A very simple question: by using such e-learning systems, shall MCAST lose control on her students and lecturing staff? By analysing MCAST current situation and forecasting a future one with such an e-learning system, what are the main differences?
@Ken Practicing different teaching strategies and giving the opportunity to experiment with different learning methodologies is not about losing control. Learning and teaching should not be about control either. It is true that good management skills are needed to coordinate learning activities, whether we are talking about the classroom as a micro-system or about the learning institution in general. However I think we need to distinguish between management, coordination, good leadership skills and control. I find that all proffer distinct meanings in different contexts.
No it is not a reason of losing control. It is another ways and means of teaching strategies. Every lecturer should be aware that a teacher should be updated to new teaching strategies and a better way to teach. Using e-learning as part of our teaching will help us to be with the students everywhere not only at the school. The fact is that when lecturers reduce chalk and talk and use other ways of new technology.
I tend to agree that the major disadvantage of e-learning is the self-discipline it requires. Whilst being a self independent learner can offer plenty of advantages, such as improving the thought process and increasing flexibility, it can also create difficulties to persons who are not self-disciplined. In particular, this could be a drawback for those students who have difficulty with time management and procrastination. I think that typical students can be more successful with structured traditional learning.
I do not think that by introducing e-learning systems, MCAST shall lose control on students and lecturing staff. I am assuming that the e-learning systems will be introduced to complement the traditional classroom teaching and not to replace it. E-learning should be implemented to facilitate learning and improve the learning/teaching process.
It will definitely require a massive administrative upheaval as it will require different management and co-ordination skills on behalf of the administration. Lecturing staff will also be affected and it may effectively take quite some time to be running smoothly. Students will also be encouraged to manage their time better. The results should however be to the benefit of all.
Rather than loosing control, I would ask at what level should E-Learning courses be offered? Who would be entitled for such courses? Finally and most importantly, how would the quality of the student's work be affected?
We would not want to have the situation where we would have a greater drop out rate in the e-learning course. What I see the most in our students is a lack of motivation, which is greatly required for e-learning courses. For this reason great effort needs to be done when designing the content of on-line courses such that the interest in students is keep and motivation is stimulated.
My question was more concerned about how the administration here at MCAST and how would such a system be perceived. I’m sure that lecturers with such a system and with the adequate training would do their best to keep up the standards of the institute. In my text, by losing control I meant that the mentality required for an e-learning course might diverge from MCAST mentality. Is it so? Would MCAST encourage such a system?
@fraki Regarding the level that e-learning courses should be offered too, I would suggest that initially they are offered only to the higher national students.
I agree with Steve that e-learning requires an amount of self-discipline when it comes to students. Having taught at MCAST for a number of years, I can say that we do have students who are responsible and who are willing to learn and study, but there are a good number of students who just do the bare minimum required to obtain a pass grade. They are simply not interested to deepen their knowledge beyond what is needed for them to pass. I feel that an e-learning environment for such students would not work out because they just do not want to dedicate their time to studying. A blended learning approach would, in my opinion, be more suitable and surely more interesting to them than a chalk and talk approach.
Should e-learning courses be introduced at MCAST, I think that these should be designed by experienced people in this sector in very close collaboration with lecturers who teach the subjects. Lecturers are specialists in their are of study, but are they also specialists in e-learning course design? So help or in-depth training will be required in that area.
Using online or electronic systems often provides better means of control than the normal classroom. Students access content because they need to, not because they have been forced by a lecturer in the class. We must remember that we are no longer in a primary or secondary school setting. If students want to continue learning at this level they must actively seek to learn; it's no longer a matter of having a teacher shove information down their throats. So I believe that no, it is not a matter of losing control but rather a matter of allowing students to be more proactive in their education.
However as you commented later on, yes, I agree that it ultimately must embody a radical change in mentality.
@Jason I think that this is should not be an issue of control, but rather another way through which students can engage in effective learning other than the traditional classroom setting.
I would have no problem to have study groups entirely run by students on facebook for instance.
I would hope that the students do not get into this kind of trouble like this guy did, http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/309855
If the students manage to set up these systems where to learn without my help and control I would actually be happier, as I would have managed to give them the first push for them to start learning on their own.
I do not know if it ever happen to you but I encounter this situation very often: a situation were students tend to search the answers to the problems given to them on the internet (Wikipedia... ect) rather than go through the material and reason the solution to the given problem out. If I do not keep an eye closely on them while they are doing class work surly the students will not open the material I give them to work and study from. This will defy the whole principle of teaching them to think and problem solving activities. I'm very impressed how difficult it is to make the students use their brain rather the Wikipedia.
As expressed myself earlier losing control might mean losing the students learning tracks as they are not self-disciplined enough and instead of doing what we ask and require from them, they might try to take short cuts to do their work. This will obviously put extra work and pressure on us to make sure that they have covered the right material.
