I really struggled at first with how XYZ applied to me but I went back through the resources, it started to make more sense. It really helps that you have the videos, a variety of resources and, we can meet with you or refer to group meeting recordings. I needed all of those resources and input to wrap my brain around all these new ideas…. It is also so helpful that I can talk to you about these ideas…thanks for your help and encouragement.
This is a cumulative paraphrase of many emails, meetings and discussion posts where learners have relayed their challenges and success in working through difficult ideas. There are two key ideas that we can glean from this collective experience.
- Learning requires repetition and lots of input/feedback – most learners find looking at an idea or issue from a variety of perspectives useful. Reading and re-reading the book or article, watching a video, reading a blog post, reading an additional article, discussing the ideas with their colleagues, friends, and the instructor all contribute to the learning process.
- Learning takes time and effort – genuine learning requires effort and perseverance. Moving beyond knowing the name or label of something to actual knowledge takes a lot of effort and time. But once a learner takes ownership of an idea and makes it their own by applying that idea to their own context they can then apply this new knowledge in a variety of contexts.
Because we give our learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities and we are not simply asking learners to regurgitate information on an exam or in a document. The significant learning environment that we provide must be extremely rich and point to a very wide assortment of learning opportunities and resources.
In addition to the, required readings, the videos and related materials, I regularly point to additional ideas and resources in announcements as the learning progresses. I will occasionally add links to posts or other articles in our meetings or discussion forums. Rather than ask our learners to wait for these additional resources to be made available through announcements the following pages will point to a variety of resources that can help you make those meaningful connections.
Why not just include these resources in the supplemental reading section of the instructional modules or add them to the existing structure. More isn’t always better and not everyone may need or even want to go deeper so they may not need these additional resources. Our learning environments have been very well designed and we do have enough information and resources. The additional information and tips that I will be pointing to will help those learners who just want another perspective to help them “really get their head around the ideas” or as I would prefer to state – take full ownership and go as deep as they like. For the most part, I won’t be adding new information but will simply be pointing to similar or related information that will be presented from a different perspective. I will also be pointing to many of my personal struggles or insights that I have gained over the years which may also help learners to identify with the fact that their professor also has struggled with “getting his head around” many of the same ideas.
Please note that this is a work in progress.
