So I went to see Frank Warren speak at the SUB tonight and it was awesome. If you don't know, he is the guy who has compiled thousands upon thousands of postcards sent to him by anonymous people from around the world, confessing their deepest, darkest secrets that they have never told anyone. There's also much more to Frank and what he does than just that. He's a really amazing guy and the experience was truly moving.
Aaaaannnyyyway, that was just a set up for what I'm going to say about my experience with distance learning. I've never really talked about it with anyone because I feel really dumb and embarrassed about it. I have taken two online courses at Tech: English and Spanish. Both were a few years ago, before I took a break from school. I completely failed both because I just did not do anything. Little homework. Never studied. Did bad on the tests. I just didn't do anything because nobody told me to. I never saw a teacher except for during a few examinations. I would like to think that if I took an online course now the result would be different. I'm more mature, more responsible, more motivated. But who knows. I might just be the kind of person who NEEDS the personal interaction with an instructor. I enjoy that. At Mass Comm we really become friends with our professors and instructors and I think the learning experience is richer and more thorough because of it.
On the topic of TOPIC, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I CLEPed the freshman english courses and never had to mess with that. I remember going to freshman english the first couple days and thinking, this is gonna suck. Then someone told me I could take a test and skip it so I did. I do wonder if the experience could have been valuable. Like Kevin said, no matter what you learned something from TOPIC, even if all you learned was that "TOPIC is the DEVIL!"
The MOO day was probably the least fun I've had in class this semester. Not to say it wasn't sort of entertaining and yes, I learned something, but it was not as good as sitting around the table and listening to Kevin lecture (which I think he is quite good at) or discussing the day's topic amongst each other.
"Actively composing the world." That sounds very dynamic and exciting doesn't it? I don't know. I think that is what our generation should be doing. I think the world, especially this country, is suffering from a lack of youthful opinions and ideas. I think the old dudes who are running things are way out of touch. It's great that there are outlets for our thoughts. Of course this can also be dangerous if the people pushing their thoughts the hardest have ulterior motives. It's just like the comic that Keen talks about in the reading for today; these dogs are on the internet and one says, "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog." It's hard to know what is the truth and what is shiny graphics and animation with a false message, perpetrated by lowly dogs.
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Frank was so inspriring and interesting. I love his whole concept and idea about this "art project" it makes people look into thier own lives and ponder on life and about humans in general. This morning, I feel more sympathetic towards people and I love how he said that if only we would stop and realize that we all have secrets and things going on in our life that maybe, just maybe, we would be nicer to each other.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend had close to the same experience you did with his online class two semesters ago. He was taking 17 hours and then some history class online. He had tons of reading but he was so busy with his "actual" classes he never had time to read and always put it off because that was easier and he was not accountble for the reading in a classroom setting. He was not motivated to attempt to try in the class.. I have never taking any online classes because I know I would be that way also.. I need interaction with my teaher and peers.
I have never taken an online course, but I did take some correspondence courses in High School, and it was extremely challenging to make myself do something when a teacher wasn’t reminding me daily. I also think that forming some kind of relationship with a teacher is very important. The classes I have done the best in, and learned the most in, are the ones in which the teacher was actively involved with us.
ReplyDelete“I think the world, especially this country, is suffering from a lack of youthful opinions and ideas. I think the old dudes who are running things are way out of touch.” I couldn’t agree with that statement more! I don’t think kids today challenge what they are being told enough. I think they feel like if an adult says it, it must be true. I want my students to challenge everything I say or do. I hope to teach students that their thoughts and words are very powerful, and they should make them heard.