A. instructor-centered versus student-centred learning
Instructor-centred learning means instructors are the center of the course, telling students to do/fix/learn everything. It is also called Instructivism. On the other hand, student-centred learning is linked to Constructivism and Connectivism, implying that students communicate with each other to facilitate formal/informal learning. There are clear pros and cons of each learning method. While the goal of any course should be to let students learn how to learn about the course topic, the instructor-centred system could have a highly controlled course curriculum and learning experience even though it could be overwhelming in MOOCs settings. Student-centred learning in the massive nature of MOOCs is quite fitting to the purpose of using the Internet as communities as a source of answers and support, while course topics could be less controlled.
B. asynchronous versus synchronous learning
In asynchronous courses, learners meet with the instructor and fellow learners to learn in real-time in the same space. On the other hand, synchronous courses do not restrict learner’s time and space. Online courses are generally synchronous, meaning that learners can learn at different times, posting on online boards and doing their assignments at different times. These two concepts are not entirely separated. Either it’s an on-campus or online course, a course could contain both asynchronous and synchronous components depending on the course design.
C. your thoughts on connectivism
I highly agree with Siemens, G. (2005) that the connectivism is essentially a viable learning theory for the digital age. Since the sharing of information is drastically faster and wider without much restriction in time and space, learners in this era tend to have a learning process in which they can access and process a variety of topics and information. The author points out that one of the principles of connectivism relies on learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. In my opinion, connectivism fits more to a setting where learners are adults or experienced students because is hard to expect from a grade 7 child to express their opinion in a logical and useful manner. However, I still think that there are some elements that children could use the principles of connectivism. I think children could make their decisions for their own learning process. Children should be able to have a range of options and opportunities to decide what they’d like to learn because it is directly related to the learners’ motivation. Even though public school systems are not providing such options, I think this is already happening through their usage of smartphones and the Internet, since kids nowadays are able to access to media, news and information by themselves without much control or restriction. There’s a lot of debate if this trend is right or wrong, but I believe that this type of connectivism presents a great opportunity for the public to access to insights, skills and knowledge in the digital era.
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