This week, we talked about blended learning and the different levels of multi-access learning.
This lesson was interesting to me, because I had no idea there were so many terms related to hybrid learning. I had only ever really heard the terms “hybrid,” and “asynchronous” versus “synchronous,” and I had only heard of those terms because of Covid. This lesson and our guest speaker, Nicole Kent, really opened my eyes to the world of online learning.
I think that online learning has pros and cons associated with it. Obviously, because of the pandemic, we have had to adapt to blended learning environments, which has created some obstacles specifically for elementary school teachers. Younger students in primary grades are not as accustomed to using computers in class as students in elementary classes might be. Therefore, online learning for younger students is a lot harder, because the BC curriculum for primary grades centers around learning through play. When students learn online, they lose the manipulative aspect of learning in person. It is important that young students have materials to play with in order to advance their learning.
Another big obstacle is that some students might not have access to the resources they need to learn online. Due to socioeconomic reasons, some students might not have a laptop available to them, or they might not have wireless internet at their houses. I think this is one of the main reasons why online learning was so difficult for some students, because some schools were unable to provide their students with the resources they needed to be successful.
On the other hand, online learning has its benefits as well. In the video we watched in class, we learned about the Flipped learning method. I can see the benefits to this method, and how having students watch videos before a lesson would be helpful in teaching them a specific concept. It definitely gave me some ideas as to how I could incorporate technology into my classroom in the future.
After our guest speaker, we were given the rest of class try out TinkerCad! I was really excited about this, but also intimidated. I had never made anything to be 3D printed before. Luckily, we were given really clear instructions, and it was much easier than I thought it would be! Below is the keychain I created to be 3D printed.
I am so excited to see what it looks like when it is printed!