Assessment Task 1 - Reflections on Profile Wiki; Learning Theory Wiki; Mobile Wiki

Reflection on Profile Wiki.

As I reflect on the profile wiki I realise that it was a base or foundation to the scaffold of my learning process and analysis in wiki’s to come. 

The profile wiki enabled me as a learner to connect with others, a community of learners that are doing predominately the course online.  Usually in many online courses learners could be or may feel somewhat isolated in their learning journey, but through the wiki activities that was not the case.

The experience of setting up a wiki profile for the first time and being able to see other profiles was a good experience as I could relate to a lot of people, either through their interests, thoughts on studying and so forth. It set up a learning support network through that connection. For example, those who had been out of study for such a long time to be than anxious about the work ahead was not an isolated feeling therefore synthesizing, relating and connecting became a part of the learning journey.

This than starts the platform to ‘Relate’ - Kearsky G, Shreiderman B - Learning Engagement Theory Framework (Version 4/5/99) that  “Engagement theory is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom. These three components, summarized by Relate-Create-Donate, imply that learning activities:

1. occur in a group context (i.e., collaborative teams) = Relate
2. are project-based = Create
3. have an outside (authentic) focus = Donate”

To add to that connection to others through the wiki we participated in learning styles and multiple questionnaire by, R Felder and B Solomon - Felder and Solomon online questionnaire, and an online multiple intelligence test that was that contributed to the profile wiki question of, what type of learning styles one identifies with and saw a range of different styles. 

These activities informed me of what type learner I am and made me reflect on own experiences and how I would get to know my learners and teach using a range of approaches that will incorporate a range of styles.

Finding a partner through the wiki profile I found a bit difficult to match at first and a bit uncomfortable about doing so. Eventually there were some people that I connected with. It was a good experience in itself to realize that you all are on the same learning journey there is nothing to be fearful of. I also really wanted to experience this to grasp its learning that I could relate to future learners.

Reflection on learning theories:

I enjoyed the learning theories activity.  Given the limited timeframe to congest the theory and respond to the activity, it was scaffolded in a way that we could analyse the theories presented by looking at the wikis that other people responded and contributed to.

I chose constructivism because I really want to be working in this realm and I relate to it in my own learning experiences.  Participating in the Plusses, Minuses and Interest (PMI) was a good exercise to identify all areas of theory and take an analytical approach.

My findings in collaboration with another student were as posted in my blog: http://myictassignment.blogspot.com/2011/03/learning-theories.html

To at least grasp or take in all learning theories in such a short timeframe and really have a more ‘meaningful’ learning experience in this wiki was achievable through everyone’s input in the wiki. I could view the PMI’s of Behaviourism, Connectivism, 21^st Century Learners and more.  This was a constructive approach as I could relate the theory to real life situations through the examples and contributions that people wrote. It made the learning more meaningful and relevant to me, than as if I was to just read it and reflect my own interpretations it would have been very limited thinking.  This is indeed was what Constructivist, L.Vygotsky is informing us that so much can be achieved when there is social interaction than when someone tries to do it him or herself. He also stresses the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition (Vygotsky, 1978, Wertch, 1985) as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of “making meaning.”

This wiki has the Learning Engagement Theory all over it; it’s relative – a group context, it’s creative – focuses on efforts and application of ideas and it donates – contributes to a public forum for the use and view of others.

It also requires higher order thinking where analysing the value of ideas, theory, materials and methods and debating in essence (presenting arguments – PMI) and evaluating the learning.

This wiki helped me critique, investigate, compare, check and classify.  I critiqued the content by analyzing the theory and relating it to real life situations. I investigated its authenticity by relating it to experiences of practice, compared it to other postings to assess whether others interpreted what I did or offer other ways of thinking and checked it according to the learning theories that informed it.

Collaborating, connecting and formulating real life context to the theory it made me understand its process and how effective it is in retaining knowledge and relating it to own circumstances and experience to make it meaningful and real. That was my experience anyway, whether that has to do with my learning style or what, I always tend to look how relevant the information is to real life and its application. Therefore, not only was Blooms Taxonmy of Learning very evident, it also had connectivism and constructivism throughout.

Another learning theory activity that really informed me as a learner was Marc Prensky’s Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. This really engaged me and I related to it on so many levels of being the “Digital Immigrant.” My thoughts are posted in my blog as well http://myictassignment.blogspot.com/2011/03/digital-immigrants-digital-natives.html. It was an insight to think about when designing eLearning and using ICT’s for 21^st Century learners.

Mobile Phones Wiki:

Through the mobile phone wiki using De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats ( Black Hat = Negative, Blue Hat = Process, Green Hat = Creative, Red Hat = Intuitive, Yellow Hat = Positive, White Hat = Objective) approach to the use of mobile phones in the classroom gave me a new insight to my own thinking and experiences. How my own experiences quite often influence my contribution, rather than coming from an analytical perspective or from what “thinking hat” am I thinking from?

It allowed me to draw out of all the different perceptions a more grounded understanding of the subject that would than influence my opinion and perception on a decision or argument. 

Using this type of approach in a wiki was so beneficial for my own learning and will be a great tool to use for my learners. Through collaborative thinking and perceptions it rules out narrow-minded thinking, it’s inclusive of all perceptions and becomes a very creative realm to base one’s argument. It develops learning and promotes thinking beyond own understandings and encourages research to base reflections on.

This activity encourages ‘higher order thinking’ as Blooms Taxonomy of Learning classifies and ‘extending and refining knowledge,’ ‘using knowledge meaningful,’ and ‘habits of mind,’ Dimension 3, 4 and 5 of Dimensions of Learning by Robert J. Marzano and Debra J Pickering.  It also has constructivism, connectivism and cognitive learning present as we the learners are constructing learning and ideas in an on-line social/collaborative setting, we are making connection with our perceptions to learning theory and we are reflecting on own thinking processes.