Online Collaborative Learning: A final reflection of my ONL journey

This year, I took a fascinating open course called ONL, which stands for Open Networked Learning. This course had the most unusual structure, fully co-created through small team discussions and online facilitation. We co-created our learning by discussing and reflecting upon multiple topics, from social learning to AI-enhanced teaching.

I hesitated to write the final reflection because my current teaching is ongoing, and I am only taking the time to reflect upon this experience. However, I would like to discuss some takeaways. The most important one is the importance of creating real collaboration opportunities in class by setting up experiential assignments that are intriguing and meaningful but, most importantly, require full collaboration among team participants, not IN a team but AS a team.

After completing this course, I'm excited to explore experiential learning and use inquiry to create meaningful learning experiences in my courses, particularly in blended or fully online environments. I feel better prepared to identify the frameworks used in learning design that break down barriers and facilitate experiential learning.

I initially enrolled in the course because of its emphasis on digital and AI tools. However, I realized that the tools can divert attention from the primary goal: fostering experiential learning and collaboration. Rather than just learning about the tools, it is essential to concentrate on how students can effectively utilize them to promote meaningful collaboration.

Collaboration doesn't happen by chance in tertiary educational settings because we have spent so many years learning to study alone. To create collaboration opportunities, we must be intentionally designed to ensure that learning doesn't regress to the individualistic style ingrained through a lifetime of education. My main takeaway is that creating opportunities for collaborative learning requires concerted effort, but it's not difficult if you know what to look for.

After having personally experienced the benefits of participating in problem-based learning, I am committed to providing students with more opportunities to create, share, and reflect. I am actively seeking to integrate active collaboration in my upcoming courses. My task now is to implement experiential learning in my classes.

As this course ends, I must say thank you to my wonderful team, PBL6, for your wonderful collaboration! I am grateful for the experience and for the organizers of ONL241.

Thank you.