It has been quite interesting to see the progression of one learning theory to the next that we have studied this semester. Connectivism is intriguing to me and I still don't know what to make of it. I do agree with some aspects of the theory, such as how we can learn from connecting in to other networks, which has some overlap in the Communities of Practice theory. Perhaps the phrase from the title of one of the readings, "A Learning Theory for the Digital Age," is what makes me critical. I feel as if though it is more of a learning strategy for the digital age, rather than an explanation of how we learning in a hyper technology world. I also disagree with the idea that learning resides in non-human appliances, such as technology. Technology is a tool for learning, yes, but technology IS the learning instrument? No.
That leads me to the Massive Open Online Courses. I need more convincing to understand the excitement about MOOCs. Working in online education, I have been hearing about MOOCs and how they will reshape online learning for so long, but it seems schools are still trying to figure it out, and are working under the idea of "build first and they will come." I believe there are benefits to people from all over the world being able to take free online courses that can benefit them in some way, such as Computer Science based courses, or any courses focused on life skills, which would equate to an online version of a continuing education course. However, I do see some drawbacks too to the idea of large networks of learners. Taking this Adult Learner course via an online MOOC format where I might be one of 10,000 learners would have resulted in a very different learning experience than the one I experienced.
Perhaps after this post, I will tap in to Google and the various technologies at my fingertips to get more perspective on MOOCs...
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Communities of Practice
When my team formed earlier in the semester, our presentation date felt so far away. Flashforward to this week and all of a sudden we are near the end of the semester! My the time did fly.
I am disappointed that I had to miss last week's presentation on Experiential Learning, as it paved the way for Communities of Practice and it was my second choice topic.
This was such an interesting learning theory to get to research in depth over the last half of the semester. In applying the concept to my own work environments, I find it fascinating that prior to even knowing about Communities of Practice, I can definitely attest that the work environments that I have worked in that have had unintentional CoPs have been better environments than those that did not. In our presentation, the first scenario was clearly from my own work life because I work at Boston University in the Office of Distance Education as an Instructional Designer. Our Director encourages but does not force or require that we seek out other knowledge sharing opportunities and trainings on campus and we typically have informal once a month breakfast sessions, where different people in the office can share updates on a training or any new type of instructional design development they are working on. Not only does it allow information to be shared within our larger team, but it allows for relationship building, so that this type of scenario can continue to flourish.
In my last job, the opposite was quite true as people had this idea that if they shared too much work knowledge, they would be expendable and therefore it was quite difficult to do my job.
During the break between semesters, I hope to be able to read in full the Cultivating Communities of Practice text to see what other insights I can bring to my work environment.
I am disappointed that I had to miss last week's presentation on Experiential Learning, as it paved the way for Communities of Practice and it was my second choice topic.
This was such an interesting learning theory to get to research in depth over the last half of the semester. In applying the concept to my own work environments, I find it fascinating that prior to even knowing about Communities of Practice, I can definitely attest that the work environments that I have worked in that have had unintentional CoPs have been better environments than those that did not. In our presentation, the first scenario was clearly from my own work life because I work at Boston University in the Office of Distance Education as an Instructional Designer. Our Director encourages but does not force or require that we seek out other knowledge sharing opportunities and trainings on campus and we typically have informal once a month breakfast sessions, where different people in the office can share updates on a training or any new type of instructional design development they are working on. Not only does it allow information to be shared within our larger team, but it allows for relationship building, so that this type of scenario can continue to flourish.
In my last job, the opposite was quite true as people had this idea that if they shared too much work knowledge, they would be expendable and therefore it was quite difficult to do my job.
During the break between semesters, I hope to be able to read in full the Cultivating Communities of Practice text to see what other insights I can bring to my work environment.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Constructivism
Prior to the last class, the learning theories we have covered thus far have focused on the teacher as leader and student as follower relationship, as well as objective knowledge passed from the instructor to learner.
The constructivist learning theory takes these prior ideas and shifts our way of thinking 180 degrees, to that of a focus on learning occurring in the individual, who "constructs" knowledge in their own way. Even more interesting is the concept of social constructivism, which focuses on the social aspect necessary for constructing knowledge. The presentation and readings for this class coincided with my readings of the same topic in the Intro to Instructional Design class and I found it very helpful to have the constructivism team present on this topic at the same time as I was learning about how this theory could be incorporated in to designing instructional design models, or more-so, how these concepts can be incorporated in to the design of instruction, by fostering a more critical thinking focused learning event.
Social constructivism is also a theory that paved the way for my own presentation topic of situated learning and communities of practice. Watching the class presentations as we do research on our own topic helps enhance my understanding of how all of the topics relate to one another, and even helps me gain a better understanding of my own topic.
