My Self-Reflection On Blog Making!

As the saying goes, ‘there is a first time for everything’. These words resonated with me personally throughout the making of my instructional strategies blog.  Although I am familiar with blogs, this would be the first time I would be called upon to create one for myself. In fact, I found myself at a loss on how to create one before enrolling in the PIDP 3250 Instructional strategies class.  Initially, it seemed easy enough to blog through the default Blogger template. However, as the class progressed, I found meeting course requirements required a lot of modifications that I was unfamiliar with. Sometimes, it really got out of hand.

In PIDP 3250: Instructional strategies course, journal entries along with self-assessment and blogging were used as a reflective exercise to self-evaluate our class projects and thought processes. The methods of the course were new to me as during my undergraduate and graduate studies, I was never asked to self-evaluate my work. If I could sum up the course, I would say it not only introduced us to various teaching strategies that are being used regularly but also allowed us to think critically about our own work and abilities.

Some of the classmates’ blogs I liked were: Susan Doyle’s and Karon Wong’s. Their blogs were easy to navigate and were reflective of their thought processes. Every entry actually made the class concepts easier to understand and thus facilitating my understanding of course.  Not to mention they had both incorporated some interesting side notes and video clips that added an interesting spin on the topics covered in the discussion forums.

For a person who has just started their journey in blog making, I think the strength of my blog lays in the fact that I covered the topics without going off on irrelevant tangents while adding my personal insights on the writing of the content I had incorporated into my work. In addition, none of my entires were done “as is,” for every entry I conducted external research to ensure that my contributions were comprehensive. My blog’s weakness is likely to be the presentation. Compared to some of my peers, it comes across as a little amateurish. As the course continued, I did find ways to enhance the aesthetics, but it certainly did not fit within the time frame between my visual project, forum contributions, and forum moderation. There were also a few elements of classroom discussion that I wanted to blog upon in greater depth but did not have the chance to before the deadline.

Based on the rubric provided for the purposes of our blog evaluation I would give my blog  95/100, simply because I strongly believe that my postings reflect not only my learning experience throughout the course, but they all contain my personal reflection on my learning experiences both in the past as well as in the present. Furthermore, I had incorporated a wide-range of media that I thought were very closely tied to the course content on a weekly basis, regardless I do not still feel that my blog lacks a professional polish and only incorporates one link to social media instead of multiple networks. I did consider a Twitter as well, but figured that learning and updating it would be a little out of my scope. For these reasons, I do not believe that I deserve a perfect mark on my blog, but given future opportunities, it is something that I wish to rectify.

Discussion Forum Self-Assessment!

My fear of online courses was one of the main reasons for why I was hesitant to enroll in the PIDP 3250 class at the first place. I have been out of school for more than six years now, and given that my undergraduate as well as graduate educational journey was not particularly pleasant due to my language barrier back in 1997. Fast-forward 18 years - I was concerned that the process would repeat itself. Finally, putting my fears aside and signing up for the class, I could not wait for the discussion forums to start, so I could place myself ahead of the game. At least in my own head, I knew that falling behind would not be an option, given my busy schedule.

One thing I learned from my topic Critical Thinking was its strong connection and profound influence on the other topics previously covered in class: namely metacognition, motivation and self-directed learning. As such, as a facilitator of this forum I was happy to see that I was able to convince my classmates to take a second attempt at this topic and generate new ideas and to keep the discussions going until it ran its course.

Facilitation of this forum certainly added new insights  for me on the topic of Critical Thinking and provided me with an opportunity to see other people`s personal point of views from a wide-range of backgrounds ranging from teaching ESL classes to health care practices. But perhaps the most interesting experience that I was privy to, was essentially facilitating self-directed learning, which is the closest experience I could actually relate to the forum portion of the course. It will be an exceptional tool to add into my repertoire as I begin my professional career in education.

I had to do a little bit of reading in order for me to be able to run the forum differently from the first time the topic was discussed. Thus, I started the forum by posting a video clip I had found on Youtube that I thought would generate interest while also providing people with an opportunity to express their thoughts from a different angle. Furthermore, I typically ended all of my responses with questions, thus encouraging the contributors to dig a little deeper into the topic.

Overall, I felt that my contribution to the other discussion forums was based on adding a perspective that was based on Childhood Education. I felt that this was important because even though people of all ages learn, what and how people learn when they are young have a profound impact on their experiences and success in the future. It is a good thing to “not forget about the children.” Overall, I would say that I have learned a lot through reading and contributing to the other discussion forums. What I learned mainly came down to distilling all the topics such as motivation, group work, flipped classroom, class management, and etc. through my own topic of critical thinking. The truth was at the beginning I took a lot of what my peers said for granted and just simply accepted them. After conducting my own facilitation I actually looked back and started to think about the other forums and what was right and what needed further discussion and examination.

