Saying goodbye to ONL172

      
            Unfortunately the experience of ONL172 course has come to the end, but new road opens before us. With new experiences we can plan next moves and begin the next year. Let’s hope we can apply what we have learned in our FOCUS courses. If anyone would be interested how we managed to do this – you can always track https://www.facebook.com/SBFOCUSproject/ or/and SBFOCUS_project on Twitter.  
For sure ONL172 is a course worth recommending to anyone who wants to see how the course should be organized, what elements should be covered, what we should think of in general before preparing our courses or upgrading our teachers skills. The course has opened some gates for me indisputably, and hopefully for others too :) I have even raised my hand when our facilitator asked if any of us wants to be a co-facilitator during the next course edition!
ONL172 was an intensive, interesting, unique and valuable experience. Even though I guess some of the participants have dropped out (what was the percentage, I don’t know), but still the number should not be that high in comparison to other e-learning courses with less collaborative tasks and less attention from the organizers/facilitators. It was my first distant learning course, and I must say that it is hard for me to imagine how it is in other courses when you are almost left alone. Your motivation to finish the course should be enormous!
As it is said teaching/learning should occur spontaneously, just by doing, experiencing. Then it brings joy, it is simple fun. Of course fun charged with knowledge, so maybe let’s call it educational fun 😉 I know, that changing the way we teach is a complex issue, it cannot be done overnight. Many teachers in primary schools try out different methods, trying to move beyond the schemes. And the youngest are the most grateful and plastic (meaning flexible) learners. So let’s start with the youngest generation and don’t spoil them with “schemes”. Technology is inseparably linked with todays life, so we should make use of it wisely and let our kids to do it as well.
My colleagues from the Institute of Oceanography who took the course with me also enjoyed the course, even though it was hard for them to find the appropriate amount of time. We valued the on-line and face-to-face (via computer and the on-site as well) collaboration. The on-site support was an important issue, the discussions in mother tongue helped us to express our thoughts (however the fact that the course was in English, is an added-value because we could refresh our skills). But still getting to know others is a good idea – sticking with acquaintances (in a safe environment) not always allows you to develop in many dimensions.
All in all, many thanks to the organizers of ONL172!

Komentarze

  1. Alastair Creelman20 grudnia 2017 03:58

    I think the value of local support is enormous though not everyone can find a "study buddy" in the same location. Maybe we should make it easy for students to form online study groups to help each other and provide mutual encouragement. It's so important to have a partner who can encourage you when things get tough.

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