The intro course has helped me broaden my understanding of
education and learning technology to some extent within certain areas. Some of
these areas are the word ‘Technology’ &
‘Educational Technology’. Thanks to Paul Kirchner’s lecture in which he
highlighted that ‘Technology’ can be
anything, not necessarily the ICT
tools, software and or devices.
On the other hand, my understanding of ‘Learning’ is still the same; it’s about process, results and
methodology. The social aspect of it is still controversial when it comes to
the effectiveness of collaborative learning. Learning is
also about methodology, and if we ask the simplest question that a
non-educational specialist would ask such as ‘What makes us learn?’ it would be still very difficult to use one
single mode, model or theory to answer that question.
Basically everything under the sun can make us learn anything,
without the need for formal education or technology-enhanced learning. The challenge
is measuring the results in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Hence the
need for developing strategies and techniques for better, faster, more enjoyable
and more effective learning experience. So for me I still think the same way
about ‘Learning’ but differently
about ‘Educational Technology’.
The most recent mind maps we draw reflected some sort of a
change in terms of including and excluding different concepts, also in the way
we organize these concepts to reflect what and how we understand about the
subject. Finally, the broader perspective we have developed by now after
working collaboratively.
Collaboration is an effective way of learning for higher
education students and at workplace where people have some experience and
knowledge to share and discuss. It was inspiring for me to listen to other students’
‘Understanding’ and ‘Point of View’ of the articles and
materials we were assigned to read.
My role in other students’ learning was to challenge their
understanding of the content and the applicability thereof in practice and real
life situations. I am very glad to say that other colleagues shared with me
similar understanding and way of thinking towards academics and practice.
Finally, I would like to thank you very much for the design
and delivery of this Intro course. It highlighted to me the independence of the
academic field of research in Learning and Education from the practice of
teaching and learning as well as the evaluation of both. That, in itself, gave
me the confidence to rethink the angle form which I am approaching the ‘Methodology’ part of ‘Learning’.
