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Day 1
So far, the MOOC is over-stimulating in a good way -- all topics and people that interest me, and it's embarrassing that I don't already know how to make sure this blog ends up in the RSS, aggregated EDC MOOC News page. All four of the first four short films felt dark to me and I'm typically a hugely optimistic person re: technology's potential for good, so maybe this is a good reality-check, this course, or just a buzz-kill. Not yet sure which.
Having a purring cat on my lap as I type humanizes the alone-ness so far. Am excited by the many hundreds of new people whose viewpoints I'm being exposed to, and need to guard against self-consciousness in my posts in response to others' posts.
That's the tricky part: to acknowledge others' contributions without feeling like I'm just responding without posting original thoughts of my own. I think from now on, I'll ignore the tip, "Search before you post" because then I just get caught up in what others think and feel blocked in spouting my thoughts.
Instead, first I'll post and then I'll trawl through others' input and add selected responses to theirs. I also need to guard against feeling competitive and trying to write to attract votes....Still, earlier, I thought that at least one of my two posts was somewhat clever and was disappointed to check later and see no votes. The lesson, if it's like other online, asynchronous learning I've done, is to get in early. I don't think I'll be able to do that with this course, since psychologically, I know that there is relatively little consequence for not giving it my all vs. ensuring that I'm focusing on my job.
#edcmooc
4 comments:
Hi Sarah,
I can totally agree with you here about the over-stimulation of this mooc. As a late joiner (on the opening day!) it feels like there's already so much content and discussion that adding to the voices out there is nigh on pointless. Obviously it isn't, if only for personal reflection, but it does drain the motivation somewhat.
Wow, that was negative. I am actually enjoying the course so far despite all that I just said.
Elizabeth, I also began on Day 1 (other than completing my Coursera profile and the pre-survey on the course. I thought of two points that at least cheer me up:
o I love incidental (serendipitous) learning and this MOOC is an incidental learner's paradise
o Not needing to earn a grade can be motivation to learn more so for learning's sake.
I'm going to take the articles with me to the routine dr. app't. I have this eve and start reading 'em in the waiting room.
Hi Sarah,
Loved this post. It expresses almost exactly my thoughts (and actions!) regarding this MOOC.
It is my first real MOOC and the sheer volume of students is overwhelming and makes it difficult to meaningfully contribute - hence I feel as though I'm not contributing as much as I could and feel that my posts get swamped (not that I have many well articulated insights anyway!)
The course content is great, and very stimulating.
I suppose, at the very least, I am learning about effective ways to use online learning and the issues that come with MOOCs that get to this size.
Cheers
Ty, I'm wondering if you feel different on Day 5 than you did when you posted this comment. I'm feeling more relaxed than I was feeling because I think I've found a rhythm.
And on the Google Hangout earlier, one of the profs. had a kind suggestion. She spoke of a Forum commenter who wrote that there was nothing to say, since everyone else already had made such useful comments.
She suggested that the person respond to the comments that moved the person and why they were moving.
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