After some reflection on my work on the forums over the duration of this course, I would give myself a score of 90/100. Initially I thought that making seven or more postings a week would be a simple task. However, once activity began on the forum, I realized that making substantive contributions was not a simple task. For me, my posts would often require a lot of research and extra reading. In some cases, I actually found myself at a loss to engage my peers in an original way. After all, when a class is so full of talented individuals, it can be difficult to conduct yourself in a way that does not mirror someone else. I truly strived to provide meaningful content while offering my contemplation and criticisms in a manner that was both constructive and insightful.

I can say without any hesitation that I fell short of my original goals. Throughout the class, I was plagued by technical difficulties and a hectic family life. Still, I do not offer these rationales as an excuse, but merely a reason for why I was unable to meet my superior expectations of myself. The score of 90 is still reasonable as I was able to contribute with solid replies 4-6 times a week without fail while running a week-long moderation on Critical Thinking that generated new insightful content even though Critical Thinking had been covered in great depth several weeks before. 

Critical Thinking & Children!

         

      My facilitation of the topic of Critical Thinking during the period of June 25-July 05 brought up some interesting highlights in relations to this topic. We all seemed to agree that Critical Thinking is important, as it’s crucial for university students and adults to analyze and evaluate their surroundings. Nonetheless, an important message I took away from facilitating my forum on Critical thinking was that what needs to be in fact examined is the importance of critical thinking for children. Many children struggle to find their place in a post-secondary world as they are not used to thinking for themselves and questioning authority, which becomes overwhelmingly encouraged at the university level.

    As such, I strongly believe one of the useful ways in enhancing Critical Thinking abilities is to help students put their feelings into words, and this seemed to be a common ground in various fields. Incorporating teaching strategies that would be sought useful in enhancing Critical Thinking especially in children is at the center of debate in today's educational wold. Metacognition constitutes the foundation of Critical Thinking. Thus, as educators it is our responsibly to create an open-learning environment wherein learners (i.e. children) are provided with the freedom to really explore and evaluate their thoughts. 

       Thus, in this context parents as well as the environments play a rather influential role in providing the children with the opportunity to explore and sharpen their Critical Thinking skills. Furthermore, enhancing Critical Thinking skills in children requires getting them involved in their own thinking process by asking questions. 

Journal Entry #3 - Motivation

My Reflection on the Discussion Topic : Motivation - “Schools As We Know Them Are Obsolete” (Mitra, S, 2012).


Objective Questions: Begin with Data, Facts, External Reality

     ‘Hole in the Wall’ was an experiment initiated by Sugata Mitra, a Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. His area of expertise has been minimally invasive education, with a special focus on the role of computers and social media. In 1999, Mitra decided to take his theory into the field (Mitra et al., 2005). His experiment, called SOLES: Self-Organized Learning, also known as the Minimally Invasive Education (MIE).

     Hole in the Wall experiment was initially implemented in the slums of New Delhi, and Kalkaji, the results confirmed Mitra’s hypothesis that learning happens regardless of the individual child’s background and that children were able to pick up basic computer skills with minimal guidance or supervision when provided with motivating content and suitable accessibility in spite of lacking English literacy. From the results of his research, Mitra also found that children were able to figure out how to surf the web, while learning to use web applications and play games. Mitra contends from his findings that “today’s educational systems are evolving and that schools are obsolete” (Matias, N.J., 2012).

Reflective: My initial feelings about Mitra’s work

  I should say my reaction to this section of our discussion forums was a mix of excitement and curiosity. Excitement because I felt that I could relate to some of Mitra’s finding. Curiosity was about finding out what other people felt about Mitra’s work. This was especially true in context towards the statement: ‘this is like anarchy: no teacher, no imposed structure. Thus, I started to ponder; does it really take a certain structure to create motivation for learning? At this point, I was not sure.

  Sugata Mitra’s TED talk: Experiments on Self-teaching was in fact a reflection of my own personal experience since I moved to Canada in 1999. When I first arrived and was thrown into ESL at the grade 11 level, I had absolutely no experience with English. At this point, I only knew Farsi, and aside from my parents, there was nobody I could seek for help. Thrown into the deep end I had no choice but to sink or swim. I dedicated myself to improving my English day and night. I would translate the newspaper; I would listen blankly at the television, hoping to catch anything that I had learned in school. Upon my graduation, I was proud to say that I was fluent in English. This was the part of me that identified strongly with Mitra’s research, I was given an opportunity and I reaped the rewards. However, now that I have had time to reflect, an important thought would be whether it was motivation created by survival instincts that led to my success or a natural curiosity created by opportunity. It is quite clear that it is likely to be the former.