I do not agree that by introducing e-learning systems, MCAST shall lose control on students and lecturing staff. Maybe ‘control’ is not the right word to use in an education environment. Students and lecturing staff should be monitored, guided and encouraged to improve their performance. I agree that following an e-learning course requires great self discipline and excellent time- management skills. I feel that by introducing such courses we shall be encouraging and enforcing these skills in our students. Obviously lecturers should lead by example and provide effective and timely feedback while ensuring that the students respect the deadlines given for any assignments. I agree with fraki that e-learning courses should be offered initially to students following advanced courses.
I think Elearning is so vast, that one has to be careful how to apply it. There can be alot of speculation, whether Elearning is good, or not good for Mcast students. In reality, to date, we never tried such a scenario at Mcast, at least at ICT. I mean we dow have forums and internet tools available for students in classes, but in my opinion that is not elearning.
Re-search tools, the following are some online search tools which I find useful for Academic and online Journals: Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/ SearchEdu.com http://www.searchedu.com/ Resource Discovery Network http://www.rdn.ac.uk/
I think using elearning would be a wise choice for MCAST. Other methods have failed and I think its about time we provide a learning environment within which the students feel stimulated and at ease and this is online. As much as I hate to say it, it seems like the shift to virtual realities has happened with many students and it if it works for them then we have to follow suit and organize the teaching around this.
@sonjac to which other methods are you referring? In my opinion, the current methods have some loop holes that must be tackled as soon as possible. Some of these loop holes are that we are not streaming properly students at foundation level. Another loop hole is that we are not allowing students to make use of internet on campus. Regarding the lose control thing, from what i've heard, MCAST adopts a secondary school setting. That's the reason why i've selected such a topic.
Why should we lose control? Why should the institution lose control? In my opinion none of this can happen if the structure of e-learning teaching is built on solid ground. We must keep in mind, or at least that is what I am doing, that e-learning is or will be here to complement the traditional teaching methods, as Suzanne commented earlier on. I am also of the opinion that e-learning requires a strict self-discipline regime like Steve said. Reflecting on this, there might be the positive side. I do believe that students can mature and impose a rigid self learning discipline on themselves. Why should the institution lose control over the teaching staff. I am sure that the e-learning system will entitle the institution to access teaching materials and communication going on between students and teachers.
@Ken
ReplyDeletePracticing different teaching strategies and giving the opportunity to experiment with different learning methodologies is not about losing control. Learning and teaching should not be about control either.
It is true that good management skills are needed to coordinate learning activities, whether we are talking about the classroom as a micro-system or about the learning institution in general. However I think we need to distinguish between management, coordination, good leadership skills and control. I find that all proffer distinct meanings in different contexts.
No it is not a reason of losing control. It is another ways and means of teaching strategies. Every lecturer should be aware that a teacher should be updated to new teaching strategies and a better way to teach.
ReplyDeleteUsing e-learning as part of our teaching will help us to be with the students everywhere not only at the school. The fact is that when lecturers reduce chalk and talk and use other ways of new technology.
I tend to agree that the major disadvantage of e-learning is the self-discipline it requires. Whilst being a self independent learner can offer plenty of advantages, such as improving the thought process and increasing flexibility, it can also create difficulties to persons who are not self-disciplined. In particular, this could be a drawback for those students who have difficulty with time management and procrastination. I think that typical students can be more successful with structured traditional learning.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that by introducing e-learning systems, MCAST shall lose control on students and lecturing staff. I am assuming that the e-learning systems will be introduced to complement the traditional classroom teaching and not to replace it. E-learning should be implemented to facilitate learning and improve the learning/teaching process.
ReplyDeleteIt will definitely require a massive administrative upheaval as it will require different management and co-ordination skills on behalf of the administration. Lecturing staff will also be affected and it may effectively take quite some time to be running smoothly. Students will also be encouraged to manage their time better. The results should however be to the benefit of all.
Rather than loosing control, I would ask at what level should E-Learning courses be offered? Who would be entitled for such courses? Finally and most importantly, how would the quality of the student's work be affected?
ReplyDeleteWe would not want to have the situation where we would have a greater drop out rate in the e-learning course. What I see the most in our students is a lack of motivation, which is greatly required for e-learning courses. For this reason great effort needs to be done when designing the content of on-line courses such that the interest in students is keep and motivation is stimulated.
My question was more concerned about how the administration here at MCAST and how would such a system be perceived. I’m sure that lecturers with such a system and with the adequate training would do their best to keep up the standards of the institute. In my text, by losing control I meant that the mentality required for an e-learning course might diverge from MCAST mentality. Is it so? Would MCAST encourage such a system?
ReplyDelete@fraki
Regarding the level that e-learning courses should be offered too, I would suggest that initially they are offered only to the higher national students.
