Throughout my undergraduate degree in education I was exposed to numerous learning theories. These theories included, Skinner, Vygotsky, Piaget, and Whitehead. This exposure to learning theories was valuable, but when I began my ETAD program I was in need of a refresher, especially when it came to applying theories in the classroom.
My experience in ETAD 802 occurred at an important time in my development. After teaching for approximately five years, I was able to more critically read and explore learning theories. My original experiences were prior to my teaching; therefore, everything I learned about was simply a theory. This time around I had teaching experience to draw upon and I was required to reflect upon my reading. I reflected and applied theses concepts in our weekly discussion board posts (eg.
ETAD 802 Discussion 2,
ETAD 802 Discussion 3).
This application of theories was also continued throughout my series of
blog posts (and
here) that I wrote during the course. For these posts I focused on educational technology and specifically on applications of, research on, and
criticisms of flipped teaching.
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| Screenshot of ETAD 802 Blog |
Further into my program I took ETAD 804, in which we studied and explored theories and research related to distance education. My exploration and application of these concepts is evident in my
discussion board posts and in my distance education proposal for
Flipped Teaching for University Instructors. In the following months, this proposal assignment became the backbone of a workshop that we offer at the Gwenna Moss Centre.
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| "Over Easy" Flipped Experience webpage |
These experiences, discussions, blog posts and assignments forced me to think critically about abstract theories. I now have an appreciation for educational theory and a habit of staying up to date on research and popular media coverage related to educational technology and distance education. This program not only helped me understand the theories, but also to understand how they apply in the work that I do.
