Personal Learning Journey
Some of my thoughts on Induction day took me back to when I started my Bachelor of Science degree in DCU, I remember at that time looking ahead and trying to build a mental picture of what life would be like in five or even ten years from that time. Knowing that that job I did at that time, “Network Engineer”, was rapidly changing and many of the envisaged changes I did not see as for the better.
I decided to do the Bachelor of Science degree by distance education, this would be the least disruptive method of delivery and allow me to deal with my family and work responsibilities, it also gave me something tangible that I could use to change career.
Looking back finishing that degree was one of the best decisions I made, it allowed me to take up at first a part time teaching role, and eventually to obtain a fulltime teaching position.
As I embark on the applied eLearning masters, I am also both reflecting and looking towards the future, in terms of what the outcomes may be, I have many ideas of how I would like to incorporate the skills, knowledge and competencies gained, to work as an effective eTutor.
My thoughts when starting the Learning Theories Module, was that it would provide a good opportunity for revision and make me analyse and reflect on my beliefs about how people learn and how to use strategies to help students to be successful in learning situations.
I was fortunate in having prior knowledge of many of the Learning Theories discussed, having covered them in a JEB (Joint Education Board) course I completed a few years ago.
The first area I decided to cover for this was teaching practice, I found the 10 strategies for successful teaching, the, “thinking about learning” and the active presenting strategies, presented some original ideas for effective teaching. I also found that reading these papers helped to prompt me in thinking about my own teaching practice, and I found myself analysing what I was doing and could I use new or different techniques and strategies to improve.
From starting the applied Masters in 2011 to summarising my final thoughts on my learning journey in 2015, many thoughts and ideas come to fore, looking back at the subjects covered, Learning theories was in my view the cornerstone or foundation, as without the pedagogy, the ship of eLearning has no rudder. Theory by its nature brings to mind a stiff hierarchy of rules, and it was the one module that, that before I started, I wanted an express path through it, looking back reflectively, I was in too much of a hurry to explore the modules that took my interest when I signed up, each module I studied after Learning theory, only made coherent sense when viewed from the basis of Learning theory.
From the viewpoint of where I learned most, and what I knew least, the Instructional Design module, enlightened my sense of progress, giving me the impetus to draw on new knowledge, methods and approaches. The courses I looked forward to most were Supporting Virtual Communities and Trends in eLearning; they envisaged a sense of exploring new boundaries and discovering new possibilities.
Year two, started with Research methods, I found this a time consuming and theoretical substantial module, but it certainly laid down essential groundwork for my research project, laying out a rough structure which I would later build on. How to configure the project research was an essential element I also learned in this module. The research module reflection paper helped to tie the important parts of this module together and provided a basis for starting on the applied project.
The applied project and journal paper, should showcase a summation of the knowledge gained throughout the course, I enjoyed the construction and design phase of the elearning resource, applying software applications to produce a polished functional learning resource. The area that challenged me the most, was getting the correct type of apps for the resource, and embedding them, so that they would open seamlessly across multiple platforms, much back and forth effort was required, to eventually producing a working resource. The completion of the journal paper proved to be a tougher assignment than I envisaged, constant reiterations were required, with many changes to layout and structure, the requirement to detail the development, implementation and evaluation of the resource in 7000 words proved arduous. Looking back I certainly hope all the effort and time expended was worth it. Having reviewed the content of Masters completed by Peers in other disciplines, I would estimate that the workload in the Applied Masters is much larger. If I am fortunate enough to be awarded the Masters in Applied eLearning, I will apply for eLearning teaching and training opportunities with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board with whom I have previously worked and whose development plan encourages a greater emphasis and expansion of eLearning.