I agree with Steve that e-learning requires an amount of self-discipline when it comes to students. Having taught at MCAST for a number of years, I can say that we do have students who are responsible and who are willing to learn and study, but there are a good number of students who just do the bare minimum required to obtain a pass grade. They are simply not interested to deepen their knowledge beyond what is needed for them to pass. I feel that an e-learning environment for such students would not work out because they just do not want to dedicate their time to studying. A blended learning approach would, in my opinion, be more suitable and surely more interesting to them than a chalk and talk approach.
ReplyDeleteShould e-learning courses be introduced at MCAST, I think that these should be designed by experienced people in this sector in very close collaboration with lecturers who teach the subjects. Lecturers are specialists in their are of study, but are they also specialists in e-learning course design? So help or in-depth training will be required in that area.
@ Ken
ReplyDeleteUsing online or electronic systems often provides better means of control than the normal classroom. Students access content because they need to, not because they have been forced by a lecturer in the class. We must remember that we are no longer in a primary or secondary school setting. If students want to continue learning at this level they must actively seek to learn; it's no longer a matter of having a teacher shove information down their throats. So I believe that no, it is not a matter of losing control but rather a matter of allowing students to be more proactive in their education.
However as you commented later on, yes, I agree that it ultimately must embody a radical change in mentality.
@Jason
ReplyDeleteI think that this is should not be an issue of control, but rather another way through which students can engage in effective learning other than the traditional classroom setting.
I would have no problem to have study groups entirely run by students on facebook for instance.
I would hope that the students do not get into this kind of trouble like this guy did,
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/309855
If the students manage to set up these systems where to learn without my help and control I would actually be happier, as I would have managed to give them the first push for them to start learning on their own.
I do not know if it ever happen to you but I encounter this situation very often:
ReplyDeletea situation were students tend to search the answers to the problems given to them on the internet (Wikipedia... ect) rather than go through the material and reason the solution to the given problem out.
If I do not keep an eye closely on them while they are doing class work surly the students will not open the material I give them to work and study from. This will defy the whole principle of teaching them to think and problem solving activities. I'm very impressed how difficult it is to make the students use their brain rather the Wikipedia.
As expressed myself earlier losing control might mean losing the students learning tracks as they are not self-disciplined enough and instead of doing what we ask and require from them, they might try to take short cuts to do their work. This will obviously put extra work and pressure on us to make sure that they have covered the right material.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree that by introducing e-learning systems, MCAST shall lose control on students and lecturing staff. Maybe ‘control’ is not the right word to use in an education environment. Students and lecturing staff should be monitored, guided and encouraged to improve their performance.
ReplyDeleteI agree that following an e-learning course requires great self discipline and excellent time- management skills. I feel that by introducing such courses we shall be encouraging and enforcing these skills in our students. Obviously lecturers should lead by example and provide effective and timely feedback while ensuring that the students respect the deadlines given for any assignments.
I agree with fraki that e-learning courses should be offered initially to students following advanced courses.
I think Elearning is so vast, that one has to be careful how to apply it.
ReplyDeleteThere can be alot of speculation, whether Elearning is good, or not good for Mcast students. In reality, to date, we never tried such a scenario at Mcast, at least at ICT. I mean we dow have forums and internet tools available for students in classes, but in my opinion that is not elearning.
Re-search tools, the following are some online search tools which I find useful for Academic and online Journals:
ReplyDeleteGoogle Scholar http://scholar.google.com/
SearchEdu.com http://www.searchedu.com/
Resource Discovery Network http://www.rdn.ac.uk/
I think using elearning would be a wise choice for MCAST. Other methods have failed and I think its about time we provide a learning environment within which the students feel stimulated and at ease and this is online. As much as I hate to say it, it seems like the shift to virtual realities has happened with many students and it if it works for them then we have to follow suit and organize the teaching around this.
ReplyDelete@sonjac
ReplyDeleteto which other methods are you referring? In my opinion, the current methods have some loop holes that must be tackled as soon as possible. Some of these loop holes are that we are not streaming properly students at foundation level. Another loop hole is that we are not allowing students to make use of internet on campus. Regarding the lose control thing, from what i've heard, MCAST adopts a secondary school setting. That's the reason why i've selected such a topic.
Why should we lose control? Why should the institution lose control? In my opinion none of this can happen if the structure of e-learning teaching is built on solid ground. We must keep in mind, or at least that is what I am doing, that e-learning is or will be here to complement the traditional teaching methods, as Suzanne commented earlier on. I am also of the opinion that e-learning requires a strict self-discipline regime like Steve said. Reflecting on this, there might be the positive side. I do believe that students can mature and impose a rigid self learning discipline on themselves. Why should the institution lose control over the teaching staff. I am sure that the e-learning system will entitle the institution to access teaching materials and communication going on between students and teachers.
ReplyDelete