Online learning and wellbeing
Greetings everyone.
One particular factor positively impacting my well-being is to study whenever and wherever I am comfortable. The flexibility reduces the pressure and tension of punctuality. this further allows me to study at a time that does not impact other commitments.
One of the challenges is to attend the synchronous meetings; especially due to challenges in time zones. As much as I would like to attend them, if there are in the middle of the night, it's not possible. Recordings do not have the same effect as attending the live ones. The solace is the availability of a tutor who responds to questions (related to the topic in the recording) sent via email.
Thank you for reading my post. Looking forward to know which challenges you face and how you deal with them,
Smruti.
Smruti, thanks for sharing your comments.
I agree with your comments.
- Have you found any aspects of online learning to have a particularly positive impact on your own or your learners’ wellbeing?
Personally, one of the positive aspects of online learning is access to the materials all the time and engaging in content in a flexible way, any time of day. Having a family and work commitments would make face-to-face study not a feasible option for me to be able to further education. Online learning has created an accessible opportunity to learn and develop my skills further, giving me ownership of my career and CPD.
- Have any aspects had a particularly negative impact?
Smruti and Celine I agree with you both about the positive aspects of online learning such as the ability to access the course whenever and wherever and the general flexibility allowed by it. I also find it a much better way of learning than that offered for CPD within a traditional context.
I feel, I also benefit from not having the face to face experiences, as I do not enjoy social gatherings or events with people that are not familiar to me as I get quite anxious, and never know what to say. I know that there is social collaboration online, but it is easier as it isn't face to face and you don't feel as pressured.
This postgrad is my first distance learning. It's the best option for me in terms of my wellbeing because I have a hidden disability, that if I had to travel to a traditional lecture theatre, it would be a struggle on some days.
The aspect that has had negative impact is prime example right here. I am in this discussion area leaving my comment about a month after my peers. Seeing this sometimes makes me feel that I'm falling behind. However, I have the self-help tools in place to me catch up.
It's definitely not a rant from me.
IN those I have taught, I found online teaching was helpful in terms of being more able to get the quieter to speak, without interruptions (there did have to be some muting, for someone particularly eager to speak) though it also lost the personal connections, and reduced people down to initials and names, as pictures weren't always uploaded. It was also quite easy to provide lots of different links and options so people could learn more easily in the way they learnt, especially in terms of visual V written learning styles.
It was a nightmare in terms of regulatory requirements of data protection, as unable to stop people taking notes that left the office, so anything in any way personal had to be stripped out which did stop people being able to practice.
On a personal level, I enjoyed having so much data written down, to refer back to, and being able to learn in different ways that suited me more than traditional learning ways. But I find having lots of different groups and parts to check very easily overwhelming, and there always seems to be one group I've forgotten about.
As a student, one of the benefits has been being able to access the materials at a convenient time and being able to revisit a previous topic when required. This has been really helpful at times, and wouldn't have been possible in a face-to-face setting. Another benefit for me has been not having to make forced conversations with people that I've previously experienced in in-person learning environments (I'm a true introvert!). One of the challenges has been to keep on top of everything; the learning itself, the forum posts etc. Self-motivation is crucial and I think it would be easy to fall behind unless you have a robust and strict study plan in place.
Hi,
Interestingly, I came to this discussion with the words 'If you feel comfortable doing so, share your reflections' on my mind, thinking I might keep quiet. Reading the above changed my mind.
I agree it's fantastic having so much information to hand, and taking in the wider concepts around what we read. This reduces my anxiety about missing something.
The challenge of keeping up with discussions (as Rebecca says), being able to feedback on all the points, and the difference in MOOC discussion format to OU format, throws me sometimes. This increases my anxiety about missing something (and email updates can get overwhelming)
Some of the discussions have a 'like' button, and I think this could be provided more, maybe with more 'emojis' so we can give the non-verbal (non-written) response to posts. Similar to a nod, or a smile, or a 'good thought' in a f2f classroom situation.
Leanne mentions self motivation, and I agree, it can feel the risk of falling behind for all sorts of reasons is real. Another self impost stress
I am glad I felt encouraged to write :-) its reassuring to consider it all.
Totally agree with the great insights/consensus above. Online learning has afforded us the flexibility to access and study learning materials at a pace and location of our choosing. Having a day job on top of other life things, it's definitely a plus not having to commute to another place just so I can advance my education. That said, the challenge so far is getting to fit the study time in one's daily schedule and making sure to keep up with the reading but fortunately, there are ways to work around these.
Just to echo everyone else's thoughts on the positive - the ability to choose to study at the time and place of our choosing is a huge boon as even with the best of intentions, life has a way of throwing a spanner in the works.
As someone who's returning to education after a lengthy break, imposter syndrome and the worry of whether I'm doing enough is frequently in my head - and the lack of regular, in-person contact can sometimes compound that.
Greetings!
To add to the above discourse, our connectedness through the online forums plays an important role in fostering my well-being. I enjoy reading your reflections every week, and I look forward to them whenever.
However, the autonomy and flexibility of online learning have occasionally resulted in a reluctance to engage, along with challenges related to self-discipline and time management. Still, I am hanging in there.
Thank you for reading my reflections.
Kind regards