I have just had one of those OMG (oh my goodness) moments which is probably as good a place as any to start my blog. One of the courses that I facilitate is Gaining Foundation Skills in Learning and Teaching. I am slowly moving the contents and resources of this course from a closed learning management system to WikiEducator. A great chance for me to improve on what I'm doing.
Whilst reading through comments on a discussion board for the course I came across one that mentioned the learning module on WikiEducator was a little too wordy for the participant's learning style - other discussion threads I was also reading at the time spoke of a revelation I had made in the face-to face workshop that facilitators/teachers don't have to cram huge amounts of content into each session as it doesn't actually increase or improve what is learnt from that session. I suddenly realised (Oh help) that is exactly what I was trying to do with my course on WikiEducator. I saw it as a back up to the face to face facilitation and was trying to provide as much information as possible but I am going about it completely the wrong way.
What I should be doing is using it to create the signposts to learning. Each participant is heading towards the same general destination but the journey should be one that intrigues and entices each of them individually and they don't actually have to follow the same route to reach the destination.
I can still provide lots of info but in a variety of forms that each learner can pick and choose from to best suit their needs.
Time to go back and do a rethink!
I have been procrastinating the beginning of this blog for some time now with mixed feelings about the purpose of blogging. Sometimes it feels as though some people blog to grandstand or make themselves seem important, which just leaves me feeling uncomfortable. My aim is to share some of my thoughts and hopefully insights that I develop along the way as an educator. Some of my words may having meaning for someone else and if anyone engages with my blatherings, then I hope to learn from contributions and discussions.
Anyway - I've started!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
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