  With this in mind, I was driven by curiosity to the feelings that other people had towards Mitra’s work. It certainly sounded like it was too good to be true. Still, it was surprising to find that Mitra continues to be a divisive figure in the field of education. When giving a plenary at an international teacher’s conference for IATEFL, half the crowd gave him a standing ovation, while many other stayed firmly planted in their seats with a scowl. The press lauded Mitra, but many educators in prestigious seats were quick pass criticism or to investigate Mitra’s work. What I found would go on to change my perspective on the matter rather quickly.

Interpretive Questions: Meaning, Values, Significance, and Implications

At first, I thought that the implications of Mitra’s work would be revolutionary. Thoughts of a generation of children who could teach themselves math, science, and languages certainly felt like aspects of a utopia. But like many things associated with perfection, reality is often quick to settle expectations. After conducting my own research, I started to think deeply on Mitra’s work. In some ways it was difficult to argue with his results. He had placed computers in some of the worst slums in the world and there the students were essentially able to teach themselves some rudimentary English and how to surf the web. Mitra said “Anarchy…No teacher, No Imposed Structure, Unbelievable What These Children Achieved,” but how incredible was it? Though it was certainly no small feat, would there be a future where everyone would learn with their friends with nothing more than the internet and YouTube? I started to grow skeptical at this prospect and was reminded of my youth playing the piano. Watching my mother playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a child, I was quickly caught the musical bug. In a few minutes, I too played the song, and also Mary had a Little Lamb. I was pretty impressed with myself. However, by the time I was being forced to slog through lessons of Mozart and Chopin, any natural curiosity I had about the piano had been dragged out into the street, shot, and buried in a shallow grave. I would often lock myself in the bathroom to for hours to avoid practice and lessons.

The point of this anecdote is to relate myself to how I feel about Mitra’s work now. By placing computers in the middle of a slum, Mitra is providing underprivileged children with a novelty or toy. This essentially mirrors my initial curiosity with the piano. Put something new in front of children and they will definitely play with it. Still, before I am accused to being too anecdotal, Mitra also has certain results that mirror my final experiences in the musical field. When Mitra tried the same experiment in Italy, hoping to teach children about biology, the result was far less flattering than his New Dehli offerings. In a period of three months, the children learned enough English to just figure out that the diagram in front of them was capable of multiplying (Mitra, S., 2012). Needless to say, that would fly so low under the bar in most developed nations one might as well be laying down. It is clear that motivation created by curiosity does not hold up to academic rigour.

After doing some reading, it is clear that I am not the only person to come to this conclusion. Donald Clark, an entrepreneur and educational researcher, has criticized Mitra’s project: ‘Hole in the Wall’ and argues that free and self-organized learning ultimately results in free fall, vandalism and chaos since sustainability and maintenance of such systems installed is in fact a crucial task/responsibility. “The computers rarely worked, as the DSL line was often down, and when it did work, the larger boys dominated them, playing games” (Clark, D., 2013). Thus, Clark believes that replacing teachers with computers is not an ideal solution in order to fight the old curriculum styles and flaws of the traditional schooling anytime soon. In fact, in most cases, the hole in the wall in New Dehli only lasted three months, mirroring the amount of curiosity I had for piano (Clark, D., 2013).

Furthermore, he adds that when introducing such a system, the context in which it is introduced ought to also be taken into consideration and suggests that if Mitra introduced this into anywhere else other than rural parts of India, he would have received a different response. (Clark, D., 2013). Clark is absolutely correct given the fact that his train of thought matches the response of the hole in the wall project in Italy, where the students learned that a cell replicates in three months, something they could have done in Italian in mere seconds. It has become increasingly clear that curiosity may be a crucial part of a learning foundation, but it certainly is not the be all and end all of learning. It is certain that is not an educational messiah. In some ways, it leaves me sad to say that Mitra’s work may not have the world changing implications that he makes it seem, but I do believe that it is not without some merits.

