24 December 2019 - nearly the end of the year ... This morning, I heard on the radio that the Queen will look back to 2019 as a 'bumpy year'. Who wouldn't agree? Seems like we're moving into bumpier times on an almost daily basis, looking at our future in the pretext of climate change, and devastating humanitarian disasters happening in so many parts of our world. I'm looking at my surrounding, being very aware of how small each single human being is. Sometimes it seems a real privilege to be able to put up with the little things which surround us. Currently, I'm 'the last one standing' on the fourth floor of my office building, and I just watered all the little plants on our window sill:
In my new role as Senior Lecturer, I was 'blessed' with a chance to dig into 'online distance learning'. My overall experience: I travelled a 'bumpy road'. One of the projects I was tasked with, setting up an undergraduate online distance learning course, was stopped in its tracks for various (valid) reasons after a very hopeful (at least on my side) start. Another project, an MPH, did go ahead, giving me a chance to at least 'get on' with a product. Despite not all going to plan, nothing is lost, yet. The learning curve for myself was at times satisfyingly steep. Being much closer to programme teams, whose members try to balance teaching, research and doing PhDs did provide me with new priorities along the lines of finding ways to prepare the learning and teaching process in the online world in efficient, yet intriguing, ways. Along my way, I created a resource, collecting items which seem useful when tackling the process of online learning design. It's kind of the result of my reflections. It's under constant revision, and not yet much used, but I hope it might be - one day:
There's also a very re-assuring momentum in all things 'TEL' via a new group I'm participating in, which will hopefully make the online learning provision at my workplace 'sleeker', more consistent and reliable, including a thorough approach to online learning design. Here's hoping. Another part of my journey in the past year was related to 'discoveries with H5P'. The focus is on how to make it work for 'deeper' learning, possibly applying constructivist principles and embedding it into online presentations in a way that makes one stop and think, and possibly move away from the presentation to make one's own discoveries within the context set out in the presentation. Not easy to do online, and all the more fun it is to discover the potential. I'm setting my hopes on getting a user group going, as I firmly believe these things work best through extensive sharing of good ideas. There are more stories to tell. But not now. I'm getting ready for the Christmas break:
