Imagine a professor standing in front of a room full of students and lecturing at them. This is and continues to be a common, pervasive vision of what learning is and how it happens. In his session on “How Distance Changes Everything”, Jon Dron discusses how this model of education, and many other aspects of modern education that we take for granted, such as classes, courses, schedules, grades, etc. are solutions to problems unique to teaching in person.

Nowadays, this model of education still persists, but we are starting to see other models as well. From your own learning experiences, at UVIC or in other contexts, share 3-4 specific examples of different learning experiences that you’ve had. These may be lectures, tutorials, labs, group work, online courses, or any other examples that you can think of.

For each example, briefly summarise the context and the experience and reflect on the following questions:

  • Who had the control in this learning environment?
  • Who did most of the talking/work?
  • Which pillars of intrinsic motivation (Autonomy, Support for Competence and Relatedness) were present in this setting? Which were missing? (Dron starts discussing these at about 13:40)
  • Which modes did you find the most engaging/motivating? Why?
  • Which modes do you prefer for your own learning? Why?

Based on your reflections and Dron’s video, reflect on the key differences between online and in-person learning environments. Do you agree with the “pedagogical patterns” that Dron identifies for each environment?

Make sure to also include a short self-reflection on why you chose this activity, how it aligned with your learning goals, and what you learned by reflecting on different teaching/learning experiences and how they motivate you.