ETEC-501, Module-1

ETEC 501 — Module 1 Assignments 1-3, Week-1

• Assignment #1

The completed assignment should be posted on WordPress, and a link to the assignment emailed to me. See Blog Assignment Section of the syllabus

1. Create a self-introduction posting that includes your job title, career goals, reasons for taking the e-Learning certificate/course, e-Learning course design experience, and what experiences you can share with your classmates in this course.—DONE.  See it at: https://glengraham.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/etec-501/
   

 

2. Write reflective comments on what is like being an e-learning or a distance learning student based on your experience of taking any sort of distance education. 

If I were not taking online courses, it would be virtually impossible for me to continue my education at this stage of my life. I have no spare time to commute to a traditional classroom. I am tremendously busy with daily responsibilities of my teaching assignments, which would often conflict. E-Learning enabled me to continue my education without the normal time and distance barriers, normally associated with Face-to-Face, traditional education. I have taken many purely online courses at both CSUSB, and at my local community college, before that. I have taken both hybrid and fully-online courses at my community college, as well as at CSUSB. I like online coursework, because of the freedom to work on it at all hours of the day and night—it is very efficient, considering I can work at home, when I have the time. However, when forced to work with other online, it has been distasteful for me, because I cannot control the study habits of other people. Therefore, I would often be given materials to complete an assignment, late, leaving me to pick up the slack, which I did not appreciate. I really prefer being totally responsible for my own work, rather than delayed by team members, whose timing, and whose work-product, I cannot control.

 

3. What is the definition of critical thinking?  Robert Weissberg defines critical thinking as “the ability to use reason to move beyond the acquisition of facts to uncover deeper meaning.”

Use a citation. See reference, below:

Reference

Weissberg, R. (2013). Critically Thinking about Critical Thinking. Academic Questions, 26(3), 317-328.

Why do you think critical thinking is important for a successful learning? Critical thinking is important for successful learning because learners should not blindly believe information on face-value, because fallacies may be present, sources may be biased, inaccurate, or otherwise tainted. Critical thinking can yield validation or rejection of a given hypothesis, or position, based on sound logic and proper use of valid and adequate evidence.

 

4. Describe each of the five elements of critical thinking. There seems to be some disagreement about the number of elements and the definition of the elements of critical thinking on the Internet. However, Dr. Norman Herr, PhD., of CSU Northridge, defines these five elements as (his words are italicized):

Elements of Critical Thinking, by Dr. Norman Herr, PhD., of CSUN:

• Identification of premises and conclusions.  Critical thinkers break arguments into basic statements and draw logical implications. — In this element, both the inputs and outputs of arguments are parsed out for examination.

• Clarification of arguments: Critical thinkers locate ambiguity and vagueness in arguments and propositions. – This element is where weaknesses are found that may affect the validity of the claims of the conclusions.

• Establishment of facts:   Critical thinkers determine if the premises are reasonable and identify information that has been omitted or not collected.  They determine if the implications are logical and search for potentially contradictory data. – In this element, the facts are checked against the premises, to see if they are consistent and strong enough to withstand careful scrutiny.

• Evaluation of Logic: Critical thinkers determine if the premises support the conclusion. In deductive arguments, the conclusions must be true if the premises are true.  In inductive arguments, the conclusions are likely if the premises are true. – Here, it is determined if the conclusions are logically derived from the premises and supporting evidence.

• Final evaluation:  Critical thinkers weigh the evidence and arguments.  Supporting data, logic and evidence increase the weight of an argument.  Contradictions and lack of evidence decrease the weight of an argument.  Critical thinkers do not accept propositions if they think there is more evidence against them or if the argument is unclear, omits significant information, or has false premises or poor logic. – In this final evaluation element, the products of all of the preceding steps are brought together and weighed, to see if the conclusion is justified by the completeness of the evidence, properly applied, and that the logic is sound to defend the claims of the argument.

Reference

https://www.csun.edu/science/ref/reasoning/critical_thinking/elements.html, retrieved on 1-16-16.

And how would you apply these to your learning in this course?

I would use these elements of critical thinking in analyzing my own hypotheses, positions, and arguments, making sure that my logic is sound, and based on adequate evidence, properly applied, and is free of fallacies.

