I am quite proud of the collaborative group project completed by myself and three colleagues for this course on “The Evolution of Distance Education.” It started out small, an adorable two page document (after all – how far can you go on teaching shorthand by postcards?). Then as the weeks rolled by, more and more pages were added, representing subsequent waves of DE. The final project is an inspiring synopsis of over 100 years of DE! I must confess that I spent a lot of time with a furrowed brow trying to think through the differences between the column headers, and where specific information went. But that time was well spent because it led me to a deeper understanding of the actual content. A can say with certainty that I was a self-determined learner in this process! :)
I can’t say that working with a group is up there with eating ice cream, and there was plenty of blood, sweat, and yes, tears, associated with this project. We persevered and finally heard the voice of our groupmate from South Africa (although he sounded a little sleepy because we miscalculated the time difference! Sorry Rendani!). I think sometimes the hardest part about group work, is making the group work well, and cohesively. Regardless of bumps in the road, I can’t think of any process that would have resulted in me being where I am right now regarding understanding the evolution of distance education.
With regard to this course accomplishing the overall course objectives, I can say without question I have accomplished all the objectives, and I have demonstrated competence in all the specific skills. As an educator myself, I suffer considerable angst over some courses I teach, worrying at the end of the semester whether or not the students “got it” – trust me, I got this.
I have spent considerable time pondering the differences between the two courses I took this semester. They were both 3 credit courses, but the workload was quite disparate; the expectations were eye-poppingly larger for OMDE 601. Yet, I enjoyed this course to a much greater degree. After ruminating on this all semester, only during the last couple of weeks have I figured out the answer – and yes, it’s a “gogy!”
I am positively TITALLATED by all the “gogy” educational theories. Pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy, technoheutagogy…and a few new ones – ubuntugogy (the art and science of teaching and learning undergirded by humanity towards others), ergonagy (technically not a gogy, but close - the art and science of helping people learn to work) and I’m sure there are more I haven’t even heard of yet.
I am extremely interested in heutagogy – the study of self-determined learning, in which capable individuals forge their own path as critical thinkers and life-long learners. In my mind, this is the holy grail. I now realize in retrospect, after researching heutagogy, that our coursemanager has incorporated the principles of heutagogy in this course. I actually reviewed a slide set posted as freely accessible information by the coursemanager, explaining how she planned this course. Making the heart of an instructional designer beat proudly, she started with the end in mind – the terminal course outcomes. Then she crafted learning activities designed to meet those terminal course outcomes, while incorporating activities that adhere to the principles of heutagogy. Ah ha! So that’s why this course almost killed me – BUT – I liked it. I liked it a lot. I may not know all the answers, but it doesn’t scare me off. I feel like a born-again 2 year old (But why? Ok, but why?). I do believe distance education and heutagogy go hand-in-hand like PB & J, and while it may be difficult to completely turn the barge known as traditional face-to-face education, I see wiggle room for moving to a blended environment.
This course was an excellent start in my distance education journey. I am very appreciative of the efforts of the coursemanager and my group. I look forward to continuing this journey!
I can’t say that working with a group is up there with eating ice cream, and there was plenty of blood, sweat, and yes, tears, associated with this project. We persevered and finally heard the voice of our groupmate from South Africa (although he sounded a little sleepy because we miscalculated the time difference! Sorry Rendani!). I think sometimes the hardest part about group work, is making the group work well, and cohesively. Regardless of bumps in the road, I can’t think of any process that would have resulted in me being where I am right now regarding understanding the evolution of distance education.
With regard to this course accomplishing the overall course objectives, I can say without question I have accomplished all the objectives, and I have demonstrated competence in all the specific skills. As an educator myself, I suffer considerable angst over some courses I teach, worrying at the end of the semester whether or not the students “got it” – trust me, I got this.
I have spent considerable time pondering the differences between the two courses I took this semester. They were both 3 credit courses, but the workload was quite disparate; the expectations were eye-poppingly larger for OMDE 601. Yet, I enjoyed this course to a much greater degree. After ruminating on this all semester, only during the last couple of weeks have I figured out the answer – and yes, it’s a “gogy!”
I am positively TITALLATED by all the “gogy” educational theories. Pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy, technoheutagogy…and a few new ones – ubuntugogy (the art and science of teaching and learning undergirded by humanity towards others), ergonagy (technically not a gogy, but close - the art and science of helping people learn to work) and I’m sure there are more I haven’t even heard of yet.
I am extremely interested in heutagogy – the study of self-determined learning, in which capable individuals forge their own path as critical thinkers and life-long learners. In my mind, this is the holy grail. I now realize in retrospect, after researching heutagogy, that our coursemanager has incorporated the principles of heutagogy in this course. I actually reviewed a slide set posted as freely accessible information by the coursemanager, explaining how she planned this course. Making the heart of an instructional designer beat proudly, she started with the end in mind – the terminal course outcomes. Then she crafted learning activities designed to meet those terminal course outcomes, while incorporating activities that adhere to the principles of heutagogy. Ah ha! So that’s why this course almost killed me – BUT – I liked it. I liked it a lot. I may not know all the answers, but it doesn’t scare me off. I feel like a born-again 2 year old (But why? Ok, but why?). I do believe distance education and heutagogy go hand-in-hand like PB & J, and while it may be difficult to completely turn the barge known as traditional face-to-face education, I see wiggle room for moving to a blended environment.
This course was an excellent start in my distance education journey. I am very appreciative of the efforts of the coursemanager and my group. I look forward to continuing this journey!
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