Sunday, April 17, 2016

What future for education - Week 1

I have just signed up for a new MOOC, "What future for education?" by University of London and UCL Institute of Education. The first task is to reflect on your previous learning experiences by thinking about one particularly successful and one unsuccessful learning experience. Then, considering what were the conditions that made this experience successful or unsuccessful for you and what this tells you about your own preferred ways to learn."

So here goes..

Unsuccessful Learning Experience

This is going back a long way, but the fact that it remains with me, proves its significance. I have to say O Level Maths was a nightmare for me. The reasons why it was unsuccessful were:

  • Lack of motivation, the subject bored me.
  • The teacher's reluctance to explain why such and such happened. She explained what to do, but refused to explain why you got the answer by doing it. If I didn't know why it happened I was unable to process it.
  • Related to the above point, I was ridiculed by the teacher for asking "Why?" all the time and was regarded as the class dunce by the teacher and consequently the other students because of it.
  • It was school, I didn't particularly like school.
On a happy footnote, after failing the exam, I got extra tuition from a newly qualified teacher who sorted me out because he took the time to explain why.

Successful Learning Experience

A more recent successful experience was my online degree in Education Technology, particularly a module titled "Emerging Learning Environments". The reasons why it was successful were:
  • I was interested in the topic, therefore motivated.
  • The tutor, despite being online was very supportive and would always answer any questions you had within a few hours.
  • The learning was collaborative, the work was done on a wiki and there was a strong support network from your fellow students.
  • I was learning on my terms, when I wanted, where I wanted and to a great extent how I wanted.
What does this tell me?

Well apart from the fact that I don't like Maths, it tells me that:

  • I have to be interested in what I'm learning.
  • I need support from a learned willing tutor.
  • I thrive on collaboration and the sharing of ideas.
  • I need to learn on my terms. Working and having a family means the regular school/college scenario is out of the question.