Pedagogies

Yesterday we had our second lecture, in which we talked about the theme ‘pedagogies’. First we repeated something about flexibility what we discussed last week and about the blogging. After that we all expected to get a normal lecture.. But we had to work actively on an assignment!  We had to find out what the consequences are for this course if another pedagogical approach should be used by the instructor. We were split up in groups of 4 students and every group chose a pedagogical approach to apply in the course.

There are a lot of pedagogical approaches, such as traditional learning, problem- based learning, workplace learning, collaborative learning, inquiry learning, project- based learning, experiential learning, task- oriented learning and thematic learning. All these approaches (or teaching methods) have different aspects and views on learning. In the lecture each group had to think of characteristics of a specific approach and what consequences these characteristics would have for this course. At the end of the lecture we also got a homework assignment in which we have to apply what we have learned about these approaches by asking yourself the question how these approaches can be supported by a course management system (CMS). I’ll describe here five different pedagogical approaches and in what way I think that the approaches can be supported by a CMS.

Problem- based learning (PBL)

This are characteristics that are related to problem- based learning (Hmelo- Silver, 2004):

-          student-centered instructional strategy, whereby students direct their own learning

-          the learning is driven by problems that are real, challenging, open-ended, ill-defined and ill-structured,

-          students learning centers on a complex problem that does not have a single correct answer,

-          students work and reflect collaboratively in groups to solve the problem,

-          students identify together what they need to learn to be able to solve the problem,

-          teachers are facilitating the learning process rather than he is providing knowledge.

The teacher can provide the problem to the students on a CMS. Because the teacher takes the role of a facilitator, he can provide all the materials to the students that they need to identify what the problem is, for example by posting a video of the problem. In PBL student have to work collaboratively, in a CMS they can do that in different ways; by using the discussion board, using the chat tool and the mail tool. Whit these tools they can discuss their thoughts with each other. Students can also use a planning tool where they can make a plan for their learning. The teacher can follow where the students are working on, and can help them if they are asking for some help or if he sees that students are missing some important parts.

Inquiry learning
These characteristics are related to inquiry learning (based on this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry-based_learning):

-          Learning starts with a question of the teacher; teacher poses questions for students to solve

-          Students search for information to solve the problem, teacher guides the students

-          No prescribed target or result which the students have to achieve

-          Student determines the problem and topic to be studied and method to find answers

-          Learner centered

A CMS can support this kind of learning because students can collaborate by using a CMS, they can discuss their findings on a discussion board and the methods how they want to find answers to the questions. The students can also pose questions to the teacher in the chat room or by email. Students can make a schedule by themselves.

Workplace learning

Characteristics of workplace learning (Geldens, 2007):

-          Learning in practice; learning at the workplace, learner centered

-          Coach is mentoring and coaching the learning process and learning from peers

-          A balance between theory and practice

-          Learning by experiencing

A CMS can support this kind of learning by giving the students the opportunity to share their experiences with each other. They do not have to collaborate, but they can still learn from experiences of other students. Students can write what they are learning in for example a blog and other students can respond to the blog. This is a good way to keep in touch with each other, because every student is at his own workplace.

Collaborative learning

The following characteristics are typical for collaborative learning (Smith & MacGregor, 1992):

-          Students are working in groups and are together searching for understanding, solutions or meanings, or creating a product

-          Course material is explored or applied by the students

-          Students work actively with the course materials, for example in discussions alongside normal lectures

-          Teacher is not transmitting knowledge to students but acts as an expert designer of intellectual experiences

-          Learning is an active and constructive process.

A CMS can support collaborative learning with tools for collaboration, such as the discussion board, mail function and chat room. The teacher can design an inspiring workplace in the CMS by providing multimedia materials for the students.

Traditional learning

Characteristics of traditional learning are (retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Traditional_education)

-          Teacher gives lectures, students listen, teacher is provider of knowledge, teacher centered

-          Theoretical learning and all students are learning from the same material

-          Learners learn individual

-          Learning materials are mostly books

Although it seems not so logical to use a CMS in a traditional approach, I think that there are some possibilities. The teacher can, for example, video- tape the lectures and make the video available on the CMS. The teacher can also provide the learning materials, books or text or his lectures slides, on the CMS.

Conclusions

 There are a lot of different pedagogical approaches that teacher can use in their courses. They have all different characteristics and implications for teaching and the use of a CMS. However there are a lot of possibilities, I as a student do not prefer to use all these possibilities. For example: I like a to discuss about interesting topics, but I would prefer to do that face- to- face, because it is direct and synchronic. Maybe I do not have enough motivation to do that in my spare time? If I have to, I would do it, and probably even like it.. But some possibilities of using a CMS I like and use by myself: I compare my own work with that of other students and so exchange my work.

