{"id":280,"date":"2021-09-23T08:11:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T15:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/?p=280"},"modified":"2021-09-23T12:36:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T19:36:58","slug":"2021-09-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/2021-09-23\/","title":{"rendered":"523.1.3 – Lessons of Relevance and Contradiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s post reviews the 2nd<\/sup> third of Weller\u2019s 25 years of ed-tech and covers 2002 to 2011. One concept that has immediate relevance in my current work is chapter 9\u2019s look at the Learning Management System (LMS). Weller (2020) highlights that if not carefully planned, an organization may set itself up for failure in the long run as these types of tools are costly to create and can take on a life of their own. Indeed, when organizations incorrectly value the costs and benefits of labour and capital, they can hold onto depreciating and maintenance-dependant assets for too long.\u00a0 Although the costs of maintenance and new investment in the case of the LMS would be more apparent to an organization, the benefits of using old vs. new digital tools are more challenging to quantify. Weller (2020) refers to this concept as institutional sedimentation, whereby structures are built\u00a0around founding principles and decrease institutional agility. To avoid sedimentation, Weller (2020) suggests organizations 1) articulate why an LMS will help, 2) how it matches their chosen learning theory, and 3) use 3rd<\/sup> party tools, like Google Docs, when possible to reduce cost and incorporate institutional agility into their resources.<\/p>\n

A second lesson I found most pertinent to my work in coach development is the use of ePortfolios discussed in chapter 15. Weller (2020) summarizes numerous definitions of ePortfolios from Lorenzo and Ittelson (2005) and Beethem (2005) as a collection of assignments that demonstrate student progress through informal and formal activities, and which are owned by the student, can be used for future reflective learning, and exhibit qualities that support evaluation by teachers. Although a great idea in principle, the implementation of ePortfolios has historically been a challenge. In my specific work as a coach developer, we use a portfolio for the evaluation and certification of our coaches. However, we have yet to create a resource designed with the student and the evaluator equally in mind. For example, recent revisions shifted from a Word doc version to a fillable PDF. However, the fillable sections made it difficult for the student and evaluator to read the answers. The evaluation criteria are also disjointed from the assignments, placed at the back of the resource, making it challenging for students to complete each task as designed and for evaluators to evaluate critical outcomes. Numerous other challenges are associated with the current design; however, there is interest in making further edits this off-season. Weller\u2019s (2020) recommendations are helpful and remind us to adopt a student-centred approach that includes user-friendly formats, comprehensive instructions that match the evaluation criteria, and prompt students to complete some tasks in a community-hosted discussion, like a padlet or closed forum. This last element would incorporate concepts of the Personal Learning Environment and Connectivism spoken about in chapters 17 and 18, but that is for another day!<\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

Weller, M. (2020).\u00a025 Years of Ed Tech<\/em><\/a>. Athabasca University Press.<\/p>\n

Beetham, H. (2005). E-portfolios in post-16 learning in the UK: Developments, issues and opportunities. Retrieved from http:\/\/bectaepexpert.pbworks.com\/f\/Beetham+eportfolio_ped.doc<\/a><\/p>\n

Lorenzo, G., & Ittelson, J. (2005). An overview of e-portfolios. Educause Learning Initiative<\/em>, 1<\/em>(1), 1\u201327. Retrieved from https:\/\/library.educause.edu\/resources\/2005\/1\/an-overview-of-eportfolios<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s post reviews the 2nd third of Weller\u2019s 25 years of ed-tech and covers 2002 to 2011. One concept that has immediate relevance in my current work is chapter 9\u2019s look at the Learning Management System (LMS). Weller (2020) highlights that if not carefully planned, an organization may set itself up for failure in … Continue reading “523.1.3 – Lessons of Relevance and Contradiction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523","tag-activity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0206\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}