Effective Use of EE-Learning in a Graduate Education Course
A graduate level education course utilized ee-learning (the combination of experiential and electronic learning) to break down barriers between theory and practice, and knowledge and experience. Students shared and reflected on experiences at volunteer sites, their personal lives, their individual school settings and coursework, to create a powerful, integrated learning experience. Results show ee-learning can be an effective pedagogy for classes consisting of controversial, personal and sensitive subject areas such as the exploration and discussion of beliefs concerning race, class and gender. Classroom teachers enrolled in graduate classes are busy professionals. They do not believe they have time to volunteer at another school site, nor do they initially perceive the benefits. One student wrote, "I would rather spend the hours helping out in my own school". However, the instructor believed students needed hands on experience in a different school to achieve the learning goals of the course. Ee-learning proved to be the solution that met the needs of both students and instructor. Ee-learning is a pedagogy which combines experiential and electronic learning. This paper describes an ee-learning course called Issues in Education: Race, Class and Gender, completed by graduate education students at a small Midwestern regional college. The course was conducted online through the use of OnCourse, a course management software program. A wide variety of instructional technologies enhanced the course, including online surveys, quizzes and interactive exercises; video clips and audio interviews. Students were required to spend a minimum of ten hours completing volunteer activities in an educational setting as different as possible from their work setting in terms of race, income level, social class, and standardized test scores. The experiential learning combined with the electronic format to create an ee-learning course. The goals of the course were to have students increase their awareness of educational issues involving race, class and gender; recognize, examine and challenge their own beliefs in these areas; and identify ways in which they can make a difference, or act as change agents in their own educational settings. The class was composed of practicing teachers with classroom experience ranging from three years to more than twenty years. Conversations with graduate students in previous classes revealed that most viewed the educational system through a lens based on their personal experience. To meet course goals, the instructor needed the students to fully understand the wide variety of PK12 students' educational experiences. The researcher wanted to measure the effectiveness of an electronic class format combined with experiential learning, in terms of meeting course goals and in student satisfaction with the class. Research questions included the following: Was the ee-learning class successful?