Good morning! (Pacific Standard Time)! A few hours from now, we’ll be into Episode 4! We have every expectation that the tech will work… *
*Famous last words
Assuming that everything went the way it was supposed to, all you should need to do is click below to view and/or listen…
Matt’s notes
At this point, Matt has the maximum internet speed for his area, and the maximum computing power available from a new desktop that runs almost no programs besides web browsers, Camtasia, and Microsoft Office…
As such, from a tech standpoint, this episode is representative of our best possible efforts… within the current platform… and as mentioned during the video, this means that the next episode will for certain be attempted on Zencastr.
Anecdotally, Matt loves having the power of a desktop computer…. and the faster internet…
He had a bunch of things to say, and totally meant to add to the resources section… but… there was a lot going on this week, basically…
If you are interested in checking out the current state of these Gigantic Open Online Programs (GOOP’s) you could do worse than to check the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL), where since September, 2017… when Matt defended his doctoral thesis on these courses…. there have been more than 70 academic, peer-reviewed articles published with that term in the title… which may speak to the (surprising?) longevity and viability of that format..
Matt would also mention that if you are interested in looking at the field of ed tech and e-learning… both historically and holistically… it would be helpful to know about GOOP’s… inasmuch as at their peak, they engaged hundreds of thousands of learners… who would otherwise be pursuing learning in other formats… or not pursuing learning at all… there is a lot to be said, and a great need… for wider public awareness and engagement with the e-learning and ed tech fields generally… furthermore, despite much justified criticism… connectivism remains a fascinating pedagogical approach and/or concept of learning vis-à-vis the Internet, depending on where you want to go with it… which has produced much valuable practice and scholarship… whether it has any long-term longevity… is an open question.
Matt would like it known that, in addition to being descriptive of certain e-learning formats, Gigantic is also a brilliant single from the Pixies’ genius LP Surfer Rosa (1987).
Doug’s notes
“MOOCs and nontraditional avenues of learning”
How did we end up with what we call “traditional”? Why do so many “traditional” educational offerings not support so much of the population? Why is alternative only for outliers and people who can’t fit into “traditional” mainstream offerings?
NSAC 1913 Short Courses for people who can’t come for the whole semester.
Adjusting educational offerings to make schooling more available for everyone.
The identified benefits demonstrated that adopting self-learning and social media teaching methods helps learners manage their learning pace, and the gamification and case study methods improve students’ planning and problem-solving abilities. The social media and gamification methods also enhance the creativity of learners. It was also concluded that the implementation of the flipped classroom, gamification, and self-learning methods improve students’ intrinsic motivation and that the adoption of the social media method segues into lifelong learning and promotes creativity
Safapour, E., Kermanshachi, S., & Taneja, P. (2019). A review of nontraditional teaching methods: Flipped classroom, gamification, case study, self-learning, and social media. Education Sciences, 9(4), 273.
Mainstream and alternative schools exist at different points along a continuum between innovation and prescription, with limited opportunity for curricular cross-fertilization. While it seems unfortunate that alternative school innovations are rarely, if ever, taken up by other schools (Te Riele, 2007), transforming structural aspects of schooling takes more than good intentions. In the meantime and conversely, loose coupling serves to enable innovation within alternative school bounds.
Bascia, N., & Maton, R. (2019). Teachers’ work and innovation in alternative schools. In Alternative Educational Programmes, Schools and Social Justice (pp. 131-142). Routledge.
A major problem with many projects for marginalised youth is that, even when the outcomes from these programs are valuable to the young people and/or to society, they rarely lead to any recognised qualification. In the context of both realities and rhetoric about the knowledge economy, such credentials are increasingly important for employment and further study as well as for personal well-being
Riele, K. T. (2007). Educational alternatives for marginalised youth. The Australian Educational Researcher, 34(3), 53-68.
Alternative educational opportunities don’t have to be just when everything else does not work.
Additional images, representations, and metaphors can be found in the gallery below…
Look Ma, we’re using H5P!!
Thank you for taking the time to check out EnT! We look forward to seeing you again quite soon!
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