- My first experience with TEL of a kind was in about 1990 when I used a networked room of 380Z’s for some Maths teaching! Things have moved on a bit! However, I still get a buzz about the possibilities that TEL opens up.
- Although the software was very basic in those days it still brought the learning to life – the kids became very absorbed in their learning. We used some basic simulations – my favourite was a simulation of the London underground which today’s users would out of town but it had did what it needed to do to get the kids involved in map reading around London without leaving the classroom (and so with fewer health and safety issues presumably) We also did some fabulous programming with LOGO.
- I recently completed an OU module – the e-learning professional – and it overwhelmed me completely. I found it very hard to prioritise the time to keep up and missed out on much quality collaborative stuff as a result. I know I needed to be better self disciplined but there was always some work thing that just had to be done. My previous experience with the OU in completing a maths degree was much better. It wasn’t online in those days although technology was involved with the tv programmes and audio cassettes. However, I wasn’t having to work at the same time and I think that is an important, if very obvious, point. One of the main problems with open learning is that it is so available and we fool our selves into thinking we have the time for it without actually making the time – or at least that is what I do.
- This isn’t my first experience of TEL as you can see from the above and not even my first experience of a MOOC. I lurked in a MOOC recently to see what was going on and so became a non-completer statistic. Thus, I hope to make this my first complete open learning experience!
I am a learning technology advisor at the University of Strathclyde where i deal with day to day support issues for the use of our Moodle based VLE as well as advising more widely on online learning in general.