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Writer's pictureizaanmarx81

Starting this course I must admit I was nowhere! I didn't know exactly what I signed up for and in the first two weeks I thought of many reasons not to continue I knew my schedule going to the end of the year would be hectic and I struggled to think how I would do this. That said it was one of the best decisions to push through and although I feel guilty for not always contributing and not being in all meetings it taught me more than I could have dreamed.


Firstly it was the first course that is completely online I ever attended and now I have enrolled for another two!!! It inspired me to be so positive of openness and even more so of creating communities with peer groups and in student groups.


The world of Teaching and learning is changing and this was the first step I took to say " Hey I am not being left behind" The tools we used and the way in which we collaborated was evident of the innovation and creativity that could be used in learning. Our facilitators challenged us without pushing us and this was even more inspiring.


The world is full of knowledge if we open ourselves up to it. Whether we want to share knowledge or receive to me it seems evident that the first thing to check is our attitude in regards to openness and community. Being open to receive but also to share can be very difficult people fear they might be criticized or that the might not know enough. But is only when we share openly that we enlighten ourselves and others.


Engagement in online courses can be difficult but this platform has given me a multitude of tools that I look forward to use within the next academic year. It also provided me with lots to reflect about in regards to my visitor resident status on different platforms.


Student engagement and community of inquiry is one of the most important things I will take away from this as I will now focus on building communities where my students will hopefully flourish!


Thank you to each and every team member that journey with me this was a ride into the unknown but a journey to a better educating lifetime!

How do we go about keeping students engaged? This to me is the biggest conundrum. Throughout this course I was challenged and inspired by this question. One thing I have to say is evident is that a new approach is important innovation and creative thinking will pave the way to better engagement with students.


Looking at the Community of learning model. To me the tree presences are all equally important but achieving this through my engagement with students seems a task I still have to fully conquer. It was not revelation that these are all important but rather the reiteration thereof.



Figure : Community of Inquiry


All the factors influence the reluctance of students to participate as well as the success of the course in the end. The most challenging to me seems to be to create an enviroment where students want to open up and want to participate.


Through our group work we had a look at the Gilly Salmon Five stages of online learning .This also addressed the issue of a safe environment. Although in my personal life I am a very people orientated individual I sometimes tend to be more task orientated when it gets to work and this was such an eye opener to once again see the importance of creating a secure environment and making sure that people are at home with each other and the tools before going forward into theoretical concepts. This will definitely influence the way in which I go about preparing for the new academic year. I have definitely not placed as much emphasis on online or face to face socialization. The ONL course started of with a section dedicated to this and I can see the benefit of this. My planning for the 2019 academic year will include a beter overview of the tools we use ie Blackboard as well as group work introductions and making sure students know each other. This will increase the openness and it will lead to more effective learning environment.


In the duration of this course we also implemented a FISH model that is a very good example of the third stage of the Gilly Salmons model Information exchange . This was used very effectively and I enjoyed using this model. The exchange of ideas and information is key to understanding and thus also uncovering concepts and learning. Ultimately this would then lead to knowledge construction an then development that will enrich an individual and increase effectiveness.


The graph below illustrates the stages.




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In this Topic we discussed Community learning . As group we identified the following core concepts : Collaboration, Motivation,Skills, Reflection, Engaged learning and Values. This seems to be the cornerstone of a good Community.


Collaboration is essential and without this no Online community could survive without people contributing and participating a course would become a monologue. While collaborating a lot of learning opportunities are created. Your ideas get tested and through sharing you increase optimal learning . Whether it is among teaching peers or students in group work . Collaboration leads to better understanding and more in depth consideration of concepts.


Motivation seems like cheerleading to me. It seems like getting people to stay focused. The basis is to have PLN in which people could understand and support each other. See my moovly : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk9mkl4ldp8.


Without skills anyone will feel powerless and unable to contribute . This is very important. Constantly trying to increase your understanding and broaden your skills . The digital age is one of serious innovation what works to day is obsolete tomorrow. Trying to stay with technology can be overwhelming but also greatly rewarding. Personally I figured out how to use moovly this week and it was a strenuous process but I did enjoy my new skill set as well .


The mirror of knowledge - Reflection. To reflect is to see if you have a clear view of what is communicate and if you understand. This is a great tool to process information.

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Engaged learning although it is still a fairly strange term to me because I feel it is difficult to create this it is certainly something I strive for. It seems that personal vested interest is created through a sense of community and belonging. It is also closely linked to motivation. This could be done through problem based learning and techniques such as flipped classroom.


Each person collaborating and interact in community has a different set of values and it is important to have a learning community set of values as well. With this said the online community can be difficult to navigate. But acknowledging the value of each person and giving opportunity to interact in a way in which they feel comfortable seems important. The Facilitator is very important in this instance and guides the process.













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