References:
Geldens, J. (2007). Leren onderwijzen in een werkplekleeromgeving: Een meervoudige casestudy naar kenmerken van krachtige werkplekleeromgevingen voor aanstaande leraren basisonderwijs. Retrieved form: http://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/2066/30228/1/30228_lereonine.pdf

Hmelo- Silver, C. (2004). Problem- based learning: What and how do students learn? Educational Psychology Review,16 (3), 235-266. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?vid=1&hid=107&sid=7ee59d86-2ba2-4bd6-bfe7-bd3f475a0215%40sessionmgr114

Smith, B., & MacGragor, J. (1992). What is collaborative learning? Retrieved from: http:// learningcommons.evergreen.edu/pdf/collab.pdf

Preparation for the second lecture

To prepare for the second lecture of the course, I searched for an interesting article about a pedagogical approach. I found an artical about blended Problem- Based Learning (bPBL) (Woltering, Herrler, Spitzer & Spreckelsen, 2009). I found this interesting because it is a mix of two approaches that are actual in the attention of researchers: blended learning and problem- based learning (PBL) and it turned out that this approach enhanced the motivation and the satisfaction of the students, compared to only a problem- based learning approach. The researchers discovered this to study a medical aducation situation (where problem- based learning is an established didactic approach) in which they systematically combined online learning and face- to- face classes. The reason they did this is that in a PBL situation the impact of it depends on the quality of the tutors and the motivation of the students. In a blended learning approach, they expected that both the conditions could be controled, and they were right!

This is the direct link to the article

http://www.springerlink.com/content/b3h1364261253342/fulltext.pdf

Reference: Woltering, V., Herrler, A., Spitzer, K., & Spreckelsen, C. (2009). Blended learning positively affects students' satisfaction and the role of the tutor in the problem- based learning process: Results of a mixed- method evaluation. Health Science Education, 14, 725-738. doi: 10.1007/s10459-009-9154-6

Flexibility

Flexibility

Yesterday we had our first inspiring lecture for the course Pedagogies for flexible learning supported by technology, I’ll call this ‘Pedagogies’ from now on, and we talked about flexibility in education. First we discussed what our own thoughts are about this topic; that students can decide what courses they would like to follow, that teachers can decide what pedagogies they are using, the opportunity for students to follow classes at the university or watch a video- taped college at home for example. Theory behind this discussion shows us that there are different dimensions of flexibility; flexibility in relation to time, to content, to entry requirements, to instructional approach and resources, and to delivery and logistics.

Flexibility in relation to time

Flexibility in relation to time is about flexibility of when to start and finish the course, when students can submit assignments and interact within the course, in what tempo or pace the student is learning, en when there are moments for assessment. In a more flexible situation students can decide about (some) of these points instead of the instructor or institution. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that instructors and learners can alter their own times of working, but institutions can find disadvantages in organisational aspects. When do they have to schedule lectures and can they ask from instructors that they are 24/7 available for their work? The time burden for instructors will become larger.     

Flexibilty in relation to content
Flexibility in relation to content is about flexibility about the topics of the course, the sequence of different parts of the course, the orientation of the course (for example theoretical or practical), key learning materials in the course, assessment standards and completion requirements. In a more flexible situation students can, for example, decide a part of the topics that will be discussed or search by themselves for articles they find interesting. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that learners can more explicitly learn those things they are interested in, but at the same time they should be more independent and need more self- direction and self- motivation. Not all students can arrange that. For instructors it will be harder and more time consuming to grade the students and decide when they have learned enough to pass the course.

Flexibility in relation to entry requirements

Flexibility in relation to entry requirements is about flexibility of conditions for participation. For example, in a non- flexible situation a student can only start a study when he has finished secondary school at the highest level. In a more flexible situation, students can also start the study when they have some years of relevant work experience but did not finish the highest level of secondary school. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that more learners can participate in courses or studies, learners have more ways to come where they want to come. For instructors it can be a disadvantage that the learners have different backgrounds and different entry knowledge, so they have to differentiate for the different learners.

Flexibility in relation to instructional approach and resources

Flexibility in relation to instructional approach and resources is about flexibility of the social organization of the learning, the language to be used during the course, the learning resources and the instructional organization of the learning. So can students in a more flexible situation for example decide whether they would prefer to learn in groups or individual and who is monitoring the learning process. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is that instructors can choose from more approaches and different pedagogical patterns and that students can learn from resources they prefer to learn from. Disadvantage is that implementation in practice is not always feasible; when the student prefers to write an assignment in German but the instructor can’t speak German, there is a problem. Using different approaches is also more time and effort consuming for instructors.

Flexibility in relation to delivery and logistics
Flexibility in relation to delivery and logistics is about flexibility of the time and place where contact with the instructor and other students occurs, the methods (the technology for obtaining support, and making contact), the types of help (is communication available, and is technology required for it), the location (is there a need of technology for participating in various aspects of the course) and the delivery channels for course information, content and communication. An advantage of this kind of flexibility is it may save time for learners, however it may be more time consuming for the instructors. A disadvantage is that logistical aspects can quickly become unmanageable.

Concluding
When the flexibility increases in an educational setting, the education is not necessarily getting better. More flexibility does have some advantages, like more and new choices for learners and instructors to alter their own times of working, to save time and to choose from different approaches, but at the same time is the implementation in practice very complex and not always feasible.

Reference:

Chapter 1 from
Collis, B., & Moonen, J. (2001, second printing 2002). Flexible learning in a digital world: Experiences and expectations. London: Kogan Page.

Getting started!

In this course I hope to learn about different pedagogies, and how technology can support flexible learning in relation to specific pedagogies. In what way can the education be more effective, or better when using technology? In what way can education be more flexible, and what pedagogies can you use to realise it? What are the effects for the learners when technology is used? That are questions I hope to find an answer on.

I have a specific interest in things I can also use as a teacher in my work. I hope that I can apply or use some aspects I'll learn here in my own lessons. That's one of the reasons why I think that I'm going to like the use of real cases in this course.

Enough so far, I hope I've shown a little bit of myself in relation to the course!