary of my understanding of the objectives addressed in the program as a means to monitor my growth. Writing for Success contains helpful information such as strategies for planning, and how to manage the volume of reading and assignments as a new graduate student. I can’t be the only first semester student that was overwhelmed this week. I’m still developing content, and I am a reaper of a self-critic, so this will be a great exercise to stretch the limits of my creative prose, and to grow as a writer. References Saylor Academy | Writing for Success. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2018, from https://www.saylor.org/ |