Posts
In this section you will find 5 posts I have made this semester! I hope you enjoy reading some of my confused thoughts.
Module 1: In your home community how prominent you think are ageist stereotypes about older adults’ capacity to learn how to use computers?
Ageist stereotypes about older adults' capacity to learn how to use computers in Canada -my home country- are quite prominent. As Nelson points out, ageism is institutionalized (2011), but more importantly it is woven into the larger American (and Canadian) culture. This is represented in my own personal experience and reflected back to me through social media, more specifically memes.
My father, now near retirement age, works from home (even pre-COVID). Throughout this time, he would often ask any of his unsuspecting children who just happened to be home to help with his computer- whether that be creating power points, setting up a new desktop or asking for general help. My siblings and I would often get annoyed, or pin this responsibility onto another sibling saying “oh no, sorry I don’t know how to do that, but I know [sibling’s name] does”.
These sentiments were then reflected back to me through memes shared on social media. Memes would use parents or older adults as the butt of the joke in their attempts to learn about phones or computers. The overall sentiment being, we had a certain responsibility to teach older people about technology, but only if they were our kin, and even in that instance, it was annoying, but most importantly funny.
The use of ageist memes not only normalized negative stereotypes about older adults’ capacity to learn how to use computers, but also created a shared funny experience youth using social media could bond over; therefore making older adults incapability of using technology a more deeply embedded “truth” in Canadian culture.
Module 2:
- Which of the learning theories u think is closer to what learning means personally to you? What are its strong points and its possible weaknesses?
I think active learning (activity theory) and experimental learning are all learning theories that are closer to what learning means to me.
Active Learning: While I realize that the article says that Active Learning is more of a philosophical framework, it is still close to what learning means to me. This theory asks for an "active reception of knowledge through reflection"; I think that this is critical to education. Personally, I need to think deeply about what I have learned, either by taking notes, journaling or going for a walk (and talking to myself) so that I can more fully engage in what I have read, discussed or listened to. Also, education cannot exist in an “objective” vacuum, it needs to be influenced by and acknowledge the socio/political context the content is being created from. The possible weakness of active learning is understanding from what/which perspectives content is being created from. Even if it is including the socio/political context, active learning still needs to be transparent about WHOSE perspective it is writing from - and from my understanding, this is not asked of active learning.
Experimental learning: I have learned A LOT by doing work hands on. I do have trouble focusing on lectures and discussions with multiple people who I cannot see make eye contact with or face. So, it is important for me to be able to do things “hands on” in an educational way for me to more fully understand what is being taught and so that I can also stay focused. In this way, learning means trial and error to me; it means understanding my mistakes through tangible experiences rather than abstract readings. The strong point of Experimental Learning is being able to have experiences that people can draw on to help them understand abstract ideas that influence important aspects about the world (like policy). The possible negative of this approach is that experiences are highly personal, so as an educator how can you help guide a student? How can you evaluate certain learning experiences, or decide what is/is not valid in emotions or not what they “should have” learned?
- Which learning theories u believe are not really relevant to teaching adults online and why?
I think activity theory might not be relevant to online learning.
Activity Theory: While I do believe that certain aspects of activity theory are important to online learning, like active reflection, and action that “supports the learning process”. I also think that the part that asks to include socio/political context in the course content can get tricky. As online learning caters more to a globalized classroom where students can come from 16 different nations (like our class), it can be problematic for the instructor to incorporate a socio/political context of one place onto the whole class. This means that certain experiences and perspectives won’t be valid because they won’t match a certain context.
I think this part should be asked of the students when they bring in personal information/experiences related to the course readings and content. In this way, there is a variety of social/political contexts and the teacher does not perpetuate a “one size fits all approach” or – even worse- a certain place (ex the West), is the basis for all “good” thought and ideas.
Module 3: short but informative piece of learning content
CoI Framework
Module 4: A film, a poem, a novel, a short story...
Hi everyone!
This week McRon and I had a zoom call in which we presented to each other our artifact that told something about the "other". I presented an excerpt of a play called Wine and Halva- written by a dear friend of mine. The excerpt showed how one of the main characters was facing institutional discrimination at her University, making her feel "othered." McRon shared a picture from when he volunteered with an school that supported young women who had faced domestic violence (and other social injustices). McRon shared the story of girl who had a particular impact, and who was experiencing otherness by the systems that were supposed to be pulling her up, but were pulling her down.
Some of the questions are the product of our discussion and some we used to shape our discussion:
1. who are the other learners in your personal context (home country/previous learning experiences) ?
2. In the process of helping those who are othered, do we also become othered in that process?
3. What are the implications of us (as adult learners) being part of social change in ways that have a direct impact on the learner? What are our responsibilities to one another?
4. How do we (as educators) facilitate otherness, even when our best intentions are not to? What are the impacts of our *good* intentions and how can we better adhere to students' needs?
Accessing the full videos through Google Drive
Module 5:Do you think OER is, or can be, a carrier of specific political ideas or agendas? Does the absence of the teacher diminish the risk of domination of a specific ideology or rather increases it? Does self directed learning always stimulate critical thinking or can it be a tool to reinforce one's convictions?
This is such a great question and something I have been thinking about for online education and education in general. In terms of OER I want to answer all the questions you have presented:
Do you think OER is, or can be, a carrier of specific political ideas or agendas?
I think that OER can be a carrier of specific political ideas and agendas, but I don’t think it has the potential to do so any more or less than “in person” classrooms. Rather, I think that OER faces the larger problem of being a proponent of disengaged politics and ideologies. As a student –depending on how you engage with the class, or how it is being taught- you can easily do the readings, post your own thoughts, but never engage with any other opinions that exist in opposition to your own. I think that OER faces the problem of permanence: your words and views permanently exist online once you have posted them; I think this makes people feel more self-conscious about posting their actual thoughts. Therefore, comments can stay superficial and disengaged which allow people to never think beyond their own perspectives or experiences. So, I think that OER can be a carrier most specifically of Apolitical ideas/ideologies.
Does the absence of the teacher diminish the risk of domination of a specific ideology or rather increases it?
I think that the absence of a teacher increases the domination of a specific ideology. I think that the role of a teacher is to present various ideas on one topic and for students to think critically and discuss about those ideas. When there is nobody facilitating that discussion and disseminating complex ideas for their students, it is easier for 1 ideology to become dominant. And, that 1 idea goes unchallenged especially if that 1 idea supports the status quo (so nobody else in the class feels like they can challenge that thought).
Does self-directed learning always stimulate critical thinking or can it be a tool to reinforce one's convictions?
I wonder about this for my own experience in this class (and I guess all our classes this semester). I feel like the readings and the forum discussions both allowed me to think more deeply about questions I already had. Which overall, is a good thing, and something that I wanted from school. But I also think this presence problems because without the active guidance of an educator who can consistently present multiple perspectives on one topic, the student can just go down their own rabbit hole without further challenging how they take in information and engage with it. So, I think self-directed learning can be a tool to reinforce one’s own convictions.
I find interesting though that OER and “in person” education face similar issues in “the marketisation and commodification of education”. I wonder if there is a way to address this issue in both platforms at the same time to offer more fulfilling education to students.