Wu Ya Jun’s Reflection on ONL 212 Topic 5: Lessons learnt-future practice

I was unfamiliar with online tools and resources in the beginning of the ONL212 course. I had never used tools like miroboard or Lucidchart – in fact I did not even know about the ‘annotate’ feature in zoom, although I have used it for two years since the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

The important things that I have learnt through my engagement in the ONL course is leadership. We often have doubts during online learning. We investigated possible solutions on the way.  We learnt from communicating with our group, discussing and investigating. Some of us also felt frustrated along the way. Sometimes we may wonder which way is better than the others in delivering the outcomes. Facilitators and leaders introduce some interesting online tools to us. It definitely helps us to solve the problem immediately and speed up the progress. Being fully engaged in in our learning process, it is an interesting, challenging and different learning experience on different topics.

During the course, we tried some online tools which can be used in our future teaching courses’ design. We tried to use different online tools to show a variety of effects on assignments. It encourages us to come out with the first step to embrace the new digital world. It is virtual, but it is also a small real world, though we cannot physically touch each other, but we are able to discuss the tasks and fulfill all the requirement with the contribution of all group members. We built trust and friendship during the course.

We have reflected on our own modes of learning regarding the Elmore’s modes of learning from Harvard University’s Professor Elmore. He developed the Modes of Learning framework which helps individuals identify their disposition towards learning or personal learning theory. He distributes modes of learning into four quadrants, using two continuum axes: hierarchical to distributed learning and individual to collective learning. The 4 modes are: Hierarchical individual, Hierarchical collective, Distributed individual and Distributed collective. We have reflected our own modes of learning and found most of us are within the Individual quadrants of Distributed/Hierarchical, who may more focus on structure, knowledge and goals. We are trying to head towards the more Collective side of Distributed/Hierarchical, people who may be more sociable and network with the community. The ONL course facilitated my experience of socially distributed collaboration and openness directly as a learner.

Since I have my own learning blog and Twitter account, I will continue to use it and record my learning journey in future as a result of my involvement in ONL.Moving forward, I would be applying what I have learnt and use online tools for improvement of eLearning courses in my current and future teaching practices in research projects to enrich the students’ learning experience. 

Last but not least, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to everyone in group 7 who studied the ONL212 course with me in virtual platforms for a few months. Life has become more colorful and meaningful after meeting all of you in the virtual world.