Blending Using Online Activities: A Case of a Significant Learning Experience at a Jordanian Univers

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Blending Using Online Activities A Case of a
Significant Learning Experience at a Jordanian
University

• Salam AbdallahAbu Dhabi University,
  UAESalam.abdallah_at_adu.ac.ae

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Introduction

• Background
• Blending with Online Activities Social
  Constructivism
• Challenges as catalyst for change
• Rote memorization
• Information overload
• Surface learning, no critical thinking
• Little value added to their knowledge and
  experience
• Dull lacks motivation
• Lifelong learning skills development

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Research Method

• Case
• Context
• Research Question
• How online activities have impacted students
  learning?
• Data
• 150 students, 5 semesters, 300 Qualitative rich
  data,
• Students were asked to discuss openly the things
  they liked and disliked about their online
  participation.
• Framework of analysis
• The Taxonomy of Significant Learning proposed
  by Dee Fink (2003)

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Finks Taxonomy of Significant Learning

• Aimed at higher education, to expresses the need
  for learning that impact the lives of adult
  students.
• No change, no learning

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4. Findings and Discussions

• Students description of the online learning
  environment
• interesting, enjoyable, rich, motivates,
  interactive, easy way to learn, relevant
  to our lives, great experience, no stress,
  creative, active and beneficial

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1. Foundational Knowledge

• Related to content acquisition, key
  understandings and remembering of various topics
  including terminologies, concepts, theories ideas
  or perspectives.
• The best thing in this forum is that it allows
  others to comment on your post, the more opinions
  we get, the better understanding we gain. In
  addition, this helps other students on getting
  more knowledge when they read and answer each
  others' posts
• Indicators
• Depth, more understanding, more knowledge, new
  knowledge, remember, learn more, stored in my
  mind, variety of information, deep understanding,
  gain experience and knowledge
• Student had the opportunity to understand topics
  in depth and gain diversified knowledge in a new
  different way and their own language. students
  were active in searching, reading and writing,
  which had impacted the retention and memory
  recall of information.

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2. Application

• Related to students gaining certain skills to
  allow for engagement in critical or creative
  thinking or practical development of ideas or
  artifacts, or managing projects. This kind of
  learning allows the other types of learning to
  become useful e.g. using foundational knowledge
  to think critically about other issues.
• Critical thinking
• Observing and learning from diversity
• can see other students assignments and make
  comparison and learn from others experience
• Broadening horizon of thinking
• extending the boundary of thinking, by trying to
  predict the possible outcomes or problems
• Improving thinking ways
• it was an experience that enriched my ability
  to think correctly on how to comprehend the
  different raised topics for the subject

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2. Application (Cont.)

• Skills
• Confidence and freedom of expression
• gave me the opportunity to express myself freely
  and without any barriers. I had more self
  confidence to introduce any topic that I find
  useful for students
• Care and accuracy
• because I feel that I am going to prepare a
  document not only for me but it is mainly for
  others, because every thing should be accurate
  and revised thoroughly
• Searching, reading, writing, and using technology
• It helped me in writing in English gain more
  benefits from reading the other students
  blogsit made me search for answers whether from
  other books or from the internetOnline learning
  activity helped me improving my skills through
  writing intensively... in addition of the
  experience of using the internetit increased my
  computer knowledge
• Students gained lifelong learning skills such
  critical thinking, communications, and technology
  use and gave them a sense of significant learning
  experience.

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3. Integration

• Relating fragments of knowledge to build a
  holistic understanding or the ability to connect
  to other people or to integrate knowledge between
  different contexts and this provides the learner
  with intellectual power.
• the website, glossary, blogs, discussion board,
  helps to bring everything togethermaking
  connection between the book theory with the
  practice side
• Indicators
• Linking, relation, harness, designing and
  building, tie ideas together
• The complementary activities assisted students to
  see knowledge holistically. Students were
  relating various fragment of knowledge and were
  also integrating knowledge into their working
  lives.

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4. Human Dimensions (self, others)

• To know something of value about themselves or
  others, such as self image or what they want to
  become. Sometimes students acquire a better
  understanding of others how and why others act
  the way they do, or how the learner can interact
  more effectively with others.
• It gave the opportunity to know how the other
  think, which I have to respect and give value. It
  is a mean of learning to hear to each other and
  communicate how to deal with my self and how to
  see my self while I am in such situation which
  give a great sense ( a feeling of
  responsibility)working as one team and to accept
  the opinions of others
• The dynamics of the environment allowed students
  to interact more effectively and purposefully
  with themselves and with others, basically they
  were learning about the Human dimension of life.

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5. Caring

• Related to the change of feelings, behaviors,
  interests and values. This change motivates
  students and provides them with energy to learn
  about the subject in a lasting way deeper and
  more meaningful
• I like the feeling that the student is attached
  to the subject throughout the whole week and not
  just during the lecture hours I like the way we
  take the lecture cause we have to participate and
  share opinions and thoughts which makes us
  somehow active Many years later I will remember
  all about this subject the quick response from
  the site administrator and his wide interest and
  respect to his student which encouraged everybody
  to speak and write without fear
• Indicators
• Active, enthusiastic, stronger connection,
  motivated, connect with course, had developed a
  love for seeking knowledge
• Student have cared for the course and its active
  method of teaching which had positively motivated
  their learning and skills development.

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6. Learning How to Learn

• Gain understandings about the process of learning
  and to give the leaner sustainability in
  continuing learning for life with greater
  effectiveness.
• This experience has benefited me by changing my
  way of studying, which used to rely on
  memorization and than comprehension followed by
  application some of the understandings in my
  work, after this experience, became capable to
  abstract and how to utilize many of the knowledge
  and understanding in my working live
• Indicators
• construct appropriate new knowledge, taught me
  how to learn, develop another approach of
  thinking, learning from each others
• Students had acquired skills to learn better, how
  to construct new knowledge and how to learn from
  each other by collaborating.

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Summary

• The method of learning the subject was
  effective, it allowed collaboration, thinking and
  actions to collect information related to the
  subject, so in general it is a good way to learn
  and at the same time enjoyable, but requires
  extra time and effort for the student Student
  Statement

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Value of Blending with Online Activities

• Fosters active learning
• Encourages skills building critical thinking,
  reading, writing, searching, collaborating, self
  development, and technology use
• Builds holistic view of the subjects
• Motivates quality work, because work is visible
• Retention of knowledge is improved
• Less effort required prior to exams

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Conclusions

• The environment promotes active, self directed
  learning opportunities in a flexible approach
  that can produce significant learning.
• Use of online activities should be encouraged at
  local educational institutions as a way to
  strengthen the face-to-face learning environment
  and in order to equip students with lasting
  lifelong learning skills.
• The use of Finks Taxonomy of Significant
  Learning had provided a good framework for
  understanding students statements and to answer
  the research question How online activities
  have impacted students learning?

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• Thank you
• Questions comments
• Salam Abdallah, PhD
• Assistant Professor of MIS
• Abu Dhabi University, UAE
• isalam_at_gmail.com