BlackBoard
Papamitsiou conducted a systematic literature review of empirical evidence from experimental case studies conducted between 2008 and 2013. In the area of self-reflection and self-awareness, “the authors examined the impact of visualized provision of useful information to social learners regarding their participation and social interactions (Papamitsiou, 2014, p. 55). The empirical evidence does not lead to instructional frameworks for social learning as yet, but there are indications that social learning could be a viable pedagogy for instructional practices.
In view of the overtures from the literature, I have decided to re-design a learning activity to promote learning through social interaction. In my Blackboard course, I had students work in a wiki to evaluate a heuristic process of invention in creative writing. In the original activity, the students were to use a Metatheory by Janice Lauer to evaluate heuristic methods of invention. Collaborative group work is considered to be a “best practice”. In group work, students work together to re-construct and co-construct knowledge. This interaction can also take place in a social setting. Instead of having students work together in a wikispace, I will create a Facebook group. This will be a “secret” group. A secret Facebook group is not searchable, so that, only the members know of its existence. In this “safe” environment, students can upload files of their work to share with the other members of the group. Chats can be initiated by the instructor to discuss the similarities and differences of each student’s interpretation and application of the evaluation using the Metatheory. Instead of having the students reach consensus on the heuristic method that they decide meets the criterion of the Metatheory, I will have each student present their own evaluation of the heuristic methods of invention using the Metatheory as a criterion for evaluation. In the Facebook group I can upload files of the heuristic methods to evaluate as well as the Metatheory by Janice Lauer that they will use to evaluate the heuristic methods. I can initiate chats at any time after the assignment has been given until the time the students present their work. It can be an ongoing discussion throughout the learning interval. This is a more authentic means of discussing than the formal discussion post where students choose two or three students with which to communicate. In the Facebook group, the whole class can discuss openly with each other or with individuals. The social networking site is more akin to natural interaction than the contrived Discussion Forums of learning management systems.
MALT Re-Design Activity Related to Learning & Leadership with Technology
Pentland brings up an interesting point that “[t]here needs to be a dialogue between our human intuition and the Big Data statistics, and that's not something that's built into most of our management systems today” (Edge, 2012, p. 1). He shares how this new way of seeing cultural interactions does not fit traditional scientific inquiry. Much of the decisions about the meaning of data are outside traditional methods of scientific inquiry. He suggests that we must “come up with new ways to test the causality of connections in the real world” (Edge, 2012, p. 1). In other words, good teachers have to trust their intuition about what is best for their students in digital learning environments. He goes on to say that “[w]e can no longer rely on laboratory experiments; we need to actually do the experiments in the real world” (Edge, 2012, p. 1). Educators will need to rely on action research to determine which instructional activities work in digital learning environments until researchers can analyze educational data and create pedagogical methods based on empirical research.
References
Edge (2012, September 9). Reinventing society in the wake of big data. Retrieved from Edge: http://www.edge.org/conversation/reinventing-society-in-the- wake-of-big-data
Papamitsiou, Z., & Economides, A. A. (2014). Learning analytics and educational data mining in practice: A systematic literature review of empirical evidence.Educational Technology & Society, 17(4), 49-64.
Reyes, J. A. (2015). The skinny on big data in education: Learning analytics simplified.TechTrends, 59(2), 75-80.
The following videos are examples from a course I created in Coursesites by BlackBoard as part of my internship during my coursework for my master's degree in Teaching & Learning with Technology. There are three parts. Click on the image to access the video.
