Following on from the limitations of traditional theories, the author emphasizes the immediacy and ability to re-evaluate the worthiness of learning, its synthesis, and recognition of connections and patterns.  Connection making becomes one of the vital and crucial skills in the digital age. Connectivism states that the meaning-making tasks and forming connections between specialized communities can foster understanding.  The article emphasizes the role of the networks, small worlds and weak ties as the way of creating an integrated whole. According to connectivism, knowledge resides outside of the individual (within the organization or a database) and connects special information sets. Moreover, the ability to acquire new information is more important than the current state of knowing. 

Connectivism is summed up in the statement “the pipe is more important than the content within the pipe”.  The pipe is the metaphor for the network of created nods, and the content is new knowledge, which needs to be actuated at the point of applying it to the real life.

 

It suggests that suggested that social presence is core to the teaching and cognitive presence discourse. 

The research posits that participants’ online exchanges differ from the previously suggested by Garrison et al (2000) patterns of correlation between cognitive, social and teaching presences. The social presence became bigger and more permeant than the original CoI framework suggests. Three new patterns are identified as the result of analysis:

·      Pattern 1: the teaching becomes social (TP encompassed a clear social component which did not fit the original CoI framework).   Contribution of the purely social nature should be accounted for within the teaching presence dimension. Thus an explicit social dimension within the construct should be included in the teaching presence discourse. The social elements within the teaching discourse are prevalent and significant. 

·      Pattern 2: the cognitive becomes social: The division between social and cognitive discourse were diffused, the social element overlap most layers of cognitive presence.  The social and cognitive dimensions are not easy to separate from one another.

·      Pattern 3: the social remains social:  Social presence does not initiate the upheaval of the cognitive presence on its own.  There is no direct correlation between the opportunity to express one’s social presence and amplification of online participation. It also doesn’t generate enhanced cognition among participants per se. 

In conclusion, social presence becomes the central momentum of the online learning experience. An overlap of three initial constructs (social, cognitive, teaching presence) brings in the novelty to the suggested CoI framework by Garrison (2000).  The new approach emphasizes the process of teaching and cognitive presence becoming social and indicates the engagement of 3 aforementioned constructs with each other. 

 

 

 

The nuanced qualitative analysis of the faculty members’ responses allowed generalizing 10 categories signalling about the barriers towards implementation of OER and stimuli to hurdle those barriers. Additionally, the interdependence of the OER future with individual perception of faculty members is emphasized.  

It has been revealed that the majority of faculty and students found the OER be satisfactory and favourably rated. Nonetheless, the necessity of central repositories, need for further clarifying information, time-consuming process of reviewing new resources, lack of discoverability, insufficiency to some modules and subjects, misconception about the nature of OER (confusing it with digital resources), and perception of OER as inferior to traditional sources are reported to be amidst the main arguments against adaptation of OER.  At the same time, the study yields several generally positive perceptions advocating for OER. Namely, the student cost benefits pedagogical benefits and benefits on the institutional level. It is believed that OER entrenchment aids of course load reduction, assists to the curricular research and meets the support from the library members, as monetary compensation for revision and adaptation may be seen as a positive incentive. Cost and pedagogical benefits are believed to be the main motivators for the faculty to reconsider OER.

Belikov, O.Μ and Bodily, R. (2016). Incentives and Barriers to OER Adoption: A Qualitative Analysis of Faculty Perceptions. Open Praxis, 8(3), 235-246.

 

 

I attach my concise presentation on Connectivism. I have really enjoyed the process of making it and happy to add another skill to my toolkit.

Bearing in mind the financial aspect of MOOCs, it is important to evaluate the potential impact of MOOCs for higher education institutions and learners. Furthermore, it is crucial to understand how to elaborate strategies enabling adaptation and integration of new technologies into existing practices. It should be noted that the role of those technologies is meant to be supplemental rather than dominant and disruptive. 

 Despite the fact that MOOCs are relatively new and optional, they should not be ignored and underestimated. Researches on the structure and course design could help to change the attitude and strategies concerning MOOCs. This could help to improve the ways for learners to deal with courses, increase faculty engagement and blend distance learning into the traditional practice of the higher institutions. Those actions may allow diminishing the threat of academic devaluation and knowledge quality decrease, preserving the promise of global accessibility and democratization of education.

 

Coursera is a large library of MOOCs, some of which have material freely licensed for re-use. The variety of courses in a different field are offered with possibilities of certification and specialization. 

 

 EdX is a library of college-level courses from a variety of high-profile universities. Some course materials are freely licensed for reuse.

 

Powtoon is free online software allowing creating animated videos & presentations. It can be used for work, educational and personal purposes. It's easy to use, and can be customized in accordance with needs and preferences of the user. Diverse templates, voice support, and dynamic presentation enable grabbing the attention of the viewers. 

 

Prezi is free online software enabling to create the alternative power point, which allows creating non-linear presentations. It's dynamic, easy to create and visually appealing. Functions of zooming create another dimension of presenting information. 

 

Wisemapping is a free online editor for mind maps and brainstorming.  Mind maps aid to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas. Presenting ideas in a radial, graphical, non-linear manner promotes brainstorming approach to planning and organizing tasks. It gives a way to create a more diverse, intuitive connections between the concepts, which in its turn allow enhancing thinking and reasoning. 

 

 

Audacity is a free powerful source for multi-track recording and editing. It allows creating podcasts of high quality for free.

 

TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a nonprofit global community for spreading powerful ideas by the inspirational individuals. The topics and approaches to the presentation are diverse.

