Over the past week, I have been able to watch some exciting presentations on several digital learning resources as part of LRNT 526 of the MALAT program. I have received information about LYNDA, TedEd and Open Educational Resources (OER). I was excited to learn about new possibilities to integrate some new resources into my online and face to face (F2F) classes. Early learning is an underrepresented field of study, and in the past, I have had difficulties in finding materials such as videos and open educational resources for this discipline. It was not surprising to me that when searching the database of LYNDA and TedEd, I could not find resources that focused on topics I would be teaching. I have run into the same problem with OER in the past. So, amidst the thousands of resources and materials, I am still left with the reality that instructors in my field of study have to create resources to create availability. This discovery brought me to reconsider my journey of inquiry in the field of early learning. I find myself continuously seeking new knowledge, adding to my experiences and knowledge, and at the same time feeling grounded in the process of discovery (Justice et al., 2009). This process of life long learning and researching has been an element of learning amongst most of the faculty I work with, and it certainly has been an approach in how we design and deliver our curriculum to students. We make inquiry-based learning a focus in most of our courses and have expectations on our students to be able to engage in this type of learning. Sitting on the other side of the table as a student myself, I experience the pros and cons of this pedagogy, and it has allowed me to create more space for my student’s reluctance to want to inquire. To engage in inquiry-based learning requires critical thinking and assimilation of knowledge that goes beyond the topic at hand (Justice et al., 2009). Inquiry-based learning does not supply easy solutions, nor does it always deliver answers to questions. Inquiry-based learning often leaves the student with more questions than they started with, and it does not supply a road map for learning, instead, it asks the student to draw their own map. This self-directed learning approach can be exhausting, and I have to admit just like my students, sometimes I want someone to just give me the answer! This cognitive exhaustion brings me back to my experience this past week. LYNDA, TedED and OER did not give me what I wanted and did not supply me with an easy answer. However, inquiry-based learning also means to collaborate (Justice et al., 2009) and to contribute to a community to make the collective better than it was before. I guess I better continue to create resources that can be shared with other instructors and can be added to LYNDA, TedEd and OER in the future, making each of them a better resource for instructors of my discipline. I am curious to hear from other instructors about their experiences with online resources or their own inquiry-based learning journeys.
References
Justice, C., Rice, J., Roy, D., Hudspith, B., & Jenkins, H. (2009). Inquiry-based learning in higher education: administrators’ perspectives on integrating inquiry pedagogy into the curriculum. Higher education, 58(6), 841-855. Read from page 841 to first heading on page 846.
Anita, thanks for this open and insightful exploration into your own experience of critical inquiry, and about the challenges of resources in early education. Also I appreciate how you reflect on your own experience in a way that enables you to empathize more with other learners on similar pathways. You’re right, you end up with even more questions, but that’s a good thing, right! With our questions come curiosity, exploration, reflection and learning, all vital elements in our growth as educators.
Hi Irwin, thanks for the reply to my post. Absolutely questions are a good thing! I whole heartedly agree. Questions open doors to different perspectives and innovative solutions. Cognitively they are a lot of work, and I often find my own students just want me to give them the recipe, or the answer, on how to work with children. As humans, children are so unique on their trajectory of development, and they each bring with them a different cultural environment that predictability on how to guide them goes out the window. My work brings continuous questions with it, and as an educator I have become quite used to it, As a student, I have a new appreciation for the position of my learners. I have thought about on how I could approach their question differently from my standard “that is a really good question! Anyone want to answer that one?” to a more empathetic reaction that could create some motivation to want to dig deeper. Mostly creating space within my classroom to allow engagement with the students, even if it takes us away form the lesson plan, to help them find the answer through research.
Thank you for your thoughtful reflection Anita. My experience in participating in this critical inquiry is similar. There is a lot of thinking to do around where to expand my research, what questions should be asked and answered and when I should draw a line and stop. Although I can see the value of this type of learning, it can certainly be exhausting.