The constructivist learning theory takes these prior ideas and shifts our way of thinking 180 degrees, to that of a focus on learning occurring in the individual, who "constructs" knowledge in their own way. Even more interesting is the concept of social constructivism, which focuses on the social aspect necessary for constructing knowledge. The presentation and readings for this class coincided with my readings of the same topic in the Intro to Instructional Design class and I found it very helpful to have the constructivism team present on this topic at the same time as I was learning about how this theory could be incorporated in to designing instructional design models, or more-so, how these concepts can be incorporated in to the design of instruction, by fostering a more critical thinking focused learning event.
Social constructivism is also a theory that paved the way for my own presentation topic of situated learning and communities of practice. Watching the class presentations as we do research on our own topic helps enhance my understanding of how all of the topics relate to one another, and even helps me gain a better understanding of my own topic.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Cognitivism
The readings for both this course and the Intro to Instructional Design course, which I am currently taking as well, are really the first exposures I have had to understanding psychology and more specifically, cognitivism and how that plays a role in understanding learning. These are concepts I didn't really consider much of before starting this program. I've only really observed learning challenges in adult learners in the online course environment and based on my experience, I could see some initial issues with the way the courses were formatted, such as having too much content to cover on a weekly basis, etc. but I never thought about how the way in which we learn can also play a part in making recommendations to faculty for course re-design considerations.
After this week's presentation on cognitivism, I also better understand how essentially all of the learning theories we are going to learn about on a weekly basis all interact with one another. Our presentation on communities of practice certainly take cognitive approaches in to account. I'm looking forward to seeing the presentations each week and get a clearer picture of how they are all interrelated.
After this week's presentation on cognitivism, I also better understand how essentially all of the learning theories we are going to learn about on a weekly basis all interact with one another. Our presentation on communities of practice certainly take cognitive approaches in to account. I'm looking forward to seeing the presentations each week and get a clearer picture of how they are all interrelated.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Behaviorism
After this week's class, I thought about the discussion and presentation on behaviorism some more, and came to realize just how much of an impact behaviorism has in my work life. I attended a management training that was presented to management staff who supervise one or more employees and the goal was to inform managers of different types of conflicts that could arise in the workplace, along with solutions to those problems. The room of managers broke up in to teams of "employees" and "supervisors" and we conducted a role playing scenario of what-if scenarios. We presented in teams in front of the entire group and were evaluated by the human resources personnel conducting the training and at every step of the simulation, we were informed of good vs. bad behavior. We were also "rewarded" with a free pen or other types of incentives, when we handled a situation well. The second half of the training had us break in to teams and we were tested on what we learned that day, and the team with the highest score won gift cards. Looking at this training now from my newly gained knowledge on behaviorism, it is interesting to see just how much of an influence it still has on our lives as adult learners in the workplace.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Andragogy
This week's reading included a chapter on Andragogy and Malcolm Knowles (1980) proposal of 4 assumptions regarding adult learners:1
is what lead me down this current career path and my current career and learning are all tied together. The knowledge I gain from this program also has an immediate affect on my professional work and is not knowledge I am storing for future use.
One of the things I find interesting about Knowles discussion of andragogy is how experience is an important factor that shapes the way adults learn. Knowles' himself is an example of his own theory. In 1970 he published the first edition of The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs. Pedagogy. Knowles later went on to publish The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy which means with experience, he recognized that both concepts were important to the way in which adults learn.
Looking at all of these characteristics of what Knowles' proposed as assumptions of adult learners, I find all of these assumptions to be true of myself as an individual adult learner. At 31 years old, I am an independent being that works full-time to sustain my state of living and that self-sustaining characteristic lead me to resume my studies in this graduate program. My previous work experience
- As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directed human being.
- An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning.
- The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role.
- There is a change in time perspective as people mature - from future application of knowledge to immediacy o application. Thus, an adult is more problem centered than subject centered in learning.
is what lead me down this current career path and my current career and learning are all tied together. The knowledge I gain from this program also has an immediate affect on my professional work and is not knowledge I am storing for future use.
One of the things I find interesting about Knowles discussion of andragogy is how experience is an important factor that shapes the way adults learn. Knowles' himself is an example of his own theory. In 1970 he published the first edition of The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy vs. Pedagogy. Knowles later went on to publish The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy which means with experience, he recognized that both concepts were important to the way in which adults learn.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Change (or Lack of Change)
The Kegan and Lahey article, The Real Reason People Won't Change, was quite interesting and managed to open my eyes to my own inability to adapt to change at times. Before reading the article, I would have considered myself as someone quite adaptable to change, considering I work in online education which is constantly evolving these days. But when I took a deeper look at my work style, I realized I can identify somewhat with the work ethic of "Mary." She doesn't delegate tasks enough for fear of losing some control over how tasks get done and also because she does not think others will do as good of a job as she. In my previous job I even saw the repercussions of not delegating tasks enough because when I was out of the office on vacation, some of my tasks could not be completed by anyone else, which lead to even more work when I returned to work.
I do think I have become better at information sharing in my current position, but the article certainly pointed out to me that I could consider evaluating my adaptability to change some more, because it is an important part of the learning process.
