At the end of the design course, I can think of many topics that have caught my attention and caused much pondering. However, the most prominent is connectivism and how this new educational stategy affects culturally diverse course design.
Connectivism is a method of teaching that utilizes the e-learning environment to connect students to content, each other and their teacher. Inclusive course design utilizes all three methods of connecting the student and does so with respect and maintenance of differences and diversity among students and the teacher.
When I watched the You Tube about connectivism, I was excited and could see many possibilities. The networked student seemed to have access to it all! I still agree that connectivism is the key to a successful course design. However, it is possible that there are a couple of exceptions to the rule of connectivism. As I have been designing a course for people in Singapore, one problem that I have is that many sources and resources that I wish to connect my course participants too are American in origin. This poses an interesting problem. Google scholar and various other search engines can be configured to local resources or they default to USA sources. For myself, this is useful as I teach in both countries and I can direct American students to American resources and Australian students to Australian resources and cross germinate with these similar countries as students easily relate to literature from either country.
However, when locating resources for my Singapore course, I became acutely aware that I was locating mainly American resources, definitions and sites. I am not sure how this will be perceived and even whether it will be relevant to an Asian culture. Connecting students to local resources is not possible from Australia as I can’t configure to their locale. Language poses a bit of a problem as I am not sure how and what to connect my students too. I have read several resources about international education and the idea of an open world university as described in Atkinsons Presidential address at Nagasaki University in Japan in 2001. This address discusses the changing competitiveness of universities as information is becoming so easily accessible whether one pays fees or not and resides in the country or not. But what is also obvious when ones steps in the shoes of people from smaller nations, is that that education and information is dominated by those producing the information.
Ultimately, how students react will only be known in their responses and posts on the discussion boards and in assignments. Setting tasks that direct students to locate and present local resources will be an education for me as well. Those resources can then be built into future runnings of the course. This next step will place the course design closer to connectivism as I will be able to connect students to their own meaningful culturally relevant resources as well as those that may contrast with their perspective.
An important role that I must play is one of a culturally competent tutor who honours and respects all view points and maintains a safe environment to let students express what they really think and have learned about resources that I post. Student’s interactions with each other will be easy for participants, as they are likely to hold the same or similar attitudes and opinions. As the minority, even though I am the tutor, I must understand and access the group of students by consciously leaving pre-conceived ideas at my office door. After this course has finished I will have more knowledge about how connectivism works within international e-learning courses.
References:
However, when locating resources for my Singapore course, I became acutely aware that I was locating mainly American resources, definitions and sites. I am not sure how this will be perceived and even whether it will be relevant to an Asian culture. Connecting students to local resources is not possible from Australia as I can’t configure to their locale. Language poses a bit of a problem as I am not sure how and what to connect my students too. I have read several resources about international education and the idea of an open world university as described in Atkinsons Presidential address at Nagasaki University in Japan in 2001. This address discusses the changing competitiveness of universities as information is becoming so easily accessible whether one pays fees or not and resides in the country or not. But what is also obvious when ones steps in the shoes of people from smaller nations, is that that education and information is dominated by those producing the information.
Ultimately, how students react will only be known in their responses and posts on the discussion boards and in assignments. Setting tasks that direct students to locate and present local resources will be an education for me as well. Those resources can then be built into future runnings of the course. This next step will place the course design closer to connectivism as I will be able to connect students to their own meaningful culturally relevant resources as well as those that may contrast with their perspective.
An important role that I must play is one of a culturally competent tutor who honours and respects all view points and maintains a safe environment to let students express what they really think and have learned about resources that I post. Student’s interactions with each other will be easy for participants, as they are likely to hold the same or similar attitudes and opinions. As the minority, even though I am the tutor, I must understand and access the group of students by consciously leaving pre-conceived ideas at my office door. After this course has finished I will have more knowledge about how connectivism works within international e-learning courses.
References:
Atkinson, R.(2001) Presidential Address: The globalization of the university. Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies, Japan, May 26, 2001. Retrieved March 20, 2009 from http://www.ucop.edu/pres/speeches/japanspc.htm
Germain-Rutherford, A., Kerr, B., (2008) An Inclusive Approach to online learning environments: Models and Resources. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 64-85.
Germain-Rutherford, A., Kerr, B., (2008) An Inclusive Approach to online learning environments: Models and Resources. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 64-85.
Morse, K. (2003) Does one size fit all? Exploring asynchronous learning in a multicultural environment. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(1), 37-55.
Saskatchewan Learning Resources. (2005) Chapter 2: Instructional models, strategies methods and skills, and Chapter 4: Making instructional choices. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/sitemap/index.shtml
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