With the progression of the internet, and technology, us as a society has become more and more dependent on online based programs from shopping, calling someone, and classes/teaching to name a few.

“Sage on the stage”, this term is something that I have never heard before, however,  after reading about it I can say that I have experienced it in online classes, lectures with a large number of students as well as those with a smaller more manageable number of students. There is a vast difference in both learning comprehension and effort that is noticeable when the classes are built on a foundation that prioritizes the importance of what the teacher believes is right and when the teacher puts the importance of the students learning first. Of course, as mentioned in the article there are pros and cons to both however, I personally think the cons to the teacher centered approach is more hurtful to the students than the cons of the student-centered approach. For instance, as mentioned in the article the teacher centered approach in a way takes away independence and autonomy by having the teach fix everything.

After reading about both asynchronous and synchronous I can say that my preferred choice would be synchronous. I personally like the aspect of physically seeing everyone as well as the ability to socialize and feed off of one another. Even though, asynchronous learning promotes independent learning and has more flexibility than synchronous learning the aspect of building off one another and to see the emotion (facial expressions, tones of voices etc) I believe is something that benefits group work. Moreover, a couple other key aspects when it comes to synchronous learning is getting a better connection through connectivism, instructivism and constructivism.

Expanding a little more on the concept of connectivism which is “Networking with connections to gain knowledge or skills”(Crosslin & al., 2020). My major is Psychology and my minor is in Education both of these fields are built on a more Heutagogy foundation. It is apparent that the different types of connectivism is based on the foundation of the class:

  • Pedagogy
    • Based on instructor’s knowledge
  • Andragogy
    • Loosely assisted by the teacher
    • Some group works
      • Decisions made by Group
    • Heutagogy
      • Group Work
      • Help from teacher

Prior to reading this article I was not aware of these variations of connectivism. Throughout my post-secondary career in the first two years of my degree I was most exposed to Pedagogy and in my last couple of years it was a mixture of all three. I can confidently say that I preferred Andragogy Connectivism which is thoroughly defined as “The goal of learning is to work as a network in an informal sense to accomplish a competency that might be somewhat suggested by the course or instructor, but is ultimately determined by the group and based up expanding upon life experiences.” (Crosslin & al., 2020). The sense of informality I believe is a benefit when it comes to learning and being social beings we are able to thrive off learning through life experience.

Reference:

Crosslin, M., & al., e. (2020). Chapter 2: Basic Philosophies. Retrieved 26 January 2020, from https://uta.pressbooks.pub/onlinelearning/chapter/chapter-2-basic-philosophies/