I do think I have become better at information sharing in my current position, but the article certainly pointed out to me that I could consider evaluating my adaptability to change some more, because it is an important part of the learning process.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
What Motivates Adults to Learn
This week, we read about and discussed what motivates adults to learn. What motivates me to learn and be enrolled in this program is my career focus. I had worked in the student services arena of online education for a little more than six years, before I transitioned in to an instructional design position within higher education. I hope to be able to enhance my skills as an instructional designer by obtaining my degree through this program. My fellow group mates also had similar goal-oriented motivations for enrolling in this masters program: career growth, better pay, etc.
After class, I thought about this topic some more in relation to how it tied in with last week's class discussion on different age stages. Looking back on my undergraduate degree experience, I would say I was a goal-oriented learner at that time as well; going to school with the aspiration of a good paying job after graduation. However, looking back, I know I certainly wasn't as motivated as I am now, or at least had different motivations for learning and that's because I was in a different age stage in my life. Now, as an adult, I have had more life experiences and am motivated to do well in school because I truly want to learn and better myself and this in turn will better my career. This motivation helps combat the obstacles I sometimes encounter in trying to balance life and school. My next obstacle to combat is better time management. Time to get off this blog and back to reading!
After class, I thought about this topic some more in relation to how it tied in with last week's class discussion on different age stages. Looking back on my undergraduate degree experience, I would say I was a goal-oriented learner at that time as well; going to school with the aspiration of a good paying job after graduation. However, looking back, I know I certainly wasn't as motivated as I am now, or at least had different motivations for learning and that's because I was in a different age stage in my life. Now, as an adult, I have had more life experiences and am motivated to do well in school because I truly want to learn and better myself and this in turn will better my career. This motivation helps combat the obstacles I sometimes encounter in trying to balance life and school. My next obstacle to combat is better time management. Time to get off this blog and back to reading!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Ages, Stages, and the Life Course
This week's readings focused on adult development and the different adult life stages. I hadn't really thought about it until I started to read the assigned chapters, but understanding adult development is important to understanding how the different life stages can have an impact on how adults learn. In last week's reading, we read about how life experiences can have an affect on adult learning and that really tied in with this week's lesson on how age stages, which cannot be viewed separately from life experiences because that is intertwined with the life stage, affects adult learning.
The approach to this week's class was quite interesting, as we first broke in to groups to analyze different age brackets and developed a list of the major milestones that group faces and how that impacts learning, and then after we discussed our findings, we broke up in to groups again, based on our own age groups and discussed events and experiences that shaped our own generations.
As part of the Generation Y group, we talked about our own perception of ourselves as a group, discussed our perceptions of other generation groups, and then heard others perceptions of ours and other generations. While working on this task and listing things that shaped our generation, we came up with a large list of elements to describe ourselves, but a small number of descriptions of other age groups, and one of the keywords about ourselves came to fruition, that our generation tends to be self-absorbed.
We also felt that our generation grew up with the promise of "try hard and you will succeed" but in reality, our age group came to join the workforce during a time of economic recession and we were faced with challenges finding employment in our next chapter in life. I think all of this plays a part in why such a large portion of the class is part of Generation Y. We continue to strive for better employment opportunities and success and that is why we continue to pursue education and learn, while also juggling our work and family commitments. At least, that is a motivator for myself, but as a self-absorbed Generation Y-er, I know I must be right! ;) Kidding aside, I am looking forward to continuing next week with the topic of Motivation and learning more about perhaps what motivates others.
The approach to this week's class was quite interesting, as we first broke in to groups to analyze different age brackets and developed a list of the major milestones that group faces and how that impacts learning, and then after we discussed our findings, we broke up in to groups again, based on our own age groups and discussed events and experiences that shaped our own generations.
As part of the Generation Y group, we talked about our own perception of ourselves as a group, discussed our perceptions of other generation groups, and then heard others perceptions of ours and other generations. While working on this task and listing things that shaped our generation, we came up with a large list of elements to describe ourselves, but a small number of descriptions of other age groups, and one of the keywords about ourselves came to fruition, that our generation tends to be self-absorbed.
We also felt that our generation grew up with the promise of "try hard and you will succeed" but in reality, our age group came to join the workforce during a time of economic recession and we were faced with challenges finding employment in our next chapter in life. I think all of this plays a part in why such a large portion of the class is part of Generation Y. We continue to strive for better employment opportunities and success and that is why we continue to pursue education and learn, while also juggling our work and family commitments. At least, that is a motivator for myself, but as a self-absorbed Generation Y-er, I know I must be right! ;) Kidding aside, I am looking forward to continuing next week with the topic of Motivation and learning more about perhaps what motivates others.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Getting Back in to Blogging
It's been a while since I've written a blog but it's time to give it a shot again for my course at UMASS Boston this semester, The Adult as Learner. I am looking forward to this course and will comment each week on the topics covered in class. Happy reading!
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