Discussion Topic:
In this assignment you are to view the following video Connecting the Dots and read the post Mapping your Learners Journey - http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6420 then participate in a discussion with your colleagues. This discussion will give you the opportunity to get a better understanding of how important an overarching big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) and supporting learning outcomes are to the design of significant learning environments.
This discussion will also help you to verify or vet the ideas that you plan to use in this module's written assignment.
Connecting the Dots
https://youtu.be/_7o3Jh1KZLw
Connecting the dots transcript.txt
Aligning Outcomes, Activities & Assessments
Participate in a class discussion in which you begin by addressing the following issues/questions:
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How can the BHAG be used to create a defining purpose for the course/program?
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If making meaningful connections is central to learning then why do we spend so much of our time encouraging our learners to collect the dots rather than connect the dots?
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Consider the role of an expert’s bias in your learning environment and how one can rely on learner/peer collaboration to further learning.
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Where are you in your learning journey? Where are you taking your learners?
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Are you a dependent or independent learner? Are you creating dependent or independent learners?
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Consider the importance of creating effective learning outcomes.
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Have you considered how you are going to align your outcomes, activities, and assessments? Why is this important?
Please remember the list of questions is for your benefit and is intended to help you focus your thinking. We are not asking nor expecting you to answer each question in your discussion--rather you should use these questions to help focus on how the insights gained through this discussion will help you to add another component to your innovation plan.
My reply:
After watching video and reading the Mapping your learners journey post I feel very inspired to create a learning environments that empowers students to take ownership of their education and make meaningful connections between concepts. The overarching big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) for my course is to guide students from novices to experts in game design. This BHAG provides a defining purpose that motivates students to engage deeply with course content.
Rather than merely collecting facts, students must connect ideas to develop conceptual frameworks like experts. If I only encourage the collection of knowledge dots without facilitating connections, learning will be limited. Making meaningful connections is central to learning. Effective course design requires aligning outcomes, activities, and assessments to build students' frameworks.
My role is to provide context, model expert thinking, and mentor students in making connections. However, reliance on my bias as the sole expert would limit peer collaboration which furthers learning. A constructivist approach leverages learner choice, voice, and agency. Through projects and active learning, students can create games while I guide from the side.
In my own journey as an educator, I am moving from dependent to independent. At first, I replicated teaching models. Now I aim to craft courses tailored to student needs. My goal is to nurture independent learners who can navigate future challenges. With a BHAG, outcomes, and activities fostering connections, students can progress from collecting dots to connecting them into masterful game designs.
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