Participation in open classes

No experience in this world has ever been cathartic without the willing participation of the individual. Life does not automatically bestow wisdom or growth on anyone just for showing up. – Elizabeth Gilbert

In the first few days of EDCI 339 we were asked to pose a question around online classes.  Mine centered on relationships, my pedagogy is focused on relationships with students so it made sense for me to ask that.  Over the course of EDCI 339 I have seen the importance and wonderful facilitation of relationship centered online learning. When reading Hegarty’s article on online pedagogy I was struck in particular by the importance of Attribute one, “ participatory technologies”. In essence In order to have an open learning environment the learner must participate. It seems simple enough in theory, but forcing participation is never that simple. Sure students may submit their work in an online platform , but is that really participating in open learning?  

   In my many years of being in post secondary, I have taken a number of distance ed classes through a number of well respected institutions.  Some have used participatory technologies better than others. I have been in synchronous and asynchronous classes, I have been in classes that were fully open and ones that had closed registration.  It doesn’t seem to matter the modality, so much as the way that the learner was encouraged to participate. The ones that have stuck with me, are the ones that I was a) passionate about and b) engaged in. It seems to me that the peer relationships and personal engagement in the class are the most important to learner success.  Obviously, I have a bias towards relationships in the classroom.

I don’t believe that it is just the participation that fosters success thought, I believe that the participation works to foster a collective who support each other. Through that, it is possible to push the learner past what is comfortable and safe into learning that is daring and exciting.  I think about how to bring this into an elementary distance class, is is not enough to just have the students complete work and submit it. They are missing a piece that allows them to push their learning and challenge it. To grow from the collective understanding and use that to further their own understanding.  

   I will take this with me and ponder over the next few weeks.  How do I, as an elementary classroom teacher, encourage group participation in a distance class?