I have been apprehensive about starting the PG Cert for several reasons; balancing workload, having not written anything since my undergraduate degree (my MA was one of very few that specifically had no dissertation requirement) and also choosing to be in the online group. This decision was one born from the necessity of my previously stated workload balance, but this is quite a rogue choice for me.
Historically I am an IN PERSON kind of person. I have a physical diary that I cannot function without, I prefer to meet face to face, and I really dislike online teaching. This is partly because of the type of sessions that are taught online in my role – I teach 3D realisation and development so by nature this must exist in the physical realm. Therefore, the majority of my online teaching experience has been large lectures of 150+ students. During the first PG Cert Workshop I was struck by how the choice to do the PG Cert online may provide its own learning and insights in addition to what I am actually learning as part of the course. Observing how the tutors allow moments of pausing to allow for questions to be asked and for information to be digested is just one thing I have already observed that I will be taking into my own teaching practice going forward.
Based on the tension of how I was feeling about online learning, I chose to read the ‘Embracing the silence: introverted learning and the online classroom’ by Katherine Harris (2022) as the pre-task for workshop. Harris argues that pressure to actively participate may be counter-productive and that online teaching environments can help us challenge the established notions of active and passive learning. She writes ‘might those periods of apparent “inactivity” actually be when a learner is at their most intellectually active?’ and supports this theory with quotes from several other sources:
Fox-Eades (2015) points out that: “Silence, a quietening of mind and body, helps us to flourish, to think clearly and creatively”.
Alerby and Elídóttir (2003, p.46, cited in Fox-Eades, 2015): “It is in the silent reflection that our thoughts take shape and make the experience into learning”.
Wesley (2013) writes of students who “are quiet because they are inclined toward silence; sanctioning silence in the classroom can relieve their anxiety”.
Her ‘underlying question is: could the digital classroom be an opportunity to accommodate those who have a more introverted learning preference – and even to embrace their silence?’ (Harris, 2022).
I am still puzzling out my final thoughts on this. On the one hand I agree that giving space to reflect and formulate thought is important (I have literally written above that this is something I noticed in today’s session). However, on the other hand, I think this is a balance and we should be challenging students to move outside their comfort zones. Not in a way that causes stress and anxiety, but in ways that will lead to new experiences and hopefully discovering things they did not know they could do. I definitely have my own biases from my previous experience teaching in online spaces so hope that being on the side of the student will give me some new insight into the online learning and teaching environment.
References:
HARRIS, K (2022). Embracing the silence: introverted learning and the online
classroom. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal. Vol, 5. Issue, 1.
[Quotes from other sources cited in the above paper:]
Fox Eades, J. (2015) ‘Silence and stillness in the classroom’. Available at:
https://jennyfoxeades.com/2015/02/12/silence-and-stillness-in-the-classroom/
Wesley, C. (2013) ‘Sanctioning silence in the classroom’. Available at:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/sanctioning-silence-in-the-classroom/