terça-feira, 30 de março de 2010

PPEL, Unit 1, Task 4

1QI

I posed Dr. Carlos Vieira Lima, Head of Continuous Training Division in Centro de Estudos e Formação Autárquica (CEFA) the following question:

Question:
Dear Carlos Vieira Lima,
I'm a master student at Universidade Aberta who is investigating the impact of Distance Education on workers skills and knowledge.
I hope that you can answer the following question.
If it is acceptable for you, I would like to share both my question and your answer in our course forum and my personal blog at: http://mpelejadores.blogspot.com/
How do you think Distance Education can improve workers skills and knowledge, in local governments context?

Answer:
In the universe of local governments, we have witnessed, in recent years, a huge increase in production of legislation and the introduction of new techniques and methodologies, in virtually all sectors of activity.
These facts create an urgent need for training, so that professionals in each field can keep updated on the latest developments and changes.
Moreover, with the increasing volume of new training needs, people have less and less time available to attend it.
Thus, distance learning is emerging as an effective solution able to fulfill these training needs, respecting the limitations and constraints referred above, enabling the frequency of training which, if taken out the traditional way, in face-to-face courses, people could not attend.
Another advantage of capital importance of this form of teaching/learning lies in the lower financial and social costs, both for organizations that promote training, and for the learners.
However, this process can only be effective and produce satisfactory outcomes if properly organized and implemented in accordance with proper positioning for the learners, with appropriate contents and properly assessed.

sábado, 27 de março de 2010

PPEL, Unit 1, Task 3

I've reviewed Isabel Manteigas's AB: http://isabelmanteigas-elearning.blogspot.com/2010/03/cooperative-freedom-annotated.html
Isabel did a wonderful job.
First, she looked into the dictionary for the meaning of booth cooperate and collaborate meaning, which was very useful for the understanding of her work.
Then, Isabel presented two articles: Ted Panitz's, Collaborative versus Cooperative Learning, and Prof. Morten Paulsen's Cooperative Freedom: an online Education Theory in Online Education.
At last, Isabel presented some conclusions of the authors.
Isabel reveals a good capacity of syntheses. Her annotations and notes are accurate and clear.
I really enjoy Isabel’s Annotated Bibliography.
However, I would like to read her own conclusion, beside the referred author's conclusions.

I've reviewed Isabel Manteigas's LO: http://toonlet.com/creator/isamant
It's a very well done piece of work.
Her cartoon really caught the meaning of the Distance Education.
In a funny way, Isabel showed the advantages of Distance Education and Learning Partnership.
With this example, she demonstrated that, despite our family and work commitments, we can continue our studies and improve our education level and achieve further knowledge and skills.

sábado, 20 de março de 2010

PPEL, Unit 1, Task 2

COOPERATIVE FREEDOM

You can access my PPEL, UNIT 1, Task 2 about Cooperative Freedom here:
http://www.slideshare.net/ffaria/ppel-unit-1-task-2-distance-education-theories

Hope you like it.

COOPERATIVE FREEDOM

Theory of Cooperative Freedom
The theory of autonomy and independence

Adult learners perceive themselves as self-directing human beings and define themselves in terms of their personal achievements and experiences.

 The Theory of Cooperative Freedom perceives both adult and juvenile distance learners as motivated, self-directing students with a desire to control their learning outcomes.The theory applies to all three categories of Houle’s student motivational orientations: goal oriented, activity oriented, and learning oriented.

• Goal-oriented participants will perceive CMC as a way to “keep the edge” and to use state-of-the-art technology to achieve their goals.
• Activity-oriented students cannot resist the always-available online activity.
• Knowledge-oriented people may be motivated by access to all the up-to-date information and knowledgeable people that CMC provides.

This theory suggests that, independently of motivational orientation, distance students need cooperation as well as individual freedom.

domingo, 14 de março de 2010

PPEL, Unit 1, Task 1

Find, study and share materials related to cooperative freedom and organizing it together with ideas and thoughts.

Having taken a long time to find, select and read material related to "cooperative freedom", I was confronted with the fact that the best material has already been cited by my colleagues in their annotated bibliography.
I tried other search engines other than Google, but in vain.
So I decided to refer to the articles I found most interesting, though none will be presented for the first time.

The article that most caught my attention was that of Ted Panitz (1996), A Definition of Collaborative vs Cooperative Learning http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/collaborative-learning/panitz-paper.cfm Retrieved March 2010

Another article which I also found interesting was Thirteen Ed Online Team (2004) What are cooperative and collaborative learning? http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index.html Retrieved March 2010

Finally, I will also mention the article of Stephen Balkcom (1992), Cooperative Learning http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/cooplear.htmlRetrieved March 2010

From these articles we can learn some tips that can help us answer the questions raised by this Unit:
1. How much freedom should online students have?
2. Is online collaboration really worth or just a waste of time?
3. How can we facilitate cooperation in paced and unpaced learning environments?

However, I used the articles of prof. Morten Paulsen "Cooperative Freedom: An Online Education Theory" and "Cooperative online education" to search for clues that allowed us to seek answers to these questions.

The first step was to understand the Theory of Cooperative Freedom and the difficulty in reconciling individual independence, flexibility and freedom with group collaboration, the necessity to contribute in a learning community, and social unity.

Also the definitions of individual, collaborative and cooperative learning were important for me to understand this theory. Quoting Prof. Paulsen in his interview by Michael F. Shaughnessy and Susan M. Fulgham:

"Individual learning provides superior individual flexibility, but very limited affinity to a learning community.
It has a strong position in online education delivered by institutions with a tradition in distance education.
Individual learning is conducted alone.

Collaborative learning requires participation in a learning community, but limits individual flexibility.
One may say that collaborative learning requires that students sink or swim together.
Collaborative learning is common in online education offered by traditional face-to-face institutions.
Collaborative learning depends on groups.

Cooperative learning focuses on opportunities to encourage both individual flexibility and affinity to a learning community. Cooperative learning seeks to foster some benefits from individual freedom and other benefits from cooperation in online learning communities.
It thrives in virtual learning environments that emphasize individual freedom within online learning communities.
Cooperative learning takes place in networks."

Finally, another concept that was essential for me to know was the set of facets of special importance to distance education: time, space, pace, medium, access and content.

I think that in this course we will need all of them, individual, collaborative and cooperative learning, giving preference to the cooperative learning, since we are in an online learning community.

The fact that we know that all our freedoms spelled out in the hexagon of cooperative freedom will be respected is the best way to ensure our dedication and commitment, empowering and rewarding our efforts.
For so, thanks Professor Paulsen.