Lois' VCC Blog
  • The Joy of Learning
  • Autobiography
  • Adult Learning Strategies
  • PIDP 3260 Professional Practice
  • Journal Section
  • Additional Resources

Discussion Forums Enhance Learning Opportunities

5/28/2017

0 Comments

 
I think discussion forums are a great way to interact with others and share information about different topics of interest. In an online or blended learning course, the discussion forum helps to fill the need for interaction with the instructor and the other learners. In addition to providing interesting learning opportunities, I think discussion forums are a great way to encourage community among the learners. By participating in the discussion forums, I feel like I have connected with several other students in PIDP 3250, even though I have never had the pleasure of meeting them.

One of the assignments we did for 3250 included a self-assessment around our participation in all of the discussion forum topics. I think the opportunity for each student to actively participate in so many discussion forums, and then to have a chance to facilitate one of the forums is brilliant, as it gives us a chance to learn from each other and to experience what it is like to be the facilitator in at least one of the discussion forums. I have already done some valuable learning about a variety of topics (see below) and have learned a great deal more about  facilitating a discussion forum, which I know will help me with the courses I support and facilitate as a Provincial Trainer.

The main topics I learned more about while participating in the discussion forums are: stress and learning; flipped classroom; reflection and learning; spaced learning; emotion and learning; introverts in the classroom; cognitive dissonance; Quaker dialogue; and group work.

​I have learned so much from participating in all of the discussion forums. The resources my classmates shared helped me dig deeper into each topic, and the questions posed by facilitators were thought provoking and moved the discussion forward. The learning I did that resonated with me the most includes:

  1. Spaced learning helps to move things from short term memory to long term memory;
  2. A flipped classroom can happen in different ways i.e. you can flip things right in the classroom;
  3. My learnings are toward introversion, and there is brain science behind the concepts of introversion and extroversion;
  4. Curiosity increase students' ability to learn, not just the object of their curiosity, but also the information they hear during the time they feel curious;
  5. Cognitive dissonance may be responsible for missed learning opportunities, so it is important to encourage students to thing about the 'why' behind their cognitive dissonance;
  6. Using a Quaker Dialogue technique is worth considering when topics are loaded with controversy; and
  7. ​There are four main types of group work that I will continue to explore.
​
Thank you to the current students in 3250 for these great learning opportunities!
One of the joys of being a life-long learner is there is so much more learning to come ...
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Lois' VCC Blog
    This blog focuses on the
    joy and value of lifelong learning and includes in-depth discussions and resources about adult education. Please feel free to add your comments to my blog.


    SIE website
    SIE Facebook
    VCC Moodle

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All

    Creative Commons Licence
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.