Reading Notes: Stein & Graham. Cpt 3

Jared Stein, J., & Graham, C. (2020). 'Chapter 3: Blending to maximise engagement ‘ in Essentials for blended learning: a standards-based guide. New York; London: Routledge. Pp46 -58

“The engagement of the imagination is the only thing that makes any activity more than mechanical.” John Dewey (1916). Page 46

The three E’s explain how well instructions have been received:

Instruction that is not engaging will not benefit learners in the long run. This can be particularly true in a blended environment because by moving learning online it can create distance between students and peer classmates.

“Reaching a learner’s heart is often referred to as “affective engagement” and engaging the mind in the content is often called “cognitive engagement”. Page 47

“In the algebra scenario above, the instructor had decided to use face-to-face instruction to share her personal experiences with failure and to express encouragement and confidence in the students’ ability to succeed.” Page 48 - I could do this with the maths aspect of my online flipped classroom.

There are three different ways that students can interact to gain information from classes. Through student teacher interaction, by student and peer interaction and through student and content material interaction. A lesson that provides interaction with all three proves to be the most effective in producing deep learning and an engaging experience.

Page 50.

A blended learning style can take advantage of the strengths of both content interaction and human interaction.

Recorded information could be seen as static content that doesn’t change or adapt from student interaction. An example of this and a negative point to make in my justification

“Research is clear that traditional lectures are not only less engaging, but they are also less effective when they are a primarily one-way transmission of information.” Page 53

Michael Moore’s theory: “This theory explains that physical distance is not as important as psychological distance when it comes to engaging learners. For example, a student might feel emotionally closer to an online instructor on the other side of the world who he interacts with personally than to an onsite classroom instructor with 100 students who develops no personal relationship with the students.” page 54

The biggest bias is that teachers and students often feel that online learning is impersonal. – But it doesn’t have to be.

Refs:

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: Macmillan.

Moore, M. G. (2007). A theory of transactional distance. In M. G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of distance education (2nd ed., pp. 89–105). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.