This is a different type of input – fed up with the textuality, linearity and (pseudo?) academicity I’ve decided to include something more visual, hand-written (how uncool, old-fashioned and non-digital native like!) and personal, not sure if I am not pushing the boundaries here? I am on the post-grad course after all and aren’t I expected to act like a rational adult, engaging and engaged in an academic discourse on matters pertinent to the subject of digital environments?
I am also a teacher myself and of course love when I can see my students enjoying the class. Positive emotions of engagement, enthusiasm, openness and curiosity are sought after and warmly welcome. Negative emotions, on the other hand, seem like a bit of faux pas; a sobbing student, an angry student, a frustrated student, an aggressive student ... Each explosion of emotions is greeted with a hint of well-controlled irritation, despair or disbelief. Yet, these emotions are integral part of the learning process the student is going through and as such cannot/should not be ignored by tutors (Wosnitza & Volet, 2005).
Signs of emotional turmoil can be traced in my Notes from the Skypeground, but it is not my intention to create a drama. I noted down what I felt and looked for the pictures that could illustrate it (unable to make a film which would reflect the speed with which the chat entries pop up in the window, causing a headache and a blur of thoughts). I am trying to understand myself as a learner, hoping that these insights might help me decipher my future students’ actions and feelings and assist them better in learning.
I am a quiet person. Fact. Not opinionated, not vociferous, rather a listener than a talker but I do have things to say. I have participated in synchronous discussions before (and asynchronous too) and even though I wasn’t the most active contributor I did throw in my two pennies worth. I’ve always been enthusiastic about the possibilities learning technologies create for education and thought I was cut out for learning this way but now I keep resisting participating actively in such learning activities here on the course (and for the second time as a matter of fact!). It bewilders me what motives are there behind this behaviour – I am aware of merits of online discussions, I know I am depriving myself of the possibility to network with like-minded professionals, I know I can be selective about what I read, I know I can even lurk – yet, I avoid it at all cost. What secret plan do I have in my mind – I’m asking myself. Any suggestions?
Ania Rolinska on Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 12:04 GMT # |
Actually, including the visual makes you *more* cool – pushing at the boundaries of academic discourse and challenging it to adapt to new forms of digital literacy :)
I absolutely loved both of these images – it captured an intensity and communicated it brilliantly, kudos.
The negative emotions – particularly when students are ‘stuck’ on a concept – are very worth exploring in relation to learning.Have you come across the idea of threshold concepts and liminality?The idea is that come concepts are transformative and transformation can be hard leading to stuckednessin this liminal space between not getting it and getting it.(Very quick intro here http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html , a good paper is Meyer, J. and Land, R. (2006). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. Overcoming barriers to student understanding: threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. J. Meyer and R. Land (Eds.). (London, Routledge): pp. 3-18. And the e-book is at http://ezproxy.lib.ed.ac.uk/login?url=http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=171081 )
One thing we really hope folk get from all our courses is the experiential insight into what learning online is like – ups and downs – so they can take that forward into their own work.
> I keep resisting participating actively in such learning activities here on the course<
Phew, I do have a psych degree, but I wouldn’t dare to use it!:)Can we turn the question around – rather than asking why aren’t you engaging, ask what makes the activities/space unattractive or obstacles to engagement? And what makes this space an attractive option for engagement?What differences are there between the group spaces and this blog?
Clara O'Shea on Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 19:00 GMT # |
Thanks for the pointers to threshold concepts - I'll have to explore it over the weekend. As to your question about group interaction and this blog, funny that I have independently realised that while writing the next posting. Need to think about it more. And relieved to hear that personal notes are welcome. I was a bit concerned after I posted it ...
Ania Rolinska on Thursday, 10 February 2011, 13:38 GMT # |
This is to answer the question you aksed at the end of your comment. I think the idea of threshold concepts and liminality deserves a separate posting!
******
What makes this space attractive and other spaces like the discussion forum or group chat less attractive?
