Today's Topic:
- Sophia's Thursday Presentation on WBCs
1. SOPHIA'S THURSDAY PRESENTATION on WBCs
What IS a WBC, and who is Sophia Palahicky, you might ask. A WBC is a web-based course and Sophia Palahicky is a WBC instructor from MB Education who came to talk to us about the possibilities of web-based course delivery in our own classrooms.
To start with, something that stood out for me was the ease by which we may access these courses (all of which are Manitoba made, and thus, follow the MB curriculums), and the sheer number of courses available (42 and counting). I think there is definitely a place in my classroom for such a resource.
However, I do not think this place is centre stage. I think that a web-based course would be an excellent place to start when planning my own course, especially as a first-year teacher. Working with a curriculum for the very first time, and having limited resources as we begin our careers is going to be overwhelming! Having a ready-made course would be useful in that it would provide a general outline to work with, which could be (and should be) tweaked along the way in order to suit both the students' learning styles and the teacher's teaching style. It would also provide some of these much-needed resources that first-year teachers just have not had the time and experience to gather yet (I know this is one of my top 3 fears going out into my first year teaching).
Now, I'm honestly not fond of web-based course delivery as an alternative to a classroom learning environment, primarily because I believe that this type of presentation is too rigid, as it does not (and cannot) take into account the interests, personalities, and teaching/learning styles of the individual students and teacher(s) involved in a course. Also, an issue brought up by a classmate during Sophia's presentation really got me thinking. My classmate was concerned about a lack of social learning and peer interaction when it comes to full-fledged web-based course delivery. This is a very valid concern. The student-directed aspect WBCs is good in that students can work through the material at their own pace, however, it is not-so-good because students spend all their time with a computer, rather than their actual peers. This peer interaction (and age-appropriate, rather than learning-level appropriate, classroom grouping) is the foundation of inclusive education, which Manitoba has adopted as a key component of its Educational philosophy.
So, if we are to whole-heartedly buy into web-based course delivery, we cannot possibly whole-heartedly buy into inclusive education. And herein lies the problem. Is there a way for our schools to embrace WBCs and inclusive education? For me, it's just not adding up.
Please, I would love to read your comments on the matter.
Until next time...
Hi Brittani
ReplyDeleteIn total agreement with your post. How can you justify using this format which contradicts the philosophical foundations of our system? The classroom needs to be social, cooperative, and interactive on a first-hand basis. ICT should be a tool in the classroom not the classroom run by a teacher on the other side of the world. This just provokes laziness in critical thinking and social skills. Check out my post on the issue.
Regards, Jeremy
Hi Brittani,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on this issue. I think that in order for students to learn and develop appropriately, that they need to be with their peers to get proper learning experiences. Students learn sooooo much from their peers as they work together and as they interact with one an other.