Pat Walsh

 Hopes, Fears & Expectations

Prior Learning, Motivation

 Teaching\-E-Learning Philosophy

                    "Education Is Not the Filling of a Pail, But the                                                                                                               Lighting of a Fire"

The above quote from W.B Yeats ties in with my own philosophy on education.
There is some debate as to whether this quote is attributed to Yeats of it he was paraphrasing another scholar namely Plutarch. Regardless of who wrote it I find it an appropriate metaphor when discussing educational philosophy and it resonates with my own views on education

“Filling of a Pail”

Reflecting back on my own school and college days I can identify with behaviourism methodology. Subject content was very much teacher driven with emphasis on repetition and practice. Information transfer was one way - from teacher to student. There was little or no emphasis on interaction, creativity or collaboration. Exam marks were acquired by simply memorising and regurgitating back what had been taught to me. This is not representative of all subjects I learned throughout my school or college days but in order to attempt to formulate my own teaching philosophy I feel it’s important to mention my own experiences as they naturally shaped my own view on education and particularly how I train people in software applications and systems.

Carlile & Jordon (2003) contend that behaviourism works best in the teaching and assessment of competencies when it is necessary to test and verify where the student possesses the requisite skill set. I find this in my own professional practice when training or demonstrating a new software application or technology device to a student or staff member. I create activities for the learners in order for them to build up knowledge of a software application and/or system.

 “Lighting the fire”

I view the role of educators and trainers as facilitators in the learning process, education should be student focused and seek to engage, motivate, inspire and ignite a thirst for knowledge within the learners -"lighting the fire".

When training staff on an IT application, I try, where possible to view the software application from their perspective .i.e. How can this software program help me?, What problems does it solve?, Can it make my work easier?. This technique seems to work reasonably well as learners become more engaged. Once I know what the learners want out of the application, I can tailor all or part of the training accordingly and create learning activities that transform the staff member from the passive to the active learner.

ELearning Philosophy

I’m a firm believer in technology enhanced learning. It removes geographic barriers and enables learners to learn anytime and in anyplace, they just need access to the internet. The almost ubiquitous adoption of Virtual Learning Environments by Higher Education Institutes mean students can now engage with interactive online course content and learning activities outside of the College campus. Technology permeates every aspect of student’s lives. Our current generation of learners are what Prensky refers to as digital natives (2001). Students enter the education system with more technological know-how than their predecessors. This push button generation have grown accustomed to media rich communication through smart phones, PDA’s, laptops, tablets and other smart devices and expect instant response.

My understanding and philosophy of elearning has changed over the last two years. Prior to commencing the M Sc I would have viewed technology as the main driver of eLearning resources but the Learning Theory and Instructional Design modules have changed my viewpoint. eLearning is fundamentally about learning and not about the technology that is used to create it. It is important that we understand how people learn before we start creating learning resources for them. Technology plays a critical role in supporting and enabling learning but the "learning" itself  is paramount. We need to know our target audience, identify our learning outcomes and have  a vision of our elearning resource. Learning activities within an elearning resource should closely align with these learning outcomes Biggs & Tang (2007, p7). 

Steen, citing Allen (2007) asserts that we learn 50% of what we see and hear,70% of what we discuss with others and 80% of what we experience. Based on these findings, eLearning resources that include "student interactivity and personal involvement in the learning experience" has potential to deliver a rewarding and positive learning experience.

e-Learning resources such as forums , wikis, VLE’s provide excellent means for students to engage with one,work collaboratively and learn from each other. I am a strong advocate of these technologies as I believe they can empower learners, allowing them to form online communities whereby they can work together , share knowledge with one another and learn of each other. 

Fig 1.0 gives a outline as to how I would view my eLearning philosophy. This diagram represents a student centered approach whereby student is at the heart of the learning experience and he\she determines his/her learning experience. He\she has access to multiple online resources in the form of VLEs, online communities, mentors,peers, library repositories and most importantly , with today's technology, eLearning can facilitate all of this.

An important question arises when we have these eLearning resources in place - How do we know if they are working, are the effective, are the being used, if so, how frequently, when and by whom

Learning analytics may help provide answers to some of these challenges, it is a technology that is still very much in its infancy stage but over the course of the next few years it may provide answers that better inform educators as to their learners’ needs.

