Activity | Moira Sarsfield

Moira Sarsfield replied to the topic Experiences and preferences in the forum Scientists 10 years, 6 months ago

I think that the participants can be characterised as:

Experienced online learners with established networks/familiar online tools, who want to stick with these.
Experienced online learners who want to expand their existing networks and/or tool use.
Inexperienced online learners who want to establish networks and become familiar with online tools.

Offering the flexibility for those in Group 1 to stick with their existing ways of operating, and the Group 2 people to explore with complete freedom, makes life very hard for those in Group 3 because there is a completely overwhelming range of options. I hope that somebody is offering help and guidance.

All of this is before we even get to the content!
- Kathy-ann Daniel-Gittens replied 10 years, 6 months ago
  
  Hi Moira, Yes the wide open spaces of this MOOC can appear unsettling at first. it is very unlike a traditional online course. One may well ask if the term “course” even really applies?
  Something to think about maybe…
  - Moira Sarsfield replied 10 years, 6 months ago
    
    Hi Kathy
    When is a course not a course?
    
    Well, this has a start and an end and a general structure and direction, so that makes it similar to many courses.
    
    Also learning outcomes – though we each have our own and some are shared.
    
    I see this as intermediate between a formal course (note – I didn’t say ‘proper’!) and the informal learning in my PLN. And I suspect that at the end of the course certain aspects and people will have been absorbed into my PLN.
    - Kathy-ann Daniel-Gittens replied 10 years, 6 months ago
      
      Hi Moira,
      Bear with me as I play devil’s advocate here; I am hoping this exercise will lead to some fruitful thoughts. Yes, this course has a start and and end date and instructional content that is consistent.for all participants, objectively, then, it has the structure and requirements of a “course”. I guess my next question would be, How, if at all, do participants’ online learning experience differ from a MOOC to a “standard” online course?
      
      What has been your personal experience of the difference so far, if you don’t mind me asking?
      
      Moira Sarsfield replied 10 years, 6 months ago
      
      Hi Kathy
      I guess that the learner experience depends quite a bit on the type MOOC.
      
      I wrote about my previous experiences in a blogpost – http://eforenhancing.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/big-q-little-q/ – and hope that this time I’ll ‘stay the course’ – with whatever meaning of ‘course’ we settle on! 🙂