Kate Ropchan's
ePortfolio
My voyage to Master of Educational Technology
Crew
A boat trip isn’t nearly as easy to navigate or as much fun to experience without people to share it with. Similarly, “learning most naturally occurs not in isolation but by teams of people working together to solve problems” (Jonassen, 1999, p. 228). In fact, Vygotsky posited “social interaction as the necessary and primary cause of the ontological development of knowledge in the individual” (Glassman, 1994, p. 188). The collaborative process places emphasis on collective intelligence, rather than individual knowledge, giving students the opportunity to learn from their peers, rather than solely from their instructor. Intercultural exchanges become easily possible, where students may work collaboratively, first gathering and sharing information, and then discussing and analyzing issues. The opportunity for interaction allows students to build on each other's individual knowledge and "as participants communicate, interact, and collaborate, they access the knowledge, understanding, and skills distributed across the group to achieve results that would otherwise be difficult for an individual” (Khoo & Cowie, 2010, p. 48).
I had several opportunities to work with colleagues during the MET program, which helped to advance my understanding of course concepts and to broaden my perspectives on a variety of educational and social issues. On this page, I will reflect on some of my groups' projects such as my ETEC 510 multiliteracies website, ETEC 511 case study, and ETEC 532 framework for online learning Prezi. Looking back, I see how the process of working together with other students became much easier over time with practice and communication. I have immensely valued the opportunities for collaboration in my MET courses and have learned a great deal from the process that I plan to use in my own classroom.
21st century students are preparing for workplaces where "employees need to be able to think about and solve problems, work in teams, communicate, take initiative, and bring diverse perspectives to their work” (Reigeluth, 1999, p. 17). After taking the MET program, I see more than ever that collaboration is a key skill that all students need to develop. After all, “learning, both outside and inside school, advances through collaborative social interaction and the social construction of knowledge” (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989, p. 40). I now place greater value on distributed cognition by prioritizing group work in the classes that I teach because I have seen firsthand how the processes of co-participation, co-operative learning, and joint discovery can help students to collaboratively build upon their pre-existing knowledge.
Artifact: Multiliteracies Website
In the winter of 2013, I worked on my first MET group project in ETEC 510, where our task was to design a technology-supported learning environment informed by academic scholarship. After weeks of brainstorming, we decided upon the goal of providing Communications 12 students with a web-based module for the instruction and development of literacy and workplace skills. Our design featured accomodations designed for marginalized students and reluctant learners and we focused extensively on the concept of multiliteracies discussed by the New London Group (1996), which suggests that the dominant channels of communication and media are becoming much more diverse than language alone. Therefore, our design affords multiple ways for students to display their knowledge of the different metalanguages encountered within real-life workplace scenarios.
Working as part of a collaborative unit for the first time in my graduate education was both challenging and rewarding. Our five group members lived all across Canada and it was a learning experience to coordinate meetings around personal schedules and time zones. We each had unique backgrounds, perspectives, ideas, and strengths, which made it difficult to stay focused at times and create a unified goal. While we attempted to meet regularly and chat using Google Hangouts, I found that there were often misunderstandings that made the project take a lot longer than it should have. Additionally, we could have divided up tasks better to make use of our individual strengths rather than having every group member work on every part of the design.
Despite the difficulties we faced, I found the ETEC 510 design project an extremely rich learning experience with great personal and professional value. Participating in the design of an online course afforded me the opportunity to grow as an individual and to apply the various theories I was introduced to through the course readings. The process of working together as a group began to foster in me an understanding and appreciation of the benefits of collaborative learning and I especially enjoyed my first opportunity to engage with classmates in live conversation. The ideas generated and exploration of different perspectives regarding the direction for our design made for a better final project that is truly the result of a collaborative effort.
Artifact: Case Study
In ETEC 511, I worked on another group project where we were challenged to create a case study. Case-based reasoning means "using old experiences to understand and solve new problems” (Kolodner, 1992, p. 3). It is an excellent approach to learning, as it allows students to apply what they already know from previous similar situations to the new case being studied. Thus it is truly a constructivist approach, allowing students to build on their current knowledge as they are actively involved in the learning process. This interactive learning strategy shifts the emphasis from teacher-centered to student-centered activities. After all, “real education consists of the cumulative and unending acquisition, combination, and reordering of learning experiences” (Lundberg, 1993, p. 133). Active learning occurs as individuals study real-world scenarios rather than hypothetical situations, making the learning process more meaningful and applicable to students’ lives.
The case that we chose examines whether a remix or mashup is a form of copyright infringement or just creativity, drawing on relevant examples such as The Grey Album, a mashup by Danger Mouse. I enjoyed learning about the benefits of case-based learning, and implementing its use through this group project. Collectively, our group split up readings and presented significant amounts of research on the topic, using the Google Drive platform. While there are benefits of meeting face-to-face, as with Google Hangouts, it was very convenient to be able to work on the project asynchronously. I greatly expanded my knowledge of copyright issues by participating in this collaborative endeavour, and I began feeling more comfortable working in a group. Splitting tasks up based on each individual strengths, then recombining to edit each other's work was a successful strategy that I put to use in subsequent group projects, and one that I recommend to my own students when they work collectively.
Artifact: Framework for Online Learning Prezi
In ETEC 532, the class was divided into smaller discussion groups that worked together all week, then reported back to the larger class. I enjoyed this approach to collaborative knowledge-building as I felt that it allowed me to play a larger role among my peers. One task that we were assigned was to create a new visual framework to represent online learning. Our group collaborated on Connect's discussion forum to brainstorm our initial ideas and share relevant research, then we created a visual display using Prezi. We chose Prezi as our platform because it allows multiple users to add content at once, and there is a chat feature to communicate while doing so. It also allows the viewer to see a broad overview of our topic, then zoom in to see the details. In this case, a student is evident at the centre of the diagram, surrounded by a community of practice. Off to the side, the instructor acts as a facilitator and mentor, providing guidance as students work toward a common goal.
I enjoyed the opportunity to create an artifact that was more visual than text-based. This reminded me of the importance of multiliteracies (New London Group, 1996), and was a topic that came up repeatedly in this course on Technology in the Arts and Humanities (ETEC 532). Even though our framework wasn't assessed for marks, our group put a lot of effort into it because we saw the value in it and enjoyed the process. This was a learning experience for me about the importance of creating authentic, enjoyable activities that allow students to represent their knowledge collaboratively in innovative, creative ways.
