This week’s presentation was focused on online and distant learning tools and how these tools can be applied in a blended or online setting. The information presented was quite astonishing to me because it was the first tine hearing of some of these tools. The video entitled10 Learning Distance Tool in under 10 minutes, shared by group, wet my appetite in a short demonstration of 10 of these tools that can be utilized in distant learning. The members of the group also linked the impacts of social learning and interaction among ones peers and teachers through online learning, to the social cognitivist learning theory. These DL teaching and learning methodologies were developed for years but were somewhat ignored. However, a considerably great appreciation was established during and post-pandemic.

I taught online teaching for one year and partake in blended learning for another. Truthfully it was experimental learning for the teachers as it was for the students. At that time I utilized Zoom, Google Forms, Kahoot, Google Classroom and Google meet. Google Classroom was the platform that was mostly encouraged by the school, however I was allowed to be flexible with which other tools I deem suitable for my students. Having being introduce to these tools, I would definitely use Flipgrid and  Padlet.

Flipgrid and Padlet both enables the teacher to give the students individualize feedbacks which is crucial for student’s growth and improvement. Padlet fosters creativity through graphic organizers and supports the schema theory by Jean Piaget. This too support my way of learning and I am looking forward to exploring this tool with my students in the near future.

In a meeting one day, a speaker said something that resonated with me to date. He said is a student, will always be a student. Initially it made no sense until he brought it to context saying, irrespective of our age or qualification, the learner is in flight mode waiting for the class to end, distracted by their own thoughts and other environmental factors. If I were incorporate distance learning in my teaching, it would have a ripple effect on my students learning progress for this very same reason. My students were easily distracted, dependent learners and most did not have the support at home to guide them. Accessibility would also pose a challenge for some students as well. To utilize these tools I would choose to do so in person. This way, I could schedule lab time where I could monitor and guide them myself and eliminate the challenge of access.