Topic 5. Course Reflection

"What are the most important things that you have learnt through your engagement in the ONL course? Why?" -Future Practice

I think that I have acquired a lot of good points on learning. In the beginning  of the ONL course I think that the biggest hurdles are to find your way into the first group meetings, and also how to transition from one set of communication strategies that we are used to into the communication strategy used by our PBL-group. From this, I learned two main things regarding how a digital literacy needs to be placed in a context in order to use it successfully.

• The first thing I learned was that we need to have a defined communication strategy in the beginning of any course. It should not only point to the new means of communication but also describe the expected interaction pattern in that communication channel (the context). I have previously included the communication strategy but not how and when my students should use it. For example: In the introduction email should state clearly that Google Plus is the new means of communication but also that the students should daily monitor their plus account for new posts and also check the comments. That way the students are not only receiving the new tool but also the context on how to use that tool successfully in the course. 
• The second thing I learned was that digital tools come with baggage in the form of how they are used to fulfill a goal. I call this the tools conventions This means that when a digital tool or platform is introduced in a course that the students have previously used, it does not mean they will be able to use it successfully in my course even if they have tool knowledge. 

The first topic on Digital Literacies was quite nice to reflect on how my digital personal sphere has gradually merged with my institutional work. David White does a good job explaining how to map yourself[1]. For example, my Skype account started in the personal continuum but has gradually been moved to only be used in my work.

Mapping myself on the Digital Visitor and Resident scale.

I have been quite open in my work as a teacher and for many years. But what I learned on openness was more on the importance of sharing responsibly. Something that I'm going to be a bit more careful about is share with a license (for example CC) so that my work is easier to use for others!

I shared some skills with my group

The most fun thing we did in the group was to work on collaboration topic! It was great fun to do some acting. But I have also learned that collaboration requires a lot more than to divide work amongst the members of the group. Acting is a great way to ensure cooperation! I hope to incorporate this in my tutoring soon!

Group 5's presentation on Topic 3. 

In topic four we designed a learning activity using ADDIE! This was also fun and at times quite confusing when it came to cooperating. Suddenly it felt like everyone had separate view on the topic, and it was very nice when we found our way and included a lot of different views. I especially liked reading and listening to the different models on how to design courses and content. I'm thinking of taking the opportunity to learn more about the five stage model from other groups work on the topic.

All in all, this was a fun course with an awesome group of fantastic people. 

Daniel

[1] White, David, 2011, Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. Online Available: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3171/3049