Last Updated on May 22, 2023
eLearning and Teaching so what do you think?
I was invited by Carol Stephen to participate in her Twitter #DigiBlogChat on Tuesday, September 7th. Pretty exciting! It’s the first time I’ve done this. The topic was eLearning and Teaching with questions by yours truly!
More information about the event can be found on Carol’s website: https://yoursocialmediaworks.com/digiblogchat-question-september-7-2021
Carol’s partner for these chats is @LazBlazter. If you want to know how to participate, click here: How to Join #DigiBlogChat. If you are interested in hosting your own TwitterChat, Sprout Social has you covered with a great post.
A lot of my time is spent teaching, and, probably just like you – learning! Like many of you, much of my work was also moved online due to COVID. And I’ve even written a couple of posts on the subject! The third book in my Online Marketing series with Bridget Willard will be coming out in December, and you can bet there will be a chapter about eLearning there as well, right? Right! The third book is an online marketing guide for schools.
So. eLearning and Teaching. What do you think? Has the last two years been a change for the better or the worse, or somewhere in the middle? I enjoy not having to commute. It gives me extra time and saves me money. However, I really miss being able to help students in the classroom. I also miss moving about! What about you? Teacher or student? How has it been for you? Let’s talk about it and see where it’s going! See you then!
eLearning and Teaching Questions #DigiBlogChat Sept. 7, 2021
Q1 What do we mean by eLearning? What has your experience been?
A1 Electronic learning. I remember learning Mandarin Chinese via cassette tapes. :o) I helped develop MOOCs years ago, but I’ve been both an online teacher and an online student since 2013. #DigiBlogChat
Q2 What has changed in learning via the internet during the past 5-6 years?
A2 Everything. You can learn so much for free! The biggest change has been in the last two years. I don’t think eLearning was meant to be 6 hours a day every day like it has become in many instances. It was never meant to replace in-class learning. #DigiBlogChat
Q3 For better or for worse, we’re all learning online. How much of eLearning has been a result of innovation? How much has been a result of necessity?
A3 Tech has given us tools to become content generators. This has been great! COVID showed us we can do a lot from home, but that is a privilege for many of us. Working or learning. I don’t know why so often it takes an emergency to motivate us. #DigiBlogChat
Q4 For those of you who’ve been students, which classes have you taken? For instance, have you used Udemy? Coursera? EdEx? Harvard? Google?
A4 I have taken courses on every major platform – and got my kids onto Tynker. Mostly classes for work. I began the Google career course for SysAdmin – oddly enough I had to stop due to technical difficulties with the program and my laptop :o) #DigiBlogChat
Q5 Which technology have you really enjoyed? For instance… Zoom? What could be improved?
A5 I use Zoom pretty much daily. I don’t like Big Blue Button very much. For me, there is no replacement for the flipchart and the whiteboard in a real classroom though! Even the virtual ones offered. #DigiBlogChat
Q6 There are thousands of free courses offered online. Which have you taken advantage of and why? How did you decide to take those courses?
A6 Very often price is a factor. Actually most always. Once I took a five-course management program over five months. That was a big expense, but it was important at the time. #DigiBlogChat
Q7 For those of you teaching online, what has been your experience in creating online courses?
A7 Teaching online is so much more difficult and time-consuming than in-class I find. So many slides! The need to keep the attention of online students is so much greater than in-class. That said there are so many free tools too. Canva to name just one! #DigiBlogChat
Q8 How does online learning become an equalizer—helping us to improve or close the gap between different groups of people? (For example seniors, differently-abled, or people without access to traditional resources.)
A8 If people have the devices, the space, and internet access, eLearning brings knowledge and skills into everyone’s lives. This is a potential big win for everyone! I wonder how lives might have been changed had we this tech fifty years ago? #DigiBlogChat
Q9 How might eLearning actually reinforce existing divides?
A9 3 kids learning in an apartment but with no wifi. This reinforces the haves and the have nots. It reminds me of the time when children had to stop learning in order to begin working. Education is a right, but in many respects also still a privilege. #DigiBlogChat
Q10 In an ideal world, where could eLearning take us in the future? Where would we like it to take us?
A10 Certainly, the opportunities for eLearning are huge. From anywhere, for anyone, at any time. We already have the tech to allow us to stamp out hunger but people are still starving in many places. eLearning has the opportunity to be a great leveler. #DigiBlogChat
“You can learn so much for free,” Laine-Naida said. “The biggest change has been in the last two years. I don’t think e-learning was meant to be six hours a day like it has become in many instances. It was never meant to replace in-class learning. Demand has changed.”
E-Learning Helps Students Who Are Able to Take Advantage
Lack of resources builds barriers to the promises of technology
A wrapup of the evening’s chat by Jim Katzaman
With thanks for the post image to freepik! Technology photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
Further Reading
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/what-is-college-without-the-campus.html
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/scott-galloway-future-of-college.html
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/crisis-higher-education-needs-have
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/16/schools-internet-inequality-coronavirus/
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/just-give-distance-learning/610222/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/new-approaches-education-changing-society/