CCK08 Short paper 2 .Due in November 10th 2008. Changing Roles of educators.
“For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance :but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he has”. Matthew XXV.29:
The Matthew Effect is used regularly in discussions about dyslexia and education and it is the expression of concern about he who has less will have even less in the future and wont be able to catch up. (1)
It can also be applied to tutors at college .Its an ongoing educators’ nightmare that if they cant catch up with how to tune the TV or set a video how can they manage e-mails and worse is to come with the read- write web.
In this paper I will use the metaphor of “white water” to represent rapid change and turmoil that s happening and tutors have to swim fast to survive. With the use of learning theory and by applying a little tweak to the way we know good teaching should be, we can keep up with technology.
To have a reason to change the way we teach there has to be a belief the old theories do not work and are out of context .The role of the tutor is to develop them selves, keep an open enquiring mind and keep up to date. Learning theory usually leads design. The predominant psychology being the mind as a container to put things (knowledge) into according to Beriter and Scardamalia (1996) (2) is at variance with the connectivism theory.
“Connectivism is a theoretical framework for understanding learning. In connectivism, the starting point for learning occurs when knowledge is actuated through the process of a learner connecting to and feeding information into a learning community. (3)
Already the tutor can move from designing a whole course of resources and move to helping the network with skills to filter and navigate the web. Some of the old principles still hold merit and an ethical way forward is to treat people as individuals with their own learning pathways. Tomlinson states ;
We need a match between how people learn, their learning goals and the learning environment” (4). Tutors find this hard anyway and the fact this does not happen is blogged frequently;” No one who has stood at the front of a classroom in the last twenty years has any illusions that the current educational system actually functions.” (5)
So we let go of the old design and start to blog. Blogs such as the ones written by the college students (6 in college get prolific contributors but the tutors have to make a shift to value them. Minor voices may be just as trustworthy for content and are definitely real evidence for context and the reality of what’s really going on for learners. Learning can be produced within the community to sell organisations and credit information or tutors according to Howard Jarch (7)
Learning and knowledge are said to “rest in diversity of opinions” (Siemens, 2008, para. 8). (8)
So as a first toe in the water the role is to learn about peadagogy behind the tools and use the one you can enjoy .
Although tutor and learner roles are changing one of the fears about the use of technology is the literacy mismatch between ‘good” writing standards and text speak. Should we edit and correct the materials as much as possible before we post them?
An argument can be made for not editing and that would be to show student work need not be perfect to be accepted and all voices can be heard. But if the work is to be published for the WWW audience all conventions of English should be followed, and all facts checked, lest we become part of the Internet problem.(8)
But if the role of the tutor is to censor and shape where will it stop? The tutor’s role is –as always-to do with factual accuracy, but now the work could be more visible/accountable. Maybe some would like to put a disclaimer on published products from the teaching saying “I’m young and possibly wrong sometimes” or “I am a girl” or even “this space was created by a learner with dyslexia?” This over concern about publishing might just resonate with tutors who need to be the top of the hierarchy, king of the writing game and the creator of correct learning.
Thinking about the power and control we wield is an important part of a tutor’s role. The move from groups to networks is good for teaching. We could learn to trust the two-way nature of this medium to allow learners to push back /correct errors in comments. But what if learners are kind to each other and won’t criticize.? Perfectionism and fear will not create conditions to encourage learners to write freely and discover that they enjoy learning. One appropriate response could be to talk in general about errors after reading enough blogs and, as a team, do an error analysis of the most serious grammar/spelling problems especially if they are technical terms needed for employment. The group can priorities label make a web page or leaflet and study buddy each other to get them right.
Choosing the correct tool for the job can skirt the whole accuracy debate. (8) By doing more creative narratives and course material reflections on one blog and collecting on a wiki with less written work. The role of the tutor would be to agree netiquette or manners, confidentiality and safety issues according to perceived wisdom (10)
So when comparing and contrasting the role of the connected, networked tutor to he role of the “Glocalised tutor” (11) there would still be conventions and mechanisms to follow since we write to learn. Organisation, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and grammar/spelling/punctuation can all be learned using connectivism as a theory and using technology tools with thought.
So the same role as always –picking the right intervention, pace, tool -with learners- negotiating the best way for them.
There should always be room for a negotiated session from the needs of the cohort at the time. Nothing good teachers have not been doing. The change could be in the power and control. “As a result of the overwhelming complexity, learners turn more to way finding and sense making on their own...rather than acquiring the patterns and views held by instructors”(12)
To calm the waters for tutors I would say its not the applications and tools of technology we have to worry about –the learners will teach us these, its our own attitudes and self development to be able to let go of the rudder and give someone else the chance to steer the ship.
If writing is secondary to learning the biggest change for tutors is to become networked to gain deeper and broader retention, comprehension and insight to the digital illiteracies.
“This learning and professional development needs to be self-sustaining, and traditional linear learning design models do not always provide this.”(13)
References for paper 2 changing roles of educators.
(1) Miles,T.R andMiles,E (1999)Dyslexia A Hundred Years on .Buckingham . Open University Press.
2) Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1996). Rethinking learning. In D.R. Olson, & N. Torrance (Eds.),
The Handbook of education and human development: New models of learning, teaching and
Schooling (pp 485-513). Cambridge, MA:Basil Blackwell.
(3) Downes, S (2007a, February 6). Msg. 30, Re: What Connectivism Is. Connectivism Conference: University of Manitoba. Message posted to http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=12
(4)Tomlinson, J. chair of FEFC Specialist Committee on students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities
(5)http://www.northguard.com/mbs/archive/fifth.html
6)http://jensnapes.blogspot.com/
7)Jarch H, http://www.jarche.com/2005/07/page/2/
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(8)Siemens, G. (2006b, November 12). Connectivism: Learning theory or pastime of the self-amused? Elearnspace blog. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism_self-amused.htm
(8)Clay Burettes blog http//beyond-school.org
(9) current issues in education volume 8 Number 18
(10 )web safety http://fraser.typepad.com/socialte
(11)Wellman ,B ( ) little Boxes.
(12) Downes ,S October 31st 2008 the Daily
(13)Kop,R and Hill,A 3831Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 9, No 3 (2008), ISSN: 1492-
Blogs used
The fifth Language Mark shainblum
