Aim, check focus, and refocus

(Module 2 - EDS 113)

I am into photography. I just realized now, after this module, that being a teacher also entails certain skills that can be gleaned from what I learned and apply in photography. That is, to aim, check focus, and refocus. The students need to be clear about learning outcomes that they are aiming for and how successful learning looks like. If it is clear to the instructor and the students what the goals and objectives are, then the students know what they need to pursue. Both teachers and students should not lose sight of this. Just as photographers check for focus, teachers ought to check for student understanding. It doesn't have to be a "production number". Particularly, in online learning, where there is limited interaction time. Specially for the subject that I am teaching, which is Art. Simple devices could be put in place to assess student learning. Sometimes, I ask them to annotate and identify the different elements of art displayed on the screen or perhaps ask them to type in the chat box what comes to mind when I talk about positive and negative space in art. 

 

Next step is to refocus, this refers to the adjustment and recalibration which is done by photographers after they check their focus in order to improve their aim. In much the same way, as students may refocus and adjust their performance based on feedback given after a formative assessment. These evidences of learning which may be conducted via synchronous or asynchronous means are used by the teachers as measures to gauge if students learned what they ought to learn. Feedback may not only come from teachers but self-assessments may also be conducted or perhaps peer assessments, which provide relevant feedback that students need. Through this, teachers can conceive or design interventions targeted to address learning difficulties in the context of the current program. It also helps improve the teaching strategies based on the evidences derived from these assesments.