Tag: elearning

kill the e.

Jaymie Koroluk asked the twitterverse about the proper spelling of “eLearning”.

jaymies_question

I responded back, a bit snarkily:

@jaymiek learning. There is no e.

It’s too much to describe in 140 characters. But I can’t stand the “e” in eLearning. (I can’t stand the “m” in mLearning, either.)

It’s just learning. The “e” is counter-productive. It forces people to focus on the technology. To see it as separate. As an isolated thing that must somehow be fit into the regular flow of teaching and learning.

Bullshit.

It’s all just learning. Technology can provide some pretty amazing affordances – the ability to handle larger scale open discussions, the ability to have every participant in a class to be content producers/consumers/collaborators, etc… Technology is important.

But it is not separate. Viewing it as a separate thing – eLearning/mLearning/whateverLearning – leaves it disjointed and fractured. A class has to shift gears to somehow begin dealing with the “technology section” of a lesson, before returning to the “real” learning. Focusing on “eLearning” pushes the incredible stuff that technology can do into some form of electronic/abstract ghetto.

My team at the Teaching & Learning Centre is often called in to various teaching programmes to provide a “technology session” – we do it grudgingly, knowing that the hour (or two) we’re given out of a week-long programme is likely the only real non-superficial integration of technology and discussion of pedagogy and implications. The “technology session” underscores the “e” in eLearning. The “e” as a separate thing that can be bolted on. A separate thing that is less important than the “real” learning that happens without the “e”.

I understand that “eLearning” is used as a shorthand, much like “Web 2.0” is a shorthand for a constellation of properties and attributes rather than anything concrete. But, we need to stop treating technology as a separate thing, as something in addition to conventional teaching and learning.

Effective learning requires seamless application of appropriate technologies – or the lack thereof – and when this is done, the distinctions and segregation disappear. It’s just learning.

Participation and Competence

Brian just linked to a great description of how blogging can affect reading and writing in the classroom. The blog he linked to is one I hadn’t come across in my travels, so I’m dutifully subscribing. Some good thinking about this stuff in Konrad’s blog.

What hit me in this post was the simple and clear demonstration of the power of an online community of practice to support the “real” physical face-to-face community. In Konrad’s case, it changed his perception of “reading” his student’s work – it became a participatory experience – more of a conversation or dialog than a fire-and-forget writing exercise. That, through blogging (or more appropriately, through participation in a dynamic community of practice), his evaluation of students shifted to become somewhat more holistic. Less brute-force “marking” of writing, to more of a comprehensive assessment of competence.

That’s when it occurred to me that I have stopped “marking” or “correcting” and started reading. I do not mean that my students are no longer evaluated, that they no longer receive grades. They do. But my approach has changed dramatically. It’s taken over a year but I have become a teacher-blogger and I am recording this change because it is crucial to my thesis and my professional development.

I have become a teacher who reads, who looks forward to reading, who comments on student entries and can’t wait to see the responses, who can’t wait to see where the conversation takes us. I have become a teacher who sees my students as writers, as people with voices who can contribute to and initiate insightful conversations.

That is such a powerful shift, and shows some of the real benefits that this blogging stuff can provide if applied appropriately.

I’m looking forward to reading through Konrad’s blog, and his stuff on connectivism, etc…

Brian just linked to a great description of how blogging can affect reading and writing in the classroom. The blog he linked to is one I hadn’t come across in my travels, so I’m dutifully subscribing. Some good thinking about this stuff in Konrad’s blog.

What hit me in this post was the simple and clear demonstration of the power of an online community of practice to support the “real” physical face-to-face community. In Konrad’s case, it changed his perception of “reading” his student’s work – it became a participatory experience – more of a conversation or dialog than a fire-and-forget writing exercise. That, through blogging (or more appropriately, through participation in a dynamic community of practice), his evaluation of students shifted to become somewhat more holistic. Less brute-force “marking” of writing, to more of a comprehensive assessment of competence.

That’s when it occurred to me that I have stopped “marking” or “correcting” and started reading. I do not mean that my students are no longer evaluated, that they no longer receive grades. They do. But my approach has changed dramatically. It’s taken over a year but I have become a teacher-blogger and I am recording this change because it is crucial to my thesis and my professional development.

I have become a teacher who reads, who looks forward to reading, who comments on student entries and can’t wait to see the responses, who can’t wait to see where the conversation takes us. I have become a teacher who sees my students as writers, as people with voices who can contribute to and initiate insightful conversations.

That is such a powerful shift, and shows some of the real benefits that this blogging stuff can provide if applied appropriately.

I’m looking forward to reading through Konrad’s blog, and his stuff on connectivism, etc…