I am a graduate student at UMass Boston and am participating in the ETMOOC along with three other graduate students. Our participation in ETMOOC is twofold: one as an ETMOOC participant, and one as a MOOC voyeur. Together, my fellow colleagues and I are examining not only the content of ETMOOC, but the impact of the MOOC frontier in general and the opportunities it holds for further exploration.
So as we held one of our initial debrief sessions, we inherently recognized that each of us is having a unique experience as we are wading through the ETMOOC tide. Some of us are in the deep waters very comfortably, while others are in the shallow end getting our sea legs. What makes the MOOC so dynamic is that each of us is creating our own experience and through that experience we are transforming our thinking.
We thought it would be interesting to examine where we are today and to re-evaluate our thinking upon completion of ETMOOC. Here is my self-assessment:
• I am a pedagogical learner; I expect to learn from an instructor and not necessarily other participants
• I like things organized and structured where I can visualize the 1, 2, 3 progression of learning
• I am not a fan of social media for things other than ‘socializing’
• I like directions and think they are an efficient roadmap to achieve a result
• I like to know where the goal line is and prefer to take the most direct route
Given the above, you can only imagine how the initial onslaught of ETMOOC has spun me on my heels. My first reaction was to retreat in defeat; but I’m smarter and more resilient than that. I stayed on for more.
What was really comforting is to hear that some of my colleagues were experiencing the same discomfort and hearing how they were acclimating to this new environment. We’ve already begun to change.
I’m tossing away my expectations and letting the learning happen. I’m in a learning freefall, and I like it already.