 

Survey Questions:

5. Did you fulfill the requirement to make your first post no later than Wednesday in the discussion? Yes.

 

6. Did you fulfill the requirement to post at least three times in each discussion topic any time Monday through Friday?  No–Two of the three were posted by Friday; but, the third time was on Sunday, because I did not remember the window closed on this activity on Friday.  I mistakenly thought the window for this did not close until Sunday.
   
7. Did you fulfill the requirement to post the answer to the prompts in your blog no later than Sunday? Yes.
   

 

8. Did you fulfill the requirement to reply at least 2 classmates’ blogs during Saturday and Sunday? {I finally got permission to access to the student blog urls via Google Drive, so now I can view and reply to them.  So, YES, I have now done that.}
   

 

9. Quote your best post(s) from the week and explain why you feel these are the best.   My best post dealt with the fact that counselors often send students to take coursework simply based on their test scores, and not their preferences.  Generally, I feel that each student should follow their passion, so long as they have adequate abilities for it, or they may land in a career that leads to a life of quiet desperation.  Just because someone CAN do something, is not a good enough reason to choose that as a career.
   

 

10. Quote several of the best posts from other students. Explain why you chose the ones you present. {I finally got access to the student blog urls, so now I can view and reply to them–I first had to request permission through Google Drive, which I received, a few hours later.}      (1) One of the most amusing quotes I read was one that I had never heard before–it was from Jacob Daigle’s blog:  “Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid (Anonymous).  Often appearing attributed to Albert Einstein, this quote is most likely an anonymous parody.  I do like it though for its adroit simplicity as well as being a catalyst towards critical thinking activity.”  I liked it because of the inappropriate ability/task-pairing that would, of course, resulting in the anthropomorphized fish believing it was stupid.  How often must we feel that a student may have no talent in a certain area, when that student may soar when asked to apply skills in more appropriate task area.  Everyone is not necessarily good at everything, but most people are good a something, especially when they are passionate about it;  (2) Earl said, “My philosophy (the one that I’m continually striving to stand upright in) is that all people are beautiful and have worth; they just need to find their niche and purpose to be productive and contributing individuals.”  I like this because is not easy to stand uprightly with all of the pressures to conform to less than the highest standards.  Seeing beyond what our eyes first communicate to our brains is a gift that transcends the visual, gracing those who can with spiritual eyes into the ethereal; (3) Billy Osuna said,  “I would love to also host programs in the pizza shop where at risk youth could learn how to cook and help them on to a good path in life.”  I liked this because of two things.  First, because starting a pizza shop is such a risky business with so many of them already in business that competition must be tough.  But, it would be following his passion, in which spirit, I can heartily agree.  Second, his desire is to help at-risk youth on the right path, both career-wise, and healthy eating-wise.
    

 

11. What did you learn in the discussion this week that will be useful to you or that changes the way you view something?  In the discussions, I learned who my fellow students are, and a little about each person.  This changes the way I perceive them, and makes it easier for me to approach them in the future, since they no longer feel like strangers.  Although, I did know some of them from previous classes.  Still, I learned even more about those I already had met.  I also learned about the incredible diversity in this course, with viewpoints and experiences from all over the globe.  That is a precious resource for those of us who may tend to have local tunnel vision.
    

 

Assignment # 2

Create a Skype account and email me your Skype ID. My Skype I.D. is: gary.graham65

 

Assignment # 3

Your first post must be made by Wednesdays 11:59 PM as recorded by the discussion area which places a time stamp on submissions. The minimum expectation is that you must post at least three times in each discussion each week. Read the specifics in the ‘A General Orientation to Online Components of a Course’ document in Module One.

• Original Post: Monday – Wednesday (3 days), Your own original postings/discussion thread(s) to the discussion prompts
• Replies: Monday – Friday (5 days), You may start to reply to classmates’ posts at any time from Monday through Friday the postings made by class community members to your own initial postings (by facilitating communication in your own discussion threads) classmates’ initial postings and replies (by visiting classmates discussion threads)

Understood.

END OF THIS BLOG POST FOR WEEK-1