I don’t like discussions, I’ve almost always been the last to throw in my two pennies. Sometimes I’ve contributed sooner, for instance when I feel I am on friendly terms with the groupmates and therefore don’t feel judged. Sometimes I want to say something but have a massive frog in my throat and somebody seeing me almost choking on it invites me to join in the discussion more actively. Despite that my apparent passivity is rather superficial because when it comes to non-verbal cues, most of the time I am hyperactive, twitching my ears while listening attentively, contracting and relaxing face muscles when expressing interest or disbelief, and constantly fidgeting with pens, clothes, shifting in my chair ... you could say that in the face-to-face context I participate in the discussions first and foremost with my body. In a disembodied reality of a skype chat (and SL even though I get re-embodied there through my avatar) I am stuck as I am deprived of my familiar means of communication. I am reduced to nothing, I am doubly disembodied even though I have at my disposal a text-based communication channel (my preferred medium) and a comforting buffer in form of the computer screen (theoretically it should be easier to be opinionated as the other people get somehow obliterated).
Now, the discussion forums are slightly different as they are asynchronous and thus giving more time to construct contributions. I am aware of the potential benefits – the possibility to voice your opinions, test them, get feedback (unless for strange reasons your peers might decide to ignore your post) and either refine or refute the idea. The whole notion of social constructivism and networks – I’ve written quite a bit about this and I am a great fan of all this but as an observer not a participant (unless I’m assessed). To be honest, I am quite ego-centric and the personal comes before the collective (a little digression – I keep noticing a growing discrepancy between what I believe is pedagogically sound and what I actually do as a learner, which results in the internal tension; somewhere deep inside me there is some fermenting going on – it seems I need to revisit certain areas, honestly verify my opinions and reposition myself in relation to the issues of groupwork, sharing, etc. and either change my behaviour or opinions).
A conclusion – a blog is my space (and the wiki I have experimented with even more) where I can record my stream of consciousness without risking being unheard or unnoticed, without having to engage others with questions (although I can throw in a few rhetorical ones), and personalising as much as possible. Words in a personal space seem embody my thoughts and ME (soooo ego-centric!)
Comments
This is a different type of input – fed up with the textuality, linearity and (pseudo?) academicity I’ve decided to include something more visual, hand-written (how uncool, old-fashioned and non-digital native like!) and personal, not sure if I am not pushing the boundaries here? I am on the post-grad course after all and aren’t I expected to act like a rational adult, engaging and engaged in an academic discourse on matters pertinent to the subject of digital environments?
I am also a teacher myself and of course love when I can see my students enjoying the class. Positive emotions of engagement, enthusiasm, openness and curiosity are sought after and warmly welcome. Negative emotions, on the other hand, seem like a bit of faux pas; a sobbing student, an angry student, a frustrated student, an aggressive student ... Each explosion of emotions is greeted with a hint of well-controlled irritation, despair or disbelief. Yet, these emotions are integral part of the learning process the student is going through and as such cannot/should not be ignored by tutors (Wosnitza & Volet, 2005).
Signs of emotional turmoil can be traced in my Notes from the Skypeground, but it is not my intention to create a drama. I noted down what I felt and looked for the pictures that could illustrate it (unable to make a film which would reflect the speed with which the chat entries pop up in the window, causing a headache and a blur of thoughts). I am trying to understand myself as a learner, hoping that these insights might help me decipher my future students’ actions and feelings and assist them better in learning.
I am a quiet person. Fact. Not opinionated, not vociferous, rather a listener than a talker but I do have things to say. I have participated in synchronous discussions before (and asynchronous too) and even though I wasn’t the most active contributor I did throw in my two pennies worth. I’ve always been enthusiastic about the possibilities learning technologies create for education and thought I was cut out for learning this way but now I keep resisting participating actively in such learning activities here on the course (and for the second time as a matter of fact!). It bewilders me what motives are there behind this behaviour – I am aware of merits of online discussions, I know I am depriving myself of the possibility to network with like-minded professionals, I know I can be selective about what I read, I know I can even lurk – yet, I avoid it at all cost. What secret plan do I have in my mind – I’m asking myself. Any suggestions?
