Virtual Symposium reflection

I am torn between the real and the imaginary. My professional life and my passion. They have been separated for a decade and MALAT program is a step towards answering the question:

Is it meant to be ? Can they ever get married and have a happy life together ? It is hard to say exactly how far apart they are, but the gap appears everywhere, even in my reflections on a Virtual Symposium.

With one eye, I was watching for clues as to where this career path might lead me. What is the role of an Instructional Designer ? Where can I apply myself as an ID ?  What environment do I better fit in ? How can the knowledge and experience presented in Virtual Symposium help me in my professional life ?

I was surprised to learn that IDs can play a role even in hands-on industries such as dentistry, culinary or trades. It widened my perception which was previously limited to thinking that online courses are mostly tied to theoretical fields. Isn’t it great that there are more career options than I previously thought ? Of course, if I want to continue growing professionally, but such growth, while beneficial, will be taking me in a different direction, away from my passion. I’d like to teach personality psychology, but mostly non-mainstream theories along with my own ideas. And there is no existing academic environment which would allow me to do that.

That’s why, with my other eye, I was watching for any ideas as to how I can succeed on my own. How can i create my own environment, my own digital presence ? How can i communicate my ideas better ? How can i reach an audience ? How do i create my own courses ? How do I avoid the pitfalls (such as  mediocrity of user interface) of many open source platforms and the costs of visually appealing software developed by for-profit companies ? Should I stick with something as boring as Moodle or experiment with more visually pleasing Articulate 360 or something similar ? I was not surprised to hear that some of the instructors share my distaste for Moodle.  Since we rely on it in this program, I appreciate the honesty.

One idea which caught my eye was discussed by Amanda Dunn in her research project “The impact of Self-Efficacy by implementing a community of inquiry into a self-paced online highschool course”. From my own experience, having a community of inquiry, such as a discussion forum, increases engagement and promotes deeper inquiry into subject.  In her research Amanda used an article by Anderson (2017), which explores in more detail the community of inquiry model introduced by Garrison (2009) and argues that social presence, such as discussion forum, is one of the factors behind a successful course. He cites a paper by Holstein and Cohen (2016) which analyzed student perceptions.

During Virtual Symposium I learned a lot about systemic constraints of formal education. I also found myself feeling ambivalent about the use of academic language in presentations as well as research papers. I understand the need for a structure and standards in an academic environment and I don’t disagree with it. Academic writing is one of the areas where I need to improve, but this gap is probably not the reason why I want to gravitate away from academia. Would I be the first person to wonder about the limitations of an academic system ? Would i be the first person to say out loud how dry and disengaging the academic language is ? Especially if one is aiming at capturing the attention of a general public. Probably not. If I were to start writing according to strict academic standards, I would have to resist the urge to write “Probably not” in a previous sentence. It might sound silly, but freedom (or at least flexibility ?) of expression is important to me. If i can avoid placing such limitations on myself, do I not owe it to myself to try ?

I can only hope that this program will prepare me to stand on my own, but it is very likely that I will end up joining the very system that I resist.

References

Anderson, T. (2017). How Communities of Inquiry Drive Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age.                         Retrieved from https://teachonline.ca/tools-trends/insights-online-learning/2018-02-27/how-                 communities-inquiry-drive-teaching-and-learning-digital-age

Garrison, D. R. (2009). Communities of inquiry in online learning: Social, teaching and cognitive presence.
In P. Rogers et al. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of distance and online learning (2nd ed., pp. 352-
355). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Holstein, S., & Cohen, A. (2016). The Characteristics of Successful MOOCs in the Fields of Software,                    Science, and Management, According to Students’ Perception. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-                   Learning & Learning Objects, 12.