Decisional Questions: Bringing Mitra’s Work To My field

        If anything, all the criticism against Mitra’s work has created some self-doubt, prompting the educational superstar to respond saying, “maybe all my work really is all rubbish” (Clark, D., 2013). It might be hard to tell if Mitra is being facetious or legitimately discouraged. Nonetheless, given my own personal experience, it is hard to dispute that there is something within Mitra’s work that is worth focusing on. Once again, going back to my childhood piano lessons, I wonder what my instructor could have done to cultivate my initial curiosity and motivation. Mitra has shown that it can be a powerful force, having children in slum teaching themselves rudimentary English and playing video games in English is actually quite an impressive feat. From my experience, too many teachers annihilate the joy of learning in school for many students long before the three month period. Should learning be rigorous? Yes. Should learning be hard? Yes. Should learning be competitive? Yes. But, learning should also be fun or no student would bother with all the aforementioned hardships. It is not enough to tell students that their future depends on their education. If someone told me I would not be rich unless I studied when I was six, my response would be “so what?” An appeal to childhood ethos is not enough to create motivation.

        It is not enough for teachers to simply sit around and inject knowledge into students. There has to be proactive methods into ensuring that children will continue to stay engaged long after their initial interest has run its course. Seeing that my expertise lays in childhood education, most of my techniques will be focused in that sector. When it comes to practical learning or hands on learning it can be more fun for students to build or to emulate. Why teach students math with just a blackboard and chalk? Create activities with blocks, toys, and games. Today, there are plenty educational games that can be accessed online. These should be implemented with greater frequency in the classroom. Hence, play based learning is growing trend in the field of childhood education.

      Learning stops being fun once it becomes frustrating instead of satisfying. Not everything can be achieved through fun, and sometimes it is important to slow down progression or to ensure that instruction is carried out in a myriad of different ways. In some ways, teaching can be equally frustrating instead of satisfying as well. Teachers should be flexible enough to decide when they should perhaps inject a bit of self-directed activities in order to see if students are able to come up with their own conclusions when didactic methods are failing.

          Perhaps, the most important thing is to not let children let go of their natural curiosity. As a child, I often remember asking my parents why and how on a regular basis. I did not know at the time, but it was a natural inclination to critical thinking. The educational system, at least when I was young, was based on obedience. As instructors, cultivating curiosity as motivation and learning tool is to never close oneself off to questions. Even a question that may sound stupid to adults could provide insight to learning for a young child. It is important not to dismiss and to encourage questions so that children never lose their desire to learn more and more. That is our duty as educators and what I believe is the most applicable part of Mitra’s work in practical learning in children.

 References: 

Barkley, E.F. (2010). Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College
        Faculty, Published by Jossey-Bass, P.11

Clark, D. (2013). Sugata Mitra: Slum Chic? Seven Reasons For Doubt, Retrieved
        From: http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=mitra

Guerriero, M. (2014). Are College Campuses Obsolete? The New Yorker 

Matias, N.J. (2012). Is Education Obsolete? Sugata Mitra, At the MIT Media Lab,
        MIT Center For Media Lab, Retrieved From:
         https://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/is-education-obsolete-sugata-mitra-at-the-mit-media-lab

Mitra, S., Dangwal, R., Chatterjee, S., Jha, S., Bisht, R. S. & Kapur, P. (2005).
        Acquisition of computer literacy on shared public computers: children and the
        ‘Hole in the wall’. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 21, 3, 407–
        426

Mitra, S. (2007). TED Talk: Kids Can Teach Themselves, Retrieved From:

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves?language=en

Mitra, S. (2012).  India, South Africa, Cambodia, Gateshead… Wherever Sugata
        Mitra          

Works, He Provides Pupils With a Computer and Leaves them to it. And they
        Learn. Arches Features Magazine, The Newcastle University Alumni
        Association Magazine Issue 15/Summer 2012, P.15


Torgovnick May, K. (2013). TED Blog: A School in The Cloud. Retrieved From:
        http://blog.ted.com/a-school-in-the-cloud-sugata-mitra-accepts-the-ted-prize-
         at-ted2013/

Wagner, T. (2012). Creating Innovators: Why America's Education System
        Is Obsolete, Forbes Magazine, Retrieved From:
        http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericaswallow/2012/04/25/creating-innovators/

The Future Of Education With The Advancement Of Technology!

Doing a little bit of more  research on the role of technology and its effects on teaching, I came across this very interesting video :

Disruptions in Class...

Many educators specifically in the field of Adult Education take disruptions in class personally. Therefore, I believe the following steps are useful in handling disruptions in class: 

1. Calming Down: it is crucial for both the student as well as the teacher to depersonalize the incident in order to be able to communicate a resolution. However, calming down does not necessary imply a lack of disciplinary action.

