I registered for a master's level class called Instructional Design for Online Learning at an accredited and highly respected online university. I was excited, yet terrified. I remember my hands shook on the keyboard as I tried to enter the virtual classroom and tried to find my way around. How confusing it was at first. I remember thinking this was going to be harder than I thought. Coupled with the fact that I had just quit my job and did not yet have another job lined up, I was overwhelmed. What had I done? It looked like changing careers and forging a new path for myself was going to be the greatest challenge I had ever faced. I was shaking all the way down to my virtual boots. Stay tuned for PART THREE...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
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10 comments:
Hi Diane
I admire your honesty and your passion. I have a lot to learn from you !
Jill
Hi Jill,
We will learn together. Each of us will bring something to the table and we will be the better for knowing each other.
Thanks for your post!
Diane
Hi Diane,
I liked the part about coming up with the questions and then looking for the answers. That's great.
p.s. I have never blogged before.
Debra
Hi Debra,
Thanks for visiting my site. Yes identifying the questions first was a great eye opener.
Cheers,
Diane
Beautifully stated, Diane! I have gone through the same type transformation you have described, and with critical pedagogy, it has gotten even better. I was always one of those shy people who sat at the back of the class. During my online courses, I am right up front, getting political (education is political, even though we are usually taught otherwise). Tapping into how online learning can empower people through the combination of critical theory and technology is something I will be working on for my dissertation. The possibilities are exciting. We need to move away from what Freire calls "banking" education where the students are the banks and the knowledge the deposits. That type of education leaves no room for real thinking because students are too busy just trying to remember everything. As you stated so well, real learning occurs when students ask the questions and seek answers...there is no need to focus so much on just memorization, because the learning occurs naturally in context of a problem to understand and solve.
I am looking forward to Part III.
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
Thanks for your kind words. It is a shame it took me so long to stop "banking" myself. My story is real and genuine and like you I feel a sort of missionary zeal about this stuff. It takes a huge paradigm shift for people to "get it." I am working on models to help people "get it." So far, I feel my students in my online classes, for the most are still "banking." When a student the other day called me the "Wizard of Oz", I was not sure this was a good thing from my point of view. The student regarded it as a complement, I am sure. However, I would prefer they became the Wizard and forgot about me all together. The classes I have felt that learned the most have seemed not to notice I have not made many comments on the discussion board...they merely went their way without any regard for me. I loved it.
Yes, stay tuned for Part III...it will be a surprise to me as well since I just sit down and let whatever I feel authentically to flow out into the blog. I usually do not edit too much...it just seems to flow. I think this is because it was real and so important to me. I feel that way even now. I do so hope I can provoke this type of insight into learning with and for my students. I am still trying to figure out how I can identify it when it is happening. I have some inkling when it does, but I can't support that yet via research. Sometimes students don't even know they are doing it either so self-reports do not always work.
Thanks for following my blog. Please refer others to my site as you have time.
Diane
I am so excited to see you starting this blog. I have a website (ginnygoesgreen.com) that I started as I entered my recent journey into what I call my "second life" and it has been a great sounding board and place for me to explore the world around me. I had considered making a blog before I made the website, but I just didn't know how the whole blog thing worked. This will be not only fun to watch grow, but educational as well. Good luck!
Ginny from your f2f Art Ed class
Hi Ginny,
Thanks for your encouragement. I am not sure how the whole blog thing works either. I am learning as I go. I am taking an online mini-workshop on how to create a blog. It meets online on Wednesdays at 7PM. I learned a lot last week. The second session will be this Wednesday. Check back often and read my stuff. :-)
Diane
CROWD CHANTING> Part 3, Part 3, Part 3!
Hey Ginny,
Thanks for checking in on the Blog. This has been a busy week for me. I have been swamped with technological problems with some of my Blackboard online classes. This is the downside to elearning! More about that in the weeks ahead. Things are getting better and now I might be able to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Take care and have a great weekend!
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