Meridith Davis

November 23, 2016

OMDE 608-9040
Activity #3
Compose 3 questions about the resources reviewed in this unit
(unfamiliar words, confusing passages or ideas)

1. My first question in this unit comes from the Bray & McClasky article
about personalized learning plans. The description of the PLPs is based
on a traditional face-to-face elementary classroom. Im wondering how
this could be adapted for a high school or college level distance
education program. The authors state that the PLP is designed, with
help from the student, by observing and questioning how each student
accesses information, engages with content and expresses what he
knows (Bray & McClasky, 2014, para. 14.). Without the benefit of
student observations, how could a teacher going about creating
personalized learning plans for their students?
2. My second question comes from the Dron and Anderson (2014) article.
The authors mention the idea of institutional cross-cutting cleavages
(Dron & Anderson, 2014, p. 277). Although I have read over the
passage several times in an attempt to make clear the term, I am still
unsure as to what cross-cutting cleavages are. My best understanding
is that it is referring to public social media posts that are taken out of
context. I am interested in further clarification on this term, as I am
currently proposing the use of social media tools at my high school.

3. My third question stems from the Kukulska-Hulme & Traxler (2013)

about mobile learning. The authors note that there is great pedagogic
potential for mobile learning but they fail to expand on this idea in
depth. Im left wondering what the pedagogical implications are for
mobile learning and how they differ from ODL pedagogy.

Write 2 predictions based on one of the resources (what will happen

next)

My two predictions stem from the Downes (2016) presentation about

innovation in learning.
1. I predict that badging will become a new means of assessment in K-12
educational institutions, both traditional and online. Badging is a new
way of showing mastery of a skill or objective without using a
quantitative grading system. I believe that many school will be
adapting this new method of evaluation as a means of innovating the
learning environment and motivating students to exceed expectations.
2. My second prediction about innovation is the increased use of games
and virtual reality. I was in a conference last week with technology
specialists from all over the county and many of them stated that
gamification is a high priority for their schools at the moment. This is
another innovation that will increase student engagement and
retention in the classroom. Virtual reality is a tool that will similarly
increase engagement and make learning more tangible for students.

Make one connection based on the resource (connect to something

you know or have experienced)

I definitely connected to the Riegg Cellini & Darolia (2016) article about
student loan borrowing. This has been a hot topic in the recent presidential
race as some candidates were calling for student loan forgiveness and free
college education. I have personally taken out student loans for my
undergraduate and both of my graduate degrees. I have attended all public
institutions for my degrees and have needed loans to cover 100% of the
costs. Their article sheds light on the growing problem of student loan debt.
Although the authors mainly focus on the issue of student loan debt in
private colleges, they demonstrate the issue at every type of higher
education institution. Their data is frightening in that it shows the epidemic
continuing to grow unless some policy changes are made.

References
Bray, B., & McClasky, K. (June, 11, 2014). Personalize your learning
environment. ISTE International Society for Technology in Education.
Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/ArticleDetail?articleid=11
Downes, S. (2016, July 27). Disruptive innovations in learning. TCU
International e-Learning Conference, Bangkok, Thailand (Keynote).
Retrieved from http://www.downes.ca/presentation/389
Dron, J. & Anderson, T. (2014). Issues and challenges in educational uses of
social software. In J. Dron & T. Anderson (Eds.), Teaching crowds:
Learning and social media(pp. 275-298). Retrieved from
http://klangable.com/uploads/books/99Z_Dron_AndersonTeaching_Crowds.pdf
Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Traxler, J. (2013). Designing for mobile and wireless
learning. In H. Beetham and R. Sharpe (Eds.), Rethinking pedagogy for
a digital age. Designing and delivering e-learning (pp. 180-192).
London & New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. Retrieved
from http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30668884/fil
e1.pdf?
AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1470068637&Sig
nature=LEPe8d4vy4ovsEZQdx0lvm3%2B0Uk%3D&response-contentdisposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DDescribing_ICTbased_learning_designs_th.pdf
Riegg Cellini, S. & Darolia, R. (2016, June). Different degrees of debt: Student
borrowing in the for-profit, nonprofit, and public sectors. The Brown
Center on Education Policy at Brookings. Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2016/06/23student-borrowing-cellini-darolia/cellini.pdf