REFLECTION 4

 WHAT DID I LEARN FROM MY FEEDBACK?

FEEDBACK FROM PEERS

I have had positive feedback from other staff members.  I have asked them to introduce Google Docs to all first year students by asking them to create a Gmail Account.  This would help them during their duration of study.   This can prevent them of being exposed to Google Docs only at third year level as I discovered.   I would like to introduce Google Docs to first year Accounting lecturers and explain to them how they could use Spreadsheets in Google Docs to assist the learners with their Accounting Exercises.  

We should never make assumptions about students knowing things.    Students should be encouraged to collaborate and share ideas freely with fellow students.  This encourages them to respect and value other opinions but at the same time they can also disagree and thinking critically about the content they are engaging in with one another.    Encouraging group work amongst students is important as they will not be working in silos in industry.   Adopting an attitude of two heads is better than one and we could help one another and get things done quicker and learn during the process.  This is one of the things I learnt.   I am finding that our students have difficulty in expressing their views and reluctant to share as they fear being incorrect and embarrassed in the presence of their peers.

I will be setting up a different Google Account for Business Information Systems Lecturers where we can share information.  This is a way of introducing other staff members to using Google Docs.   Only problem for me is that I would need to be creative in remembering all my passwords.  We discussed using Google Docs for sending Question Papers to one another and making changes and updating would be so much easier but we need to look at the security features.    Important thing is that other staff members are thinking about it.  I found it beneficial to storing information as I need to move between home, office and lab.

FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS

Students were excited and positive and appreciated the exposure.   Their comments were:

 

Why did we not use this in first year

 

User friendly

 

Made me work more productively and accurately as I had to share my work

 

Fellow students are more critical and can pick up my errors quicker

 

Enjoyed the freedom of expressing what I did not understand

 

Working in groups made us get to know other students, developed better understanding of concepts and content

 

Social interaction – easier to communicate with peers

 

Made me think more about what I was learning and doing – forced to concentrate

 

Learning independently and helping others

 

We can work at any time not restricted to class time

I don’t  want to share my work, work better on my own

90% of students had smartphones

Alternatives to flash drives on campus – sharing information online

DISADVANTAGES OF GOOGLE DOCS

Must have internet connection

Privacy Issues

Limited Application functionalities

  

WHAT CHANGES CAN I MAKE TO MY LEARNING INTERVENTION BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM ROLE PLAYERS

I know that Google Docs has been beneficial to my students and to me and I would like to explore the use of the tool in greater detail.  It is time consuming ironically for the lecturer but it saves time in long run with the students.  Due to time constraints I have not been able to explore whether Google spreadsheets has all the functionalities I require for my subject and this   my step.    This has been a learning curve for me as well as the students but I have learnt unless you implement and use the tool in your environment and context you will not see the benefits but  I would like to take an in-depth look at the disadvantages of the tool.  I have learnt that reflection is important and I often tend to avoid reflection.    I will use the feedback  and  try to use Google Docs continually as a tool that will complement the current learning management system.