Towards new journeys with ONL201-experiences in my baggage
Twothousand and sixteen hours ago I started the ONL201-journey and here I am, richer with new ideas, many new questions and lots of interesting material to continue exploring!
When the course started, I was put onboard PBL07-group with people I had never met before. The course was intentionally designed to allow us to learn by doing - not only how to use different tools for online teaching & learning but also for experiencing how seven strangers can create a community of learning and benefit from it.
This course did not turn my world upside-down in any significant way. It did not bring along revolutionary insights either and it did not make me change my mind about teaching and learning. On But this course DID contribute to reflection and exchange of ideas with people who share the common interest of providing students with environments that will promote learning and provide good experiences. This course DID offer some materials I was not familiar with before - materials that fitted well into my understanding of scholarship of teaching and learning, materials that reinforced my conviction that higher education can be enjoyable and stimulating - for both faculty and students.
Since I am interested in issues relating to intercultural communication, I enjoyed the discussions about international learning environments online and how to promote social and emotional presence in such contexts. Throughout my teaching career I have declared my teaching approach as based on principles of collaborative learning so it was interesting to exchange ideas about this notion with teachers from different disciplines in universities elsewhere.
My formal teaching career will most probably end in a year or two, when I retire. But my learning path will, hopefully, continue as long as will be intellectually capable of communicating. So I am confident that I am now embarking on new journeys with a very valuable baggae that I acquired during this course.
References:
Wang, Minjuan (2007). "Designing online courses that effectively engage learners from diverse cultural backgrounds". British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol 38, No 2, 294-311.
Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M., & Walti, C, (2009). "Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment". The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (3).
When the course started, I was put onboard PBL07-group with people I had never met before. The course was intentionally designed to allow us to learn by doing - not only how to use different tools for online teaching & learning but also for experiencing how seven strangers can create a community of learning and benefit from it.
This course did not turn my world upside-down in any significant way. It did not bring along revolutionary insights either and it did not make me change my mind about teaching and learning. On But this course DID contribute to reflection and exchange of ideas with people who share the common interest of providing students with environments that will promote learning and provide good experiences. This course DID offer some materials I was not familiar with before - materials that fitted well into my understanding of scholarship of teaching and learning, materials that reinforced my conviction that higher education can be enjoyable and stimulating - for both faculty and students.
Since I am interested in issues relating to intercultural communication, I enjoyed the discussions about international learning environments online and how to promote social and emotional presence in such contexts. Throughout my teaching career I have declared my teaching approach as based on principles of collaborative learning so it was interesting to exchange ideas about this notion with teachers from different disciplines in universities elsewhere.
My formal teaching career will most probably end in a year or two, when I retire. But my learning path will, hopefully, continue as long as will be intellectually capable of communicating. So I am confident that I am now embarking on new journeys with a very valuable baggae that I acquired during this course.
Source: Pixabay
References:
Wang, Minjuan (2007). "Designing online courses that effectively engage learners from diverse cultural backgrounds". British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol 38, No 2, 294-311.
Brindley, J., Blaschke, L. M., & Walti, C, (2009). "Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment". The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (3).
Some things fall into place whilst new, unexpected challenges and opportunities appear. The never-ending story of learning continues.
SvaraRadera