Learning experience via leading a Skype chat: Mostly I learned that with adult learners, little if any control is needed from a facilitator. Actually, NO control is necessary. It is great to be in class with adults. I wonder how different it would be to lead an online chat with young students, say freshmen, or high school students.
I learned that a thorough understanding of the technology would greatly benefit the process :) People get frustrated when too much time is spent trying to deal with tech problems. I sure get frustrated by that myself.
I learned a lot about skype, and I will experience the web ct chatroom this week, which is what I used a few years ago. I can then make a comparison.
Finally, synchronous online communication is acutally making me appreciate asynchronous communication....Both are essential. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. What is great about online ed is that you can have both!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Role of Education in Social Change
This morning my mind is filled with these thoughts. There are currently 35 wars being waged on the planet. My country is aggressively involved in all of them, to the tune of trillions of dollars. Every day 50,000 children die of starvation. Iraqui's, when asked by a delegation of non-violent activists who met with Iraqui leaders and civilians what we could do to promote democracy in their country, said "Stop killing us". More than a million Iraqui's have been killed in the name of bringing democracy to them.
If education does not result in social change, what good is it? If students do not understand themselves and society and the world at a deeper level than when they undertook their studies, what value is there? Regardless of the area of study, the world self-destructs without the opposing constructive force, waged, if you will, by the educated privileged.
Online education has the potential to offer this privilege to people who otherwise would never have afforded it - people whose destiny it may be to be great peace makers or great educators, or whatever fulfillment their life path describes. Online education is one of the most powerful tools on the planet!
So....I must learn these lessons of fostering online learning community, and course design, always with this in mind, that the responsibility for delivering education includes the responsiblity to remember who those students are and where and in what circumstances they live, and to ask them what they need and want to learn, and to listen to them - to give them the opportunity to participate at a deep level in the design and development of their course of learning.
This is just a log of thoughts, put down rather spontaneously and passionately. I welcome discussion around them.
If education does not result in social change, what good is it? If students do not understand themselves and society and the world at a deeper level than when they undertook their studies, what value is there? Regardless of the area of study, the world self-destructs without the opposing constructive force, waged, if you will, by the educated privileged.
Online education has the potential to offer this privilege to people who otherwise would never have afforded it - people whose destiny it may be to be great peace makers or great educators, or whatever fulfillment their life path describes. Online education is one of the most powerful tools on the planet!
So....I must learn these lessons of fostering online learning community, and course design, always with this in mind, that the responsibility for delivering education includes the responsiblity to remember who those students are and where and in what circumstances they live, and to ask them what they need and want to learn, and to listen to them - to give them the opportunity to participate at a deep level in the design and development of their course of learning.
This is just a log of thoughts, put down rather spontaneously and passionately. I welcome discussion around them.
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