A narrative of a meaningful relationship between technology and pedagogy using open educational practice

Abstract

During Semester 2, 2016 the #feesmustfall (#FMF) movement prohibited students from accessing in-class learning to complete their remaining curriculum. In a bid to rescue the academic project a case of alternative pedagogy emerged in an undergraduate exit level subject. Oopen educational practice (OEP) was used to facilitate online learning. Students were managed through online content on the Blackboard learner management system (LMS), via LMS blog via WhatsApp. The learning material developed comprised videos, pdf Power Point material, a design workbook and LMS assessments. In light of the inequity of technological access and data requirements as brought about by #FMF, LMS activity was reduced to completing or uploading assessments by deferring the learning to WhatsApp using PowerPoint pdfs and audio clips. Feedback was provided regularly by either blog or email and additional assessments were made available to improve the overall result. A blog was used to assist the student in navigating the assessments. Due to anonymity, the blog could not be used as part of the student’s major formative assessments however it reduced repetition by forming a repository of activities. Positive effects of online learning relates primarily to how the facilitator used technologies to achieve learning outcomes in light of the inequity of technological access. The measure of a meaningful relationship between pedagogy and technology is demonstrated by the evaluation of assessment results, student tracking to gauge response rates, a survey of student satisfaction and the lecturer’s reflections of how open practice and other elements attributed to the success of the online learning experience.