EDCI339

Transitioning from History of EdTech

I was confused about what is EdTech when I first saw this topic. What is EdTech? The full name of EdTech is “Education Technology”. It is the practice of introducing IT tools into the classroom to create a more engaging, inclusive and individualized learning experience. On the other way, it includes all components of information technology used in the delivery of educational materials.

The History of EdTech

There are so many different technologies and tools that have been used and changed in a thousand years. In the early decades, there was oral communication, written communication, broadcasting and radio, and so on. In recent decades, there are basic chalkboards, overhead projectors, smart boards, technology devices and it is still changing right now. 1998: Wikis—a web page that could be jointly edited by anyone—was a fundamental shift in how we related to the internet. 2001: e-learning. It is a learning system based on formalized teaching but with the help of electronic resources. 2003-Blogs 2004-The LMS. It stands as the central e-learning technology. 2009: Twitter and social media. 2010: Connectivism. It is a relatively new theory of learning or epistemology but it is still being refined and developed, and it is currently highly controversial, with many critics. 2020-Zoom (Zoom has become one of the leading video conferencing software apps in 2020). It is a cloud-based video conferencing service we can use to virtually meet with others by audio or video or both. We can also do live classes and record it.

Due to the Covid-19, online learning is the most common way for everyone to learn right now. There are many different stuffs come out because of the Covid-19. One of them is Asynchronous &Synchronous. During Covid-19 period, many students will be in many time zones, in unpredictable living circumstances, and often with unreliable access to the internet. This is obviously problematic, for instance, for a student studying from home in China, with a 15 hour time zone difference and where it often takes hours to download a video or an assignment. These challenges are not limited to international students; reliable internet is also a problem in rural areas in Canada. According to Dr. Verena Roberts, I know a new term-Hyflex Learning. I believe this term is new for most of students. It is a term sometimes referred to as Blendflex and students are able to jump between a completely online version of a class and a completely synchronous version of the same class as they meet their individual learning needs.

To sum up, I think the Education Technology that we use right now is great. Due to the Covid-19, online learning has been used widely. Currently, people study and work at home, on the good side, we do not need to buy any paper materials, everything is online like e-books. Also, it is more convenient to upload files and share them with others. However, this education technology that we used now lacks the traditional studying methods and theories.

References:

Builtin. (2019). Retrieved from https://builtin.com/edtech

https://uwaterloo.ca/keep-learning/strategies-remote-teaching/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-online-learning

HyFlex, Hybrid and Online…Oh My!

How Humanizing Online Learning, building relationships and developing a social presence in online learning contexts supports learners in online courses.What are your experiences with developing a social presence in your online courses? What kind of social presence activities do you prefer as a learner?

When I first time hearing the word online learning, the first thing come out to my mind is it is easy and also complicated. I think online learning is easy is because I do not need to go to school. The reason I also think it is complicated is that everything is on my own and I am not familiar with the technologies. You cannot ask questions anytime you want if you face some difficulties; you cannot meet new people in the class. It is more likely a one on one course. Everyone will feel disconnect to the class. In my opinion, live classes will be more helpful for humanizing online learning, building relationships and developing a soical presence than recorded lectures. Also, it will make students feel connected to the courses and help them build relationships and confidence. According to the reading and Helen’s presentation, a good teaching presences and social presences will make students more interesting to the classes and their cognitive processes to the clases will be stronger.

I have been taken online courses for months. An easy understanding course content will make me less frustrating and easier to learn and accept. As a result, I think set up group projects as assignments and set up group discussions during the classes are the best way to develop social presence and build relationships because we can ask any questions we have during the discussion and get students closer and reduce stress. That is also my favorite activities as a learner.

How can educators effectively build relationships by encouraging safe communication and interaction in online and open learning spaces?

In 2020, Covid-19 has affected every country in the world. Companies, factories, even schools have to shut down. People start to work and study at home. However, it is hard to build relationships with others.

Before Covid-19, students could communicate with professors anytime at school. Students can ask any questions before the class, during the class, and after the class. Sometimes professors will start group discussions in class so that students can know their classmates better and get closer to each other. It is helpful for building relationships. But right now, everyone stays at home and take online courses through Zoom. Most of the students just lying on the bed during classes and turn their camera and mic off. Moreover, some instructors just post recorded videos online. There is no chance for students and professors to communicate. However, some professors will set some breakout rooms for students to have a small discussion. It is a good way for students and professors to know each other and build better relationships. In my opinion, professors should start more group work and discussion online and open learning spaces like Zoom will be good to build relationships.

What did you already know. What do you know now based on the course readings and activities?

I have started online learning in March. It is a good experience. By the time that Uvic just started online learning, many professors changed their teaching methods and course structure. For example, many professors cancelled the final exams and switch to take-home assignments for instead and changed the assignments weights. At that time, I think that was first time Zoom be known by everyone. For now, there are many methods for students and professors to taking courses and interacting, like brightspace (it was coursespace before), discord, Zoom and so on. According to Johns Hopkins(2015), online learning is definitely a challenge for everyone. It is complex for professors to structure the courses to make courses easy to understand for students. For most students, it will be a huge challenge because they need to comprehend the course structure, course modes, course goals in a limited time; otherwise, it is easy to fall behind. In addition, based on the course reading and quiz, I found out it is not safe to put our personal information online in this era of high technology. We should start to pay more attention to how to protect our personal information.

What do you hope to learn?

I would like to learn how will online and open learning space works better in the future. Due to the Covid, these online teaching tools have been widely used by many people. So, based on online and open learning, there will be more and more tools to come out. We should make sure everyone can understand how to learning online easily. I believe there are still many students are frustrating with online learning. And, how to make online learning as similar to face-to-face learning.

References:

Johns, H. U. P. (2015). Teaching online : A guide to theory, research, and practice. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca