I will continue to use WordPress and Twitter as my chosen social media tools for reflecting on my MOOC learning.
I have enjoyed my experiences as a MOOC student in several courses, and I am looking forward to those to come. It was apparent to me from the beginning, however, that even though I successfully completed the quizes and peer-reviewed assignments, I would soon forget the material covered in the course and be left with only a grade and a certificate to show for it. The conversations in the course discussion are great, but those are also lost and soon forgotten once the course is closed.
eLearning and Digital Cultures, a Coursera course from the University of Edinburgh, opened my eyes to the desirability of using the social media tools that I am familiar with to communicate with other students in the class. What a difference! Now I could use my normal blog and use a storytelling approach to document my thoughts about the week’s content.
Here are my MOOC reflections so far: rkastenmayer.wordpress.com/category/lifelong-learning/mooc-storytelling/
I noticed the quote below from a MOOC Professor in the Chronicle’s Digital Campus 2013. Sounds like he would agree!
Turns out the “massive” part of these open courses is the least interesting thing about them. My students dont feel like a mass. Its the differences among them, and how they bridge those differences through social networks, that energize their MOOC experience and mine.
via My Modern MOOC Experience – The Digital Campus 2013 – The Chronicle of Higher Education.
According to Wikipedia, storytelling can have a number of meanings. I think this quote best expresses what I am trying to do with my reflections:
Stories tend to be based on experiential learning, but learning from an experience is not automatic. Often a person needs to attempt to tell the story about that experience before realizing its value. In this case it is not only the listener that learns, but also the teller who becomes aware of their own unique experiences and backgrounds.[18] This process of storytelling is empowering as the teller effectively conveys ideas and with practice is able to demonstrate the potential of human accomplishment. Story taps into existing knowledge and creates bridges both culturally and motivationally toward a solution.
via Storytelling – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
What do you think?
Live & Learn! 