2. Listening: Provide the student with the opportunity to explain their side of the story and show them that you are willing to listen ... (We use this technique quite frequently in the field of Early Childhood Education. 

3. Using Humor: Again, this may work better and more effectively in the field of Early Childhood Education. 

4. Deflect Argumentation: Allocate certain amount of time to get to resolution and not let the situation get out of control and led to argumentation. 

These are just some of the points I thought of that were used predominantly and are more applicable to my field of expertise. 

It's a little funny how true this is for any online class. It's a stark contrast from online discussions where there's no structure at all and it just boils down to petty insults and name-calling. It is interesting how online education can really bring out the best in students, yet the online atmosphere can bring out the worst

Some Thoughts On Technology & Classroom Management....

       

         I believe educators are still divided in terms of allowing students to use technical devices in classroom given that many instructors believe using technology will in fact take away teachers' freedom and prevents them from having control over their work and classroom. Since I see smart phones as being disruptive, I am against allowing students to use their personal devices in class. As such, I believe there should be a median set for the use of technology in a  classroom setting. This is an article showing that in fact there are still students out there who prefer 'good lectures' over the use of cool gadgets, tablets and technical devices in lectures:

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/students-prefer-good-lectures-over-the-latest-technology-in-class/

4th Generation Virtual Learning Environment!

'4th Generation Virtual Learning Environment' as a topic of our discussion forum was a topic that interested me greatly. As I found myself reading up on the subject matter, I came across a very interesting article on the topic.

This article suggests that the profound impact of this type of learning style resides not only in the technology itself but rather on the changes it brings on the context of learning. As such, while this type of learning strategy is still at its infancy, the hesitation in implementing it in a broader spectrum lies in the very fact that it requires a major shift in both the teacher as well as the learners' role as it carries the notion of independent learning while introducing the concept of learning at 'anytime, any place'. Here is a link to the article that in fact highlights a few interesting points in relations to this topic: 

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=567631466615647&id=232711660107631

The Future Virtual Learning Environment & Outcomes!

      

      It never ceases to amaze me how far technology has progressed in such a short length of time. Sometimes, it only seems like yesterday as I sat in Iran with my eyes plastered on a text book as my teacher would drone on about politics and history. Just as quickly, I moved to Canada and was exposed to 2^nd generation VLE’s via Web CT in UBC sciences. At the time, I found myself relatively lost in the new system, the navigation was awkward, and it was definitely not an easy task to find everything that one needed to succeed. Though I was grateful for the opportunity to stay home sipping coffee while finishing my assignments, there was a part of me that felt that VLE’s were missing something. Maybe it was because I was old fashioned and missed the drone of the teacher in the background as I diligently read my text book. Fast forwarding to today and my experiences in PIDP 3250, 

        I have to say that I have once again found the need to adapt to a new generation of virtual learning. Though it was a whole new period of adjustment, I can confidently say it is a far more polished virtual environment when compared to past iterations. I really enjoyed with how simple it was to engage with thought-provoking discourse with my peers and professors. Through my own self-reflection, I would have to admit there is a certain part of me that is not as comfortable with self-directed learning as I would like, even today, I do miss the guidance and direction a live instructor provides, especially given how complex the online learning environments are today. Moodle, depending on the instructor can be either a joy to use or a harrowing misadventure, and I do think it is important that institutions work on streamlining the process, especially since VLE’s are now reaching a broader educational audience. 

        This makes me think that this type of learning strategy is still at its infancy, and given its current state, I understand the hesitation in implementing it on a great scale as it represents a major shift in both the instructor and learner role that likely requires more transitional time or even a new generation. My concerns aside, I do believe that VLE’s are the future, even though it has not been the most efficient means for building upon my own educational foundation. 

Proximal Development & Educational Games?!!!

         I really like the idea of proximal development in the context of educational games. However, I don't think it is just the fact that it provides a challenge and the ability to learn from failures that makes it so effective. Growing up with a very traditional and conservative learning environment, part of what makes it effective and ineffective at the same time is definitely the stakes that are involved. Many of us are taught at a young age that learning is our job: our life. 

         Gammefication takes away that pressure. I know it sounds cliche but it makes gaming fun. When presented with fun, we're simply more motivated to continue. After attaining several degrees, the classes that engaged me the most were the one's that had instructors who went the extra mile in engaging us. Perhaps the most memorable one was playing a "diplomacy" game while taking my masters in international relations. It not only cemented some of the more obtuse concepts we learned but also allowed us to actively apply them without the yoke of evaluation upon our backs.