Every tweet , online social interaction,forum and/or blog contribution leaves a digital footprint, these together with student records, progress reports etc provide rich data trails. The data gleaned from eLearning resources can potentially inform course redesign of elearning material , the analytics can inform what learning resources are effective and what features may require further redesign. Effective analysis of such data may provide insight as to why students are disengaged in courses, why they are dropping out, which students are struggling and which of these may need additional support. 

Biggs, J. B., & Tang, C. S. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university what the student does. (3rd ed.). Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Carlile, O., & Jordon, A. (2003). It works in practice but will it work in theory? The theoretical underpinnings of pedagogy. Retrieved 2012, from All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE): http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/carlile-jordan-IT_WORKS_IN_PRACTICE_BUT_WILL_IT_WORK_IN_THEORY.html

Prenksy, M. (2001a). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9, 5, 1–6., retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1532742 doi:10.1108/10748120110424816

Steen, H. L. (2008). Effective eLearning Design. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching , 4 (4), 526-532  Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no4/steen_1208.pdf

Thoughts on the Professional Development Module

The above slideshare document is the presentation I gave for the Professional Development module.
I enjoyed this module as gave me an opportunity to reflect on my professional development to date , identify significant milestones and consider how I might progress my professional career. 

For the Professional Development Discussion/interview we were asked to bring an artefact that "speaks to others about their professional development". I thought this was an interesting idea, the problem I had was identifying just one! I brought along my along my Dublin City Marathon (DCM) medal and degree scroll to symbolise that through hard work and perseverance one can achieve their goals.

I remember training for the DCM and being advised that nothing prepares you last few miles of a marathon when you "hit the wall". I did "hit the wall" during the race, it was so painful! Every bone in my body was telling me to pack it in, leave it and try again next year. It is difficult to describe ones emotions at mile 22 of a marathon , you've put so much effort into training for it , discipline yourself in terms of diet and schedule only to be faced by what appears to be an ""insurmountable obstacle". 

I think this is an interesting analogy to describe how we as professionals often find ourselves in our careers when faced with tough challenges. It raises some important questions as to how do we "push through" or overcome obstacles in our professional lives. My "two cents" is that through doggedness,hard work ,perseverance and "staying the course" one can overcome these obstacles , that is certainly what got me over the line in the marathon(just about)!

Returning to the PD module , it was a good opportunity to show that I could read a number of articles and discuss them in great details with the tutors on the module. The Horizon report was a particularly interesting read as it describes the technologies that are expected to impact on education over the course of the next 1-5 years. I thought it was interesting that there was no representation on the advisory board from any of the 3rd Level Institutes in Ireland on the board as I would imagine it would be a very interesting project to be involved in. I am not sure how difficult it would be to be accepted on to the panel but I know it is possible to nominate oneself and it would be fascinating to be involved in such a study.Technology changes so rapidly that it very difficult to predict what technology will be used 5 years into the future. 

Overall I liked this module, it was an opportunity to "draw breath" and review my professional career and consider how I would like to see my career evolve in the future. 

The end of one learning journey marks the start of another?

As I mentioned in my "Year Two Project Reflection" the last two years have represented a challenging but enjoyable learning experience. The workload has been immense at times, particularly when trying to balance it with a full time job.

I learned a huge amount from discussions and working with other students on the course, course tutors and of course my project supervisor. 

If I was to ask myself now – Did I enjoy the course, I would yes, absolutely. 

Has the course changed how I work – Yes, definitely, the knowledge and understanding I gained from the learning theories module in particular has changed my outlook on how I train people. I now place a huge emphasis on the teaching methodology I employ. 

Am I glad I did it, yes absolutely, I’m only sorry that I didn’t do it earlier. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to develop their skills in this area or who want to learn about the theories that supports eLearning. 

My experience over the past two years has wetted the appetite for further studies possible via the  MA in Higher Education or one of the or Continuing Professional Development modules on offer in DIT. I really enjoyed the readings and the analysis phase of the study and would like to explore further the field of Learning Analytics in the future but for now some downtime is required to re-energise and recharge the batteries before committing to the next on my professional development

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