Custom-Made Learning: blending technology and teaching to fit the learning of the individual student
HOW IT WORKS
2.0.0 Curiculum design and build Pedogogy of the Unique
I feel that I need to ask and find answers to the questions of what direction my profession is going to take in terms of education. I strongly feel that some thing is very wrong with how we are teaching nurses and, as an educator, I felt a bit disconnected and at a loss as to if I really wanted to do this any more. I look to my inner teachers, namely my heart, to see if I am truly educating our future nurses in care and critical thinking. The answer was, well yes but??? The along came BlendKit2017 and my answers soon followed. Inspired by this course, I chose to express my story in my way. The good and the bad as all is process I hope you enjoy this telling as I hand over to the visual portfolio of expectations, experience and questions as a work in progress below....
2.0.1 Curriculum design issues
BlendKit 2017 is a very well structured course, beautifully designed and delivered. Using Canvas as its framework is a hard learning curve. In the timings of this course, I moved house and universities and struggled to keep within the schedule. My only criticism was the projected time need to complete each week assignments was way over the predicted 4 hours a week. I fully claim it was my doing as I was totally absorbed in the process of teaching a blended course and being a student in the design of one. What a mass of contradictions I faced between what I was doing and what is considered a more academic approach. Finding BlendKit2017 was an accident. I was already doing a blended learning course online with Leeds University in the UK and loving it. I am thinking about the learning out comes as my course has very few key learning outcomes this was by instruction rather than design. I guess limiting the risk and fallout if it all goes wrong. No one knows what the shape of International Nursing is going to look like in its future for it is truly at the front of exploratory teaching research here in Japan. It is my hope that I will be able to motivate students to become creators of knowledge as they find their way to reach the key performance indicators or find new ones?. How to explain that to the Dean??smile.
2.0.2 Content rational outcomes
As I write I am conscious of the problem that my thinking may cause my profession regarding the current trend towards evidence-based practice. However, considerable evidence indicates that much professional decision-making is not based on the best evidence but instead on an individual’s intuitive judgement concerning the appropriate actions to take for a given clinical challenge. This intuitive approach has resulted in wide variations in clinical practice and the outcomes associated with it (Tinkler et al. 1999). Nursing has embraced this stance positively and has used intuition as the mark of an expert in the field (Benner 1984; Benner et al. 1999).
Nurse education in developing countries remains firmly influenced my the medical model of education grounded solely on and in science. Consequently, the art, craft and heart of nursing are missing from most university curriculums. Blended learning offers new ways to approach education with a range of teaching methodologies and approach not grounded in power or finance.
Artefact 2.0.0
My Dreams
2.0.3 Balancing the curriculum!
Ponderings of Blended learning week three #BlendKit2017 Week two was a busy week, some well-constructed ideas on focusing on the drafting of the curriculum and then focusing in on one module to see what blended elements could be used. It was a very thought-provoking exercise with many useful apps explored, yet most had a hidden hook. Need more functionality? Then out comes the link to upgrade to Pro level. Not that I mind, the cost is very low and I am privileged to have employment. Yet, it sort of defeats the ethos of open blended learning which is supposed to be open and free. The cynical side of me would ask the question are universities involved with contractual agreements with designers? MOOC have thousands of students all gently but firmly being pushed to get the social recognition from the university at about 50-60 UKpounds a hit. Big business when you look at it like that! Cynicism aside there are so many great classes out there for the motivated life-long learner. So happy learning. Moving on to week three
Artefact 2.0.1. Hardware platforms in my old den , before moving to Shikoku Island and needing to set it all up again, of course things would not work!