As an artist, what and how different individuals see, interpret and observe pictures, color schemes or any everyday item is a truly amazing process. Several years ago, I was introduced to the following video and continue to use it with my students and teachers as an exercise of their ability to see actions from multiple perspectives.
“Test Your Awareness: Do the Test”
Each individual and their unique perspective provides a wealth of information, knowledge and background details. As I continue to pursue my Master’s Degree in Instructional Design, I have found that multiple perspectives can never hurt. As an individual who experienced an online education for the first time within the past three years, I’ve found that I prefer many of the traits associated with an online education due to the building of community resources, the individuals within these communities and the wealth of information shared through our online activities, discussions and assignments. Kevin Wilcoxon (2011) defines a learning community as a “group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct meaning and confirm mutual understanding.” (www.learningsolutionsmag.com) In a traditional face-to-face educational model, a study group might fit the mold of a learning community. A weekly meeting or study time would help facilitate the sharing of ideas and information related to the week’s assignments and collective objectives. When translated to an online environment, the learning community has evolved from working environments “into collaborative places where knowledge is disseminated by autonomous individuals organized into more lateral and less hierarchical structures.” (Gruenbaum, 2010) In other words, multiple perspectives can never hurt.
My online course experiences with classmates from around the globe along with their professional and personal experiences has presented valuable resources and information that I may never receive from any textbook, article or workbook. The use of collaborative tools such as discussion boards, wikis and blogs have increased my satisfaction for online instruction because these tools extend my general thoughts beyond traditional rote memorization and recall. As noted by Walden University (n.d.) individual participants will “have time to think. In online learning communities, you do not need to rush to answer a question as you might in a traditional classroom, and you and your classmates can build on each other’s responses for a more thorough conversation.” (www.waldenu.edu) The people who makeup the community are the key cogs that keep the community together. Without people within the community, the community fails to exist.
In each session, our weekly objectives serve as the reason we come together to help build and learn from one another. Each week, new perspectives are shared based on the prompts we receive in various discussion methods. Rob Kelly (n.d.) notes the use of similar tools help “students to reflect on their own learning and provide feedback” for course improvement. (www.cincinnatistate.edu, p.21) Our need to share in the week’s topic serve as the reason for discussion, exploration of thoughts and purpose for working as collaborative educators. Jody Donovan (2015) notes “the concept of peer learning recognizes that students are an important source of knowledge in addition to faculty and course material.” (blog.online.colostate.edu) I believe the collaborative sharing steps help individuals to process the information with more depth and more understanding.
When individuals are connected to the community and the topics of discussion remain relevant to the objectives set by the university or course facilitator, the opportunity for expanded growth and development increase. Donovan (2015) notes “encouraging students to reach out to classmates with similar life circumstances can be a first step to building relationships in the online environment.” Like any other community, the stories, the connections, the relationships serve as the foundation for growth.
Perspectives offer an alternate way of viewing and thinking about how certain tasks, objectives or information can be processed. I believe being presented with an alternate perspective can only help to build resilience and provide a broader level of understanding which in turn can lead to deeper learning and better decisions. Multiple perspectives may be lengthy and may not hold any personal relevance but at no point, will they cause any intentional harm.
MFABRAMS - ID ArchiTECH
References
Donovan, J. (October 8, 2015) The importance of building online learning communities. Retrieved from http://blog.online.colostate.edu/blog/online-education/the-importance-of-building-online-learning-communities/
Gruenbaum, E.A. (May 2010) Creating online professional learning communities and how to translate practices to the virtual classroom. Retrieved from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1806336
Kelly, R. (n.d.) Threaded discussions: They’re not just for controversial or ambiguous issues. Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Tools: 15 Strategies for Engaging Online Students Using Real-Time Chat, Threaded Discussions and Blogs. Retrieved from http://www.cincinnatistate.edu/online/faculty-resources/15%20Strategies%20for%20engaging%20online%20students%20using%20real-time%20chat-%20threaded%20discussions%20and%20blogs.pdf
Test Your Awareness: Do the Test [video] (n.d.) YouTube.com. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4
WaldenUniversity.edu (n.d.) The top 10 benefits of online learning communities. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/programs/resource/the-top-10-benefits-of-online-learning-communities
Wilcoxon, K. (October 3, 2011) Building an online learning community. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/761/building-an-online-learning-community
