Reflection along the way
Starting the LRNT528 course, Facilitating in Digital Learning Environments, made me weigh what we have gone through in the MALAT program so far. Things are looking more complete as we come to the last two courses of the program’s schedule.
We have seen what is relevant to different learning environments and dealt with research and academic writing. We have had interesting team works and discussions about foundations of learning, did some design and innovating in learning environments, explored the importance of being a change agent in digital learning, as well as inquired about contemporary issues to finally experienced the design and creation of digital learning resources.
Now it is time for us to learn and practice how to make the outcomes of the resources we gathered in our toolbox accessible to us and our learners. There is an etymological relationship between the words “easy” and “fácil” (Spanish), which converge in the cognate word facilitate/facilitar. The meaning of the word represents the challenge a good facilitator must accomplish: make things easy -for the learner.
Learning from the first team
The Core Four of Personalized Learning (Johns & Wolking, 2018) brought some old directives into a new perspective. While in the public education system I was frequently asked to include differentiated instruction, as well as to allow the students to progress at their own pace. Furthermore, the practice of centres was enforced since early stages even prior to the formal grades, thus my Pre-Kindergarten students and I had our share of the modality.
Setting the classroom for the core four elements can be beneficial given the school has the resources required. This was the make or break component because the school district expected the directive to succeed without providing for it. Each teacher had to look for ways to achieve the setup, and plan and prepare the lessons accordingly. The extent to which I was able to experience the approach was fun and engaging for the students, while also fun and, at the same time, demanding for the teachers. The balance was positive for the students although a bit frustrating for the teachers because we knew we could have accomplished more.