Padlet is easy, convenient and intuitive software for maintaining and sharing information. It is very inclusive, collaborative and flexible. It gives a lot of opportunities of customizing but very simple at the same time. It’s simple, but yet efficient.

Coming from the belief that learning should be consistent, coherent and multi-dimensional I understand how important it is to continue learning even if you are out of the class. This allows implying and reinforcing all the knowledge into one’s life, and that’s essential. 

What I have noticed about myself is that I like learning process and tools to be sustainable and diverse. And I like to control and self-regulate my learning.

As an example, I use various apps, web and printed sources to enhance my French. 

Using Anki (application for memorizing via flashcards) while being in my bed in the morning, I listen to the podcast on the relevant topic in French while having my breakfast or walking to the university, I sue Memrise and Lingvista apps on the bus, read the French magazines during my spare time and indulge myself with a French movie with sub-titles from time to time. This all is accompanied with by taking classes from online language school (Lingoda). At first side, it might seem to be not serious, not academic and more of the hobby thing. But in reality, it is a complex learning, packed, tailored and embedded into my daily life. That means this new knowledge and information I get is immediate, relevant and reinforced. Moreover, it is elaborated by myself and is indicative of the self-motivation and self-regulation skills. That is my perception and realization of the seamless learning. 

But if we come back to the concept of “Ubiquitous and Seamless learning” I have mixed feelings when it comes the thought about some program, software or mechanism, which could observe, analyze me and pop in the learning materials and tasks for me. I still strongly believe that all the technologies should be controlled by the humans but not vice versa. And I would like to know who is responsible for my learning. Technologies lack the emotional component, and they may even detach and reduce the connection and presence between the humans. 

Another concern arises when I think of the development of the deep-learning skills and critical thinking. In my opinion mosaic thinking, skimming and skipping from one subject to another became another side of modern reality Overall I do not have the negative feeling about the usage of scientific achievement to upgrade and enhance one’s existence. Moreover, I would really like to experience ubiquitous and seamless learning, but I am sure that it should be mindful, realized and reflected on. 

 

“No two learners are alike”. This mantra should be repeated by the educator until it becomes a core belief. We as learners differ in so many ways: preferable learning styles, learning needs, previous experiences, cultural, social and economic backgrounds, personal and communicational skills. The list goes on. 

Reflecting my personal experience within the last 1.5 of this Master Program I am doing, I have experienced myself as the other learner so many times. And I can assure that it had a negative effect on my learning and emotional well-being. The language proficiency was my main concern not only in the class but also in the other life situations. Sticking to the belief that I am not able to operate and communicate at the same high level as I can do it in my mother- tongue (Russian), I preferred to stay silent and lacking initiative in the class. I was postponing the task performance in fear of making a mistake or seem incompetent.  But in reality, none of my peers or professors have ever noticed or emphasized this aspect, based on which I was negatively othering myself. It took some time, observation and reflection to overcome this misperception. I have decided my language proficiency is a fringe concern, and it may not be ideal but it doesn’t determine my personality, my skills, and abilities. Change of the perception and attitudes allowed me to become more engaged with the content of the program, enhance my personal relations with my fears and actually enhancing my English day after day. This was my small personal struggle. 

Speaking of adult education, I think that indifferent educator should be aware of the diversity existing in every group and cohort. This diversity may not be very prominent; it cannot be instant, but most probably it’s there every time.      

Differences may lead to the marginalization of some individuals, passive-learning behaviors within the group, lack of motivation, psychological problems of low self-efficacy and self-esteem.

But not all the differences are negative though, and sometimes the diversity of the class should be used as the blessing, rather than a breaking element. It should be addressed and embraced properly. 

Those steps may be taken in order to make the learning process inclusive and equal for everyone. 

1) The fact of the group diversity should be noticed, analyzed and not ignored by the educator. 

2) The methods and instructions used by educator should be diverse, creative, engaging and giving different opportunities to reach every unique learner. 

3) The learning process should be inclusive and engaging, taking into consideration every participant.

4) Collaboration, pairing and a group work is a perfect way to boost interaction, share perspective and experiences.

5) Some learners should be provided with more time and space, in order to show that everyone matters.  

6) Variety of options to perform and engage should be offered by the educator, educator should be open. 

7) Constant monitoring and reflection is a helpful technique to adjust and enhance the learning environment.

“No two learners are alike”.

1)   Structure of the course. 

·      Student-oriented constructivist approach.

·      Problem-posing approach

·      Embracing the diversity and previous experiences of our group 

·      Learning portfolio – as a way to reflect and present the content

 

2)    Diversity 

·      Various sources,

·      Media,

·      Assignments

·      Tools

·      Creativity and different options for presenting the ideas 

 

3)   Reinforcement of the theoretical knowledge with praxis

·      Drawing the parallels between the theory and real status quo of this online course 

·      Implementation and elaboration of traditional learning theories in the online scenario

4)   Group engagement and interchange of opinions and expertise. 

·   Great forum discussions

 
5) Safe and supportive online learning environment, openness and flexibility of the educator

·      no geographical gap 

·      no feeling of detachments

·      educator was present 

·      educator provided clear guidance

·      educator facilitated the learning process

·      educator aided the elaboration of ideas

·      educator gave time and space to each learner to articulate their ideas

 

6) Novelty, digital literacy, and exposure to new web tools 

·      learning by doing

·      creativity, customized presentation

 

7) the feeling of being backstage of the online course production 

·      good example of the role of educator in the online setting

·      good example of building group engagement 

·      trigger of thoughts about my possible personal way of teaching online 

·      a way to comply with needs and opportunities of the present day, finding a niche in the adult education online