Where self-directed learners congregate??

[GrainneHamilton]

Hi Sancha

I’m interested in your thoughts about how you interact in an online context…

‘Maybe it’s easier to take a risk on being “wrong” or being a twit in an online forum.’ Do you think it helps if you are in a co-operative environment, ie would you mind ‘being a twit’ in a forum where people were not very constructive in their comments?

Your comment: ‘Peer support is lovely, but I’d still be learning without it’ would be applicable to many learners I imagine. I wonder if we appreciate peer input more in certain contexts or at different stages in our learning?

Grainne

[GrainneHamilton]

Hi Sancha

I’m interested in your thoughts about how you interact in an online context…

‘Maybe it’s easier to take a risk on being “wrong” or being a twit in an online forum.’ Do you think it helps if you are in a co-operative environment, ie would you mind ‘being a twit’ in a forum where people were not very constructive in their comments? 

Your comment: ‘Peer support is lovely, but I’d still be learning without it’ would be applicable to many learners I imagine. I wonder if we appreciate peer input more in certain contexts or at different stages in our learning? 

[GraphDesProject]

I think people worry about leaving comments in print/screen where people can always return to see what a twit they were! (Or not!). In f2f, the moment goes into the ether. I don’t usually worry about it  in f2f and though I do worry about it online I’ve given up worrying – I’d rather have the feedback. When I’ve made posts here the feedback has nearly always been helpful and goes off in direction I never imagined. So it is worth the risk. What I do notice though is my typos – I can’t seem to make a comment with it beign full of them.

[James Kerr]

There was a lively bit of e-mail traffic when ocTEL first started, through the JISC mailing list.  At first I wasn’t sure how well a mailing list would lend itself to MOOC use, but I also knew there were other avenues, and in MOOCs, especially a cMOOC like ocTEL, participants will find and use their comfort zones.

In another MOOC I participated in, the main communication channels were Twitter and diigo.  There were forums available, but they were not used by many participants at all, and, lacking a critical mass to generate thoughtful discussions, they remained dormant.

[Author]

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