dis/THISConnected

DISTHISconnected

For weeks, the Philippines has been under terrible rains and floods. But from where I was, that is within the University campus residential area, electricity was up and running so I continued on with my usual work of doing online academic advising for a population of undergraduate students. I was THIS connected with work in the midst of heavy rains yet remained disconnected with the rest of my countrymen.

I only realized it too late that I in fact scheduled for a live class at WizIQ with  my bunch of students in a course I teach at the UP Open University. I checked my email for any class registration sent though WizIQ and my Moodle site for any kind of response from my students. I  had only 1 prospective student attendee who confirmed participation as seen in my WizIQ class/course page.  I was uncertain whether to cancel or not. I can easily do that in one click through the cancel class/change class time features of WizIQ, but I held back. At one end,  I figured, 'Was I thaaat insensitive to even push through with a live class?', given that maybe some of my students were flooded, with no electricity, or out in the cold. But then, how are they, really? There I was fussing over a class instead of watching the news.

But I decided to push through, just like always, because that is what it means to teach, especially now that my teaching isn't just about setting up activities and discussion forum at my Moodle course site. Discovering a videoconferencing platform in an eLearning community of WizIQ has given me an  alternative way to teach online and keep myself connected with my students real time, making the whole experience of blended online learning worth doing.

And so, what I expected to be just 1 attendee, surprisingly became 12 =).  9-13 student attendees is the range I have in my live classes on any given day. But in this kind of weather, 12 students is  a wonder!  In what can  possibly be chaotic, for more than 60 minutes or so, turned out to be calm, as we were all together actively learning because lifelong learning simply has to go on. I think more than the idea of  holding a class together, was the real chance to assure ourselves that we shall get through this class alive and get through more days of rains if we have to. This opportunity to be online and live at that, was some affirmation we all needed. The virtual class kept us connected THIS MUCH, and it felt good to be alive.

One time, I was supposed to share a few words on the use of synchrononous platforms and its pedagogical value with the rest of my colleagues in the university.   I was not able to get that chance due to a prior committment. Now should be a good time to explain. Well, for one academics love to do that---find some logical, theoretical, pedagogical (or more '-cals' and '-isms', the better) to justify why we do the things we do, for every little decision we make, every step of the way, as do all in government institutions such as my university. Unlike my fellow professors,  a big part of me is really just about being a teacher. When I know and feel that something is worth trying because it feels right, I go for it, knowing that I have my students in mind. It's enough for me that I can visualize it happening and I don't need to rack my brains for any theory to support it. The cycle of action-reflection is quite intuitive among teachers who are expected to think on their toes and make quick decisions if it means keeping students attentive and engaged.

When I first learned about WizIQ through a live demo session and tutorials available, I immediately tried it with gradeschoolers. It was like having a face to face class--I was present through the chatbox, audio-mic and ppt visuals, and my students were buzzing away on the whiteboard and chatbox.  Then after attending and observing teachers teach in WizIQ, I finally scheduled my first series of live classes with grad-level students at the university. All I can say is that, through synchronous modes such as the WizIQ virtual classroom, I became more connected with my students and myself  as a teacher.  There is value in getting immediate feedback from a number of students whom to me represent the class as a whole.

With ^Anitha Devi at ELT@I,Chennai

On several occasions in my life as a teacher among young learners, the gut feel of things have driven me to experiment, and most often, I get something in return. The returns are more than what I expected or predicted.
 The more-than-what-I-expected or -predicted-part was I found myself pursuing research on teaching presence in synchronous platforms to find  a logical and theoretically based excuse to observe exemplary online teachers and learn from them.  This research experience has brought me places where I can share and network with fellow teachers. In my last out of the country conference at ELT@I Chennai, I had the chance to see Anitha Devi, a co-presentor at the 2012 Free Online Conference organized by Dr Nellie Deutsch of IT4ALL, with WizIQ as our platform to present out papers LIVE.
 Little did I know that Anitha, Nellie and I will be together in 1 face to face conference, and realtime at that, while having Kallol Mukherjee, my WizIQ webstreaming coach, in the same conference recording the whole event, LIVE.

      ELT@I Conference Live Webstreaming through WizIQ, 

c/o Kallol Mukherjee, Coordinator-Academic Liaisons, WizIQ

 
A few days later, there I was at the World Education Summit in Delhi to share my second paper with other professors of the Research Education Forum of Digital Learning.  I had the chance to reconnect with my first WizIQ demoteacher, Mr Kalyan Sarkar, now the Director for Academic Liaisons at WizIQ. All these chance encounters, after 1 year of exchanging ideas online from different parts of the world, are made possible only through technology.

     @the World Education Summit,

with Kalyan Sarkar (L), Director for Academic Liaisons, WizIQ

I must say, in this world when teaching and learning comes with more ease due to advances in technology, getting THIS connected with my students in the midst of calamity, and moreso with folks from other parts of the world, brings me joy. I never thought that teaching...and active learning can get me this far. And in the near future, what more?!