I've heard quite a few from schools to universities and offices how they've managed their current ways of life using digital tools. Today, I went back to read University World News on May, 16, 2020 and this article seems to trigger some ideas dee ka....the topic is, 'How to create effective learning for students online by Ted Sun'
His first question is what I like mak ka.....'What defines learning?'.....not just some activity to transfer information but to turn it into knowledge and for learners to remember and use it effectively.
This is how the author puts it ka, '.... if you don’t remember it, you haven’t learned it. And, if you can’t use it, you have not developed the skills associated with it.'
I was thinking about a book I recently read. The author was saying that people would come to tell him they have read his book. When asked what they liked/learned from the book. Most of them couldn't come up with an answer. After I read this book, I started thinking of what I got (but I can't even recall the exact name of the book) only about how to remember what you read and the author is Japanese ka. This Japanese author said we need to take some actions like making notes and sharing with others in order to remember what we've read....so it means I use this egroup as one of the ways to remember what I learn na ka. I'll use podcast to share my learning soon too ka.
For Ted Sun, he shares his best practices mainly from his 19-year online education and these are what will make learning more meaningful:
- Lectures should last 18 minutes or less: Thinking of TED Talks to keep us focused -- should start from understanding students' interest, skills needed, learning modalities preferred, in order to design the class better.
- Apply learning modalities in delivery of content: Choosing what will fit their styles of learning, visual or audio or both -- to make sure learners remember.
- Design engaging activities: Creativity required -- this makes me think of Harvard Business School to use Zoom and now the upcoming 'The Standard Economic Forum' which uses the blend of physical presence of speakers on the actual site and participants through Zoom (with chats to pose questions to speakers)....I'm curious to know how it will go in terms of the logistics management in addition to the core content of the three-day event ka.
- Effective use of Socratic methods:'Using engaging questions enhances learning and accesses a sense of authentic care.' Open-ended questions are suggested and I think Zoom's breakout rooms could also be good for students to discuss among themselves ka.
In any case, I tend to think that 'Learning what and how to learn', 'Motivation to learn', and 'Ability to learn fast' will drive us to grow, be it in physical or virtual environment na ka.
