Month: November 2021

I remember attending a sociology class that focused on classical theorization (not my cup of tea). Because I wasn’t interested in 1960’s theory, it was challenging to motivate myself to complete readings, study and even go to class. However, I quickly realized that I would have to do something to change my sour attitude towards the class.

The strategies I used:

1. Made a schedule and wrote down tasks I would complete each day whether it was completing a section of a reading or assignment. 

• According to Seifert & Sutton (2018), goal setting is important in academic achievement. Therefore, I made it my goal to not only attend each class, but try and take something away from each class. If I found something in the content that I was interested in, I would be more motivated to complete each daily task.
• Another strong instructional strategy is to know your target learners (Seifert & Sutton, 2018). Since I know my academic self quite well, I made sure to balance my schedule and not to make my daily tasks too heavy and overwhelming. In my brain, it is better to complete little tasks each day then nothing for a week and then trying to finish it all in one day. By catering to my own study habits, I increased my motivation and made myself feel more engaged with manageable goals and a perceived sense of competence.

2. I rewarded myself whenever I completed my daily tasks by watching a movie, taking myself out for ice cream, or whatever I felt like doing.

• At the end of the day, Learning is hard! It takes focused work and effort. When you are learning, you are challenging and opening up your mind to something new. This is why rewards work so well for me because when I feel drained from completing a task, I keep myself engaged and feeling accomplished by doing something that I like.
• Additionally, learning is hard because fear leads to procrastination. The unknown makes you not want to start a scary new task and it turns into stalling. Spreading my tasks out into small chunks and telling myself that the reward is worth it helps with this phenomenon.
  Ultimately, the payoff is truly worth the headaches and hard work because not only did I receive a good grade, I learned so much and have a good understanding of the content of which I still use in my current sociology classes.

References

Seifert, K. & Sutton, R. (2018). Motivation Theories on Learning. In R. E. West, Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology: The Past, Present, and Future of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/motivation_theories_on_learning.

An effective and educational PLN and learning environment consists of techniques that promote interaction, engagement and the attention of your audience. We do not want to bore and overload the brains of our peers. 

For example, after watching and examining this 4 minute YouTube video on the social, economic and environmental impacts on health inequities, I think that it will be a great resource to use for my sociology class on health inequalities. Relating back to PLNs, I found that there were many take-aways for improving not only in-person learning environments but an online PLN. Online interaction can be more difficult to navigate than face-to-face communication but it is not impossible to execute.

The techniques that made this YouTube video successful include:

• The speaker talked in a casual and informal voice, like she was having a friendly conversation with the audience. It didn’t sound like the speaker was going on and on which made learning more engaging and manageable.
• There was one topic per slide which made the powerpoint easy to follow along and read.
• The entire video was narrated and had captions available. 
• The speaker paused shortly after every idea.
• The speaker only included simple visual text and images on each slide that directly related to the main topic being presented. Slides weren’t too detailed or crammed with too many images.
• When the slide is a picture, spoken words are used to enhance learning.
• From experience with interactivity in previous classes, I’ve noticed many good and bad approaches to how the class was presented. 

A bad learning experience:

• Death by powerpoint: the professor provided a powerpoint lecture that just included visual text and would proceed to read word for word off the slides. This professor didn’t interact with the students or deliver us fresh information. 
• Because of this lack of interaction, my interest in this course decreased and I dropped out of the class. 
• I didn’t learn anything, I was bored each class I went to, and felt like it was a waste of time.

A good learning experience:

• The professor engages and interacts with students by having a discussion with the class and uses their powerpoint lecture as a visual aid and not the sole resource of the class. 
• The professor would give the class a break in the middle of class to refresh our brains, and talk with the people around us. 
• Receiving feedback! Getting just a letter grade back doesn’t reassure or let the learner know where they may have gone wrong and what they could work on or think about in the future. 
• Interaction with learning materials: a mix of readings, powerpoint slides, videos, and games like Kahoot. 
• Student-teacher interaction: one on one and in groups such as online discussion forums, blog posts, discord groups, etc. 
• Student-student interaction: class discussions, group projects such as our interactive learning resource project and community contributions in our blog posts.

References

Bates, T. (2019, October 10). Chapter 9: Choosing and using media in education: the SECTIONS model. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. Retrieved October 27, 2021, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/.

What Are Massive Open Online Courses? (MOOCs)

MOOCs are a new type of online education that allows anyone, anywhere, to learn specific courses/skills via video lectures, computer graded tests, and discussion forums. MOOCs help the development of thoughts and ideas in education discourse. Additionally, this online learning site is very inclusive and acknowledges the learning style of all learners by using videos, articles, powerpoints, discussion boards, recorded lectures, etc as learning tools.

“A MOOC integrates the connectivity of social networking, the facilitation of an acknowledged expert in a field of study, and a collection of freely accessible online resources.”

Matthew B. Hoy

There are many advantages to the MOOC model for online education. The inherent openness and user-friendliness of the format means that incredible educational resources are available to anyone with the time to devote to learning. MOOCs offer real opportunity to people without access to traditional education. 

The courses are usually developed by existing educators of the field and from large research institutions. In other words, they were deemed qualified by various trusted site administrators and have a high level of knowledge and experience in their field.

The students pay no enrollment fees and there are no restrictions on who may register, although there may be suggested prerequisite knowledge. MOOCs have the potential to bring education to millions who otherwise would not have access. The combination of short video lectures, frequent comprehension testing, and active participation in an online community can be an effective learning tool for some students, but the registration-to-completion ratio is likely to remain low. Everyone should be aware of this technology and consider participating in a MOOC to better understand how they work. You never know, it could help you too!

For example, Khan Academy is a MOOC-like site aimed at middle and high-school students. It covers basic topics in math, science, art, and computer programming. Users earn virtual badges for completing tasks and the courses are all free. I use Khan Academy for my Sociology classes today and I find the tutoring very helpful and easily accessible. In addition, you can communicate and create a PLN with other students taking the same class which helps if you have questions, generates opportunities and connections, and motivation because you have other people following along the course at the same time as you. An effective and educational learning environment and PLN consists of techniques that promote interaction, engagement and the attention of your audience. This is what MOOCs and Khan Academy is all about!

References

Matthew B. Hoy (2014) MOOCs 101: An Introduction to Massive Open Online Courses, Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 33:1, 85-91, doi: 10.1080/02763869.2014.866490.