EDS 199 ePortfolio - eJournal 9: The Online Learning Delivery

EDS 199 ePortfolio

The pilot testing for the module started and ended on a positive note. As I was observing how the instructor handled the class and how the participants responded, I was reminded of a few things I learned from my EDS 157 course.

Anderson’s model of online learning is comprised of two major human actors in online learning; the teacher and the student. The model illustrates their interaction with each other and the content. The students can interact spontaneously with any content, especially those they find on the web. They can also directly choose how they want to interact with it. Still, many choose to have their learning sequenced, directed, and credentialed with the assistance of a teacher in a formal educational setting. This teacher-student interaction can occur in a Community of Inquiry (another online learning model that emphasizes teacher presence, social presence, and cognitive presence) through different synchronous and asynchronous interactions e.g. video, audio, chat, and conferencing (Anderson, 2008) as seen on the left side of the model.

I observed these interactions during the 2-hour online synchronous class for the module’s pilot testing. There were plenty of teacher-student interactions during the discussion as the instructor regularly encouraged the participants to participate. The students interacted with their own copy of the Self-Learning Module given to them before the class. A slide presentation was also used by the instructor for better projection of concepts from the module. These contents in different formats helped foster student-content interaction. Moreover, there is also rich student-student interaction through the help of collaborative activities in the online discussion forum. Throughout the class, the instructor was there to facilitate.

I believe that given the circumstances, the online synchronous class is the most ideal learning delivery method we could have used for the pilot testing of the SLMs. It tested the collaborative skills of the participants in an online learning setup and implemented a learner-centered teaching approach despite the distance between the students and the teacher. However, if I could do things differently in the future, I would like to pilot test the SLMs through an independent study approach.

The right side of Anderson’s online learning model shows structured learning resources (virtual labs, ebooks, simulations) related to independent learning. It also illustrates the presence of peers, family, and professional support as sources of assistance in independent learning. It would be interesting to test the SLMs implemented through independent learning using this model. I believe that the approach would be suitable for the modules as they are designed for self-learning. I would have probably gotten different observation and evaluation results if I opted for this path instead of an online synchronous class. However, I feel like I would also get as much insight as I got into online learning delivery. Nonetheless, it’s an idea that I would like to see in reality in the future.

Reference:

Anderson, T. (2008). Towards a theory of online learning. In Anderson, T.

(ed.). Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Edmonton: AU Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120146-the-theory-and-practice-of-online-learning/

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