Have you ever reflected back on your life and thought, “why do I not know this information?”\u00a0 According to Levy (2019) she theorized that \u201cwe don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know\u201d (24:17).\u00a0 Opportunities for learning are there – we just have to find them.\u00a0 My avenue for learning and skill building was participating in the MALAT Virtual Symposium.\u00a0 This Symposium provided me the chance to learn about the open continuum, instructional design and curriculum development in the post secondary setting together with growing my knowledge of today\u2019s challenges and tomorrows\u2019 opportunities in the world of academia and business.<\/p>\n
Prior to attending the Symposium, my definition of \u2018open\u2019 did not extend beyond \u2018free\u2019 online learning (Childs, 2019, p.3).\u00a0 Childs (2019) asserted that open<\/em> is related to \u201cscholarships and access (research journals), data (research), educational resources (texts) and practices (pedagogy and platforms)\u201d to name a few (p.3).\u00a0 The MALAT program is taught using experiential and collaborative learning which is a fundamental component of open practices.\u00a0 On the one hand, Burgess (2019) shared in her online presentation that she has spent “20 years trying to get facilitators to do what they don\u2019t want to do” (18:26).\u00a0 My interpretation is that many post secondary facilitators were not embracing this open forum as it was outside of their comfort zone.\u00a0 On the other hand, Cormier (2017, p.8) suggested that the open learning was a rhizome which is defined as a weed that can\u2019t stop growing because open learning extends to community learning, network learning and people are able to learn from each other therefore participation continues to\u00a0widen and grow (p.12). Openness is the future of learning. \u00a0It would be unfair to return to the days of monotonous PowerPoint slide decks, albeit that is a familiar form of delivering information in a post secondary institution.\u00a0 Change happens one day at a time, one person at a time.\u00a0 Change begins with working in an open learning environment and this environment can positively impact instructional design.<\/p>\n Instructional design is a key component of effective and efficient student-centered learning.\u00a0\u00a0 Yunker and Young (2019) asserted that making connections with the client and learner is critical in order to ensure their needs are being addressed (p.6). The connections help to promote a\u00a0 common ground which builds strong relationships.\u00a0 Levy (2019) maintained that in keeping with the open learning movement, the instructional designer must build learning objectives around the business\/organization strategy and the needs of the learners (27:08).\u00a0 Learning outcomes must align with the business strategy. In addition, Yunker and Young (2019) claimed that learning has to stick and it should be \u201cmeaningful, memorable, motivational and measurable\u201d (p.18).\u00a0 I agree with this principle.\u00a0 Learning has to be relevant and timely for the participant.\u00a0 The methods used to facilitate learning should be built on previously learned information.\u00a0 The analogy is building a house.\u00a0 First you need the foundation, then the walls and then the roof.\u00a0 The siding and windows come after the house is built.\u00a0 Learners appreciate experiential learning and it lessens the anxiety of learning a new task.\u00a0 Yunker and Young (2019) maintained that when the outcomes are measurable learners will adapt to change because they can see the \u2018what\u2019s in it for me\u2019 (p.18).<\/p>\n The MALAT Symposium provided me an opportunity to expand my knowledge base.\u00a0 At first I was overwhelmed.\u00a0 After a week of participating in the webinars, the information became familiar and I had my ‘ah ha’ moment.\u00a0 Our Ah Ha moments are created through new learning and stretching our comfort zone until we feel uncomfortable.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Burgess, C. (2019, April 15). Insights from BC Campus \u2013 a conversation. Retrieved from <\/p>\n Childs, E. (2019, April 15). Part 1. Openness in MALAT. Retrieved from http:\/\/ow.ly\/fFhu50qnns9<\/a><\/p>\n Cormier, D. (April 18, 2017). Intentional messiness of online communities. Retrieved from https:\/\/ 2017-04-18.0934.M.260AD3030AD273255B9B9C087E6864.vcr&sid=2009211<\/p>\n Levy, C. (2019, April 15, 2019). Designing learning environments for a global market.\u00a0 Retrieved from http:\/\/ow.ly\/PsyN50qn5QV<\/a><\/p>\n Yunker P. and Young. N. (April 16, 2019). Developing Connections with our Clients and Learning Communities.\u00a0 Retrieved from: http:\/\/ow.ly\/RKhO50qwlJy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever reflected back on your life and thought, “why do I not know this information?”\u00a0 According to Levy (2019) she theorized that \u201cwe don\u2019t know what we don\u2019t know\u201d (24:17).\u00a0 Opportunities for learning are there – we just… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0101\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}