I did not know what to expect when this course started, but I have been immensely fulfilled with a multitude of new ideas and concepts at its conclusion. My bachelor degree was completed in 1980, and so much has changed since then – the world has changed, not only in the way we communicate and research things, but specifically in the field of education and the manner in which information is exchanged. I had never imagined a collaborative teaching environment for both students and teachers and this is something that appears to be becoming the standard in a university, and as I have been taught in this course, in almost all levels of education. The young students of today have such a wide variety of information at their fingertips which opens up the world, more so than any library can. I recall spending countless hours in libraries searching for information but limited to what a library actually contained. It is fair to say that libraries are still of vital importance and books will always be fashionable and necessary, it is just the methodology and the techniques to access them has improved.
The importance that all can have access, or equity, to this vast panoply of information is a consideration which I had given little thought to but now I have a deeper understanding of the benefits and the drawbacks that the less fortunate might encounter. During my school days, I cannot recollect anyone not having the identical access to information. Every student was provided with the same instructional information in a school, and all had the benefits of using a library. Today, students need to have devices and electronic connections to receive the full impact of a proper education.
Not being an educator in the traditional sense, yet still an educator who later in life has decided to fulfill a latent passion, I am thankful for modern technology making this all possible. I feel that I am connected to my adult online students and have an excellent rapport with them, however, I have realized that there are so many additional techniques to improve this connection. I doubt that I will face any equity issues which have been discussed throughout the semester but I now have an understanding of the consequences if there is a deficiency in a more traditional school environment. Unfortunately, I will rarely if ever meet my students in real life, yet this should not preclude me from incorporating some of the techniques that have been exemplified in this course. Instead of living in my seemingly isolated cocoon, hopefully I will “meet” online English EFL teachers through the forum which I hope to initiate during this summer so that I along with other educators of a similar ilk can benefit from the power of teacher collaboration.
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To date, I have taken three online courses at Arcadia, and I must say that this course has transcended the others by an immense margin not only in the content but also in the manner that the content was delivered. ED677 and the instructor needed to showcase the most advanced ideas and concepts in connected learning, teaching and collaboration and have succeeded in making this the most beneficial course for me at Arcadia. Although I still to this very day have some difficulty with public exposure of my thoughts and writings – “we never did it this way back then” – I feel that I have grown to accept this innovative paradigm. This course has made me believe that online education, in whatever form it may take, has an excellent future and I am glad to be a part of it. For me, it is only a matter of implementing these concepts which I have learned with my students to the fullest extent possible
All the best
Dirk