Learning reflections week 16

Learning Reflections Weeks 16 

Module 3 Design

·      I like this DesignStudio format – it is a nice idea to try and replicate a studio online.

·      I find the configuration too clunky however – it takes a long time to find other teams’ projects and then drill down to specific pages and make comments. So we are not replicating the same experience as wandering around from board to board in a studio and having chats.

·      So I like the principle of what we are trying to replicate very much, but I am frustrated by the practice. I think I would have benefitted from some initial hand-holding. And I think the goal of having dialogues with other teams (which Yishay made clear in his call) could maybe be more emphasized in future iterations of this module.

·      I’m painfully aware that this may just be my own personal learning style – I don’t get the point of things by reading. I understand far more by doing, I also appreciate listening, and I very much like being shown some ideas in practice by someone else – this just results in much faster learning for me. I wonder if people in our cohort with different learning styles have got to grips with the OpenDesignStudio much earlier?

·      These thoughts have fed in to our own learning design, which I feel should be directive initially, so that learners can understand the tools they are using and the basics of storytelling. Then they can experiment and construct on their own or in teams.

·      I am in the fourth week of the six-week module 3 and only now starting to appreciate the importance of cultivating feedback dialogues with other teams. This is too late, I should have realized this earlier.

Team dynamics

·      Team dynamics have been less pronounced this week because half the team have had other things to deal with. Both Asanka and John have had to cope with a lot of personal disruption in the first part of the module.

·      Writing this makes me realize that maybe I haven’t done enough to reach out to them and encourage them to remain engaged despite the disruptions. I know that if it were me having to deal with all these other things, I would get massively demotivated about my OU studies, and I would find it very hard to re-engage with them.

·      We were able to update John on the Friday call for Week 16. Neither he nor Asanka could make the Week 17 Friday call, and I couldn’t make an update call for John on the Saturday the day after our routine call.

·      That said, John has been able to start to get involved again in Week 17, and I found his design pattern on ‘The Immigrant and Refugee Voice’ very thought-stimulating.

·      So despite the disruptions, I feel that as a team we still have progressed fine.

Call with Yishay

·      I couldn’t join the live call as it was at 3am my time, so I listened to the recording (it was nice, however, to be able to see that everyone was asked to do a poll on their preferred times, and the most popular time was chosen).

·      I must do more work on online identities, it is such an interesting area. Having seen Yishay’s OU profile and read the module 3 course notes, I had formed quite a distinct view of him and the thinking behind the module. When I listened to the call, my view was completely transformed.

·      It makes me think that in course design, we need to over-communicate the context and spirit that we are trying to foster.