Masters: Part 1: The boring bit

They all said it would be boring. They groaned and moaned and rolled their eyes. They sighed deeply. So I can’t say I wasn’t warned when I enrolled for a Research Methods paper this year. This is a compulsory precursor to completing a thesis, to complete my Masters. So, a necessary hoop (necessary evil?) through which to jump.

This journey towards my Masters started back in 1992, when I was a fresh-faced student, just qualified with my BA Hons in English/Euro Literature (mais oui!). I had been accepted to complete my Masters in Shakespearean studies (oh, the romance of it all, I thought at the time!).

But when I asked the bank manager for a loan, the conversation went something like this:

Him, smiling: “Congratulations on being accepted to pursue a Masters. So, what subject will you be exploring?”

Me, as excited and keen as only a twenty-something can be: “English – Shakespeare actually”.

Him, smile fading: ” And what job would that be leading to? Any ideas?”

Me, feeling less excited than 10 seconds ago: “Er…hadn’t really thought about it. But I love English. And Shakespeare. A lot.”

Him, sternly and with an air of a man who knows his business: “Well, if it were Maths or Science, no problem. But there’s not much call for jobs with an English background. So I’m afraid we won’t be able to lend you the funds for your studies.”

Ad that was it. I waited another 16 years until I had an opportunity to try again. And this time, I chose Education. Plenty of work in them there hills.

I’ve now finished the Research Methods course (and the other four papers before that). And it wasn’t so bad. In fact, that ‘dull’ paper was hugely rewarding, and I wasn’t the only student on the course who thought so.

And if you give me a sec, I’ll be able to think of why it’s the best paper you can study if you’re in education.

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Image source:  Some rights reserved by Bas.K

Make social media WORK for you

8.30am, and according to the research, the 300+ audience of students should still have been asleep in bed. However, the 2011 Tech Hui saw hundreds of bright-eyed, keen folk turn up to Te Papa to hear a few of us, mostly old(er), folk share our thinking about all things technology.

The annual Wellington event is student-run, a huge achievement in itself. I was invited to speak about the way students might extend their uses of social media beyond the ‘social’ to enhance the way they learn. It was a whistle-stop tour, but I managed a whole room, real-time Twitter example (without touching an equipment!), explored some examples of how they might explore their learning passions (Shakespeare on Facebook! Chat to Stephen Hawking on Twitter!), and emphasised the importance of cybersafety and of being a digital citizen with integrity.

It was a pleasure to be invited, and to watch such a slick operation get underway. Many thanks, and well done, to the TechHui team and to those in the audience.

[Image source: http://www.techhui.org.nz/

What is it like to learn online?

Starved of human contact. Isolated. Lonely.

I’ve heard people say that distance learning online – alone, in their pyjamas, talking aloud to their cat – made them feel cut off from their peers and not really part of the class. Having just finished two online papers, I thought I’d try and re-capture the experience, which may be particularly useful for anyone designing online learning; we know that the needs of keen beans like me need to be taken into account by someone at the planning stage.

As a working mum with two children under six and household to run, working online was ideal. The flexibility, in terms of time and place, suited me perfectly. Asynchronous forums were the main discussion space, so logging in once a day worked well. I could take time to reflect and mull over connections between work and study. If child was sick, I could move my study to later in the week – and, yes, I could do all this in my pjs. I was pretty motivated, intriniscally (love that learning!), and extrinsically (yes, I’d like a Masters, please).

But, if you are choosing distance online learning, you may need to be ready to embrace the isolation, and understand that the social connections with your peers is one of the strongest motivators for your involvement. Students: reach out and get to know who’s on the course with you. eEducators: design so this kind of ‘reaching out’ is easy.

For me, the moments of face-to-face contact were so enlightening and broke down barriers so quickly that I realised, for the first time, the huge store we set by body language and voice/facial expression. Podcasts, online seminars, people’s photos, swapping news, the use of real names, and the liberal, and, frankly, wanton use of emoticons all helped bridge that transactional distance (see Moore, 2007) between  me, the tutor, and my peers. And, most crucially, bridging the distance between me and the ideas with which I was grappling.

Anyone designing a course, in these days of Facebook, and socio-constructivism, will be looking as much to the socialisation of the experience, as to the instructional design.

If you too are a keen bean, I have reflected on this at length (you have been warned) in a paper on the role of the eEducator, particularly on the ways we can help break down those barriers at the start [Melhuish, K. (2010). The role of the eEducator: A reflection on practice. Unpublished assignment.]

Just make sure you put on clean pjs before that online seminar. Or sit real close to the camera;-)

Image: cw3283 via Flickr