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On coming home
As a part of my MDDE 611 course I am presently writing a paper describing and debating my philosophy of adult education. In my research, I downloaded Terry Anderson's edited book, Theory and Practice of Online Learning. I just so happened to come across a reference to the me2u project and immediately went looking for it. What I found was the Landing, and discovered that I've had an unread message in my inbox for 28 days. After my frantic reply to Wendell Kisner, I set aside my computer and wept. I didn't mean to, but it just happened. See, I've been in the MAIS program since January and have struggled to find any place that I can call community within Athabasca U. I mean, my first foray into the moodle discussion board was a little traumatizing, and while I began my second semester with the best intentions, I've been struggling to find a significant connection with anyone. I have tried to arrange synchronous study sessions with my fellow students, but nothing has worked so far, so I have gone into the online places where I feel welcomed and wanted. The community of educators I have found on twitter has afforded me the opportunity for a multitude of real-time and even face-to-face meetings, and I have longed for this from my university since my arrival. I'm so happy to find this, what I hope will be the first step in the door to the connected learning experience I was so hoping for when I filled out my application! I don't know how I could have missed this place. I must not have been looking in the right places.
If anyone knows of study sessions, informal chit chats, twitter discussions or otherwise, please direct me toward them. I feel like I've been so long in the dark and just want to be let into the light.
Comments
Hi Leslie - thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Landing. The ideas (desire?) you express are exactly what the Landing was set up to do. Activity is still somewhat limited, but it's growing...
Social interactions are so important for learning and for forming the foundation of comfort that is needed when exploring new ideas/topics.
Looking forward to hearing your experience about the landing.
Leslie - as a Grad student, you are eligible to enroll in the social-media-tools-and-supporting-your-professional-learning Landing Course (https://landing.athabascau.ca/pg/groups/22940/social-media-tools-and-supporting-your-professional-learning/. The AU Graduate Student Association and TEKRI are starting this course here in the Landing on October 15th - to help you connect in many different ways with your peers. Click on the JOIN GROUP link, and see you on October 15th, if you like, as we will be talking about how to connect using "informal chit chats, twitter discussions" or other online technologies in the landing :)
I agree: a great post, Leslie. Ironically, I had posted a Landing bookmark about your blog post on MAIS learning in mid-May, and assumed you either knew about the Landing or would naturally find your way here. So I'm sorry I didn't specifically send you a tweet about it earlier.
Thanks for the welcome! I have requested membership to the group, Nathaniel, and look forward to a walk-through of all the Landing's fine offerings. I'll especially be interested in setting up links between this place and my other online homes. On that note, when I post in my blog or sent stuff out on the wire choosing "public" does that mean this entire space is public?
Oh, Mark. I wish you would have sent me a tweet or posted about the Landing on my blog, but there's no use... you know... spilt milk and all. I'm glad to be here now and would like to help promote the use of this space with other students. On a side note, how do you get here without conducting a site search for me2u? I went looking for links yesterday and couldn't find anything on any of the pages I would normally come across. Have I really missed something, or is it difficult to find as it's beta? Oh, and thanks for stopping by my other blog! I had no idea that anyone had ever been there! Perhaps you'd be interested in a #blogalliance that has been started with @amichetti, a grad student in New York.
George, I also look forward to interacting in this space. I would love to see some synchronous sessions set up and would be willing to assist in any way possible to make that happen. As Terry stated in the introduction to Theory and Practice of Online Learning, "distance education students may soon be able to avail themselves of similar social and collaborative support enjoyed by on-campus students" (Anderson, 2008, p. 9). In my opinion the tools to make this happen are already in use and soon has become now.
By the way, is Athabasca involved in any open ed. courses other than PLENK? I find the time difference difficult to negotiate most days (mostly because I sit in on @coursa's class in the morning). I will be trying to sit in on the lunchtime sessions from the 18th to 22nd, but again, time difference is no fun.
Anderson, T. 2008. Theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton: AU Press. Retrieved fromhttp://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/pdf/TPOL_book.pdf
P.S. Do you folks know much about this doi number in APA citations? Sorry, Mark... I've been in too many courses asking for APA style now and may be using that as my default rather than MLA! For an English major, this is a sad shift....