Actually, including the visual makes you *more* cool – pushing at the boundaries of academic discourse and challenging it to adapt to new forms of digital literacy :)
I absolutely loved both of these images – it captured an intensity and communicated it brilliantly, kudos.
The negative emotions – particularly when students are ‘stuck’ on a concept – are very worth exploring in relation to learning. Have you come across the idea of threshold concepts and liminality? The idea is that come concepts are transformative and transformation can be hard leading to stuckedness in this liminal space between not getting it and getting it. (Very quick intro here http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html , a good paper is Meyer, J. and Land, R. (2006). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. Overcoming barriers to student understanding: threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. J. Meyer and R. Land (Eds.). (London, Routledge): pp. 3-18. And the e-book is at http://ezproxy.lib.ed.ac.uk/login?url=http://www.netlibrary.com/urlapi.asp?action=summary&v=1&bookid=171081 )
One thing we really hope folk get from all our courses is the experiential insight into what learning online is like – ups and downs – so they can take that forward into their own work.
> I keep resisting participating actively in such learning activities here on the course<
Phew, I do have a psych degree, but I wouldn’t dare to use it! :) Can we turn the question around – rather than asking why aren’t you engaging, ask what makes the activities/space unattractive or obstacles to engagement? And what makes this space an attractive option for engagement? What differences are there between the group spaces and this blog?
This is to answer the question you aksed at the end of your comment. I think the idea of threshold concepts and liminality deserves a separate posting!
******
What makes this space attractive and other spaces like the discussion forum or group chat less attractive?
I don’t like discussions, I’ve almost always been the last to throw in my two pennies. Sometimes I’ve contributed sooner, for instance when I feel I am on friendly terms with the groupmates and therefore don’t feel judged. Sometimes I want to say something but have a massive frog in my throat and somebody seeing me almost choking on it invites me to join in the discussion more actively. Despite that my apparent passivity is rather superficial because when it comes to non-verbal cues, most of the time I am hyperactive, twitching my ears while listening attentively, contracting and relaxing face muscles when expressing interest or disbelief, and constantly fidgeting with pens, clothes, shifting in my chair ... you could say that in the face-to-face context I participate in the discussions first and foremost with my body. In a disembodied reality of a skype chat (and SL even though I get re-embodied there through my avatar) I am stuck as I am deprived of my familiar means of communication. I am reduced to nothing, I am doubly disembodied even though I have at my disposal a text-based communication channel (my preferred medium) and a comforting buffer in form of the computer screen (theoretically it should be easier to be opinionated as the other people get somehow obliterated).
Now, the discussion forums are slightly different as they are asynchronous and thus giving more time to construct contributions. I am aware of the potential benefits – the possibility to voice your opinions, test them, get feedback (unless for strange reasons your peers might decide to ignore your post) and either refine or refute the idea. The whole notion of social constructivism and networks – I’ve written quite a bit about this and I am a great fan of all this but as an observer not a participant (unless I’m assessed). To be honest, I am quite ego-centric and the personal comes before the collective (a little digression – I keep noticing a growing discrepancy between what I believe is pedagogically sound and what I actually do as a learner, which results in the internal tension; somewhere deep inside me there is some fermenting going on – it seems I need to revisit certain areas, honestly verify my opinions and reposition myself in relation to the issues of groupwork, sharing, etc. and either change my behaviour or opinions).
A conclusion – a blog is my space (and the wiki I have experimented with even more) where I can record my stream of consciousness without risking being unheard or unnoticed, without having to engage others with questions (although I can throw in a few rhetorical ones), and personalising as much as possible. Words in a personal space seem embody my thoughts and ME (soooo ego-centric!)