Greetings fellow learners of Learning To Learn Online (LTLO) Sept 2022 cohort!
After finding out that Dr Cleveland Innes was this year’s NUS EiRP visiting professor, I checked out her bio, and found several interesting MOOCs. As a fan of online learning, I decided to jump into this particular one to start my journey of unlearning, and relearning. The world is changing at a break-neck pace. The only constant is change (thanks Belinda, for drilling that point into me). Some things that worked in the past are no longer relevant in today’s context. So, it's important to stay updated and recalibrate oneself to meet new challenges as well as future-proof ourselves through continuous learning. This brings us back to learning, which is what this LTLO MOOC is all about.
“How do people learn these days? How do I learn best? How do we know if learning has occurred and that the learning approach / materials has been effective?”
Prior to joining NUS in April 2022, I worked in a healthcare institution for 16 years, supporting digital learning. In a nutshell, I was an advocate of tech-enabled learning supporting healthcare training for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. For anyone who is interested, here are more details about myself.
I always wanted to return to academia and finally fulfilled my wish earlier this year. One main change I am adjusting to is that my primary target audience has switched from working professionals (who really cannot be bothered with grades) to university students whose priority is in achieving the highest grade possible (for scholarships, etc.). The secondary target audience is somewhat similar, i.e. healthcare educators are akin to university faculty members - both groups I highly respect as these educators somehow have to balance their research, clinical practice and teaching responsibilities despite an ever increasing workload and sometimes unreasonable demands from learners.
To recalibrate myself, I joined this LTLO course to better understand how modern day learners learn and how best to support them. My role in NUS as a blended learning coordinator aims to bring together the best of online learning with f2f experience. So, this course is highly relevant in my work.
A side perk is that I enjoy learning new things, so this process of rediscovery is an added bonus. I look forward to learning more from our main instructor, Dr Cleveland-Innes, our “Course Inspirer” (TIL) Mr Dan Wilton, our facilitators, Mr Angelo Delli Santi and Ms Stacey DeLoose. Of course, I am most keen to learn from all of you. Knowing that participants are from all over the world, having diverse experiences and perspectives only further adds to the fun! See you guys at the weekly forums.
Module 1 has left a good first impression. All the information is chunked nicely. Students get to learn through Canvas LMS’s built-in forums, mixed with free tools like h5p, Padlet, etc. This variety of different approaches to learning keeps me engaged. Does this mean my learning preference is that of mixed modality? I guess variety is indeed the spice of life.
In addition, by deliberately limiting how much content is released each week, it helps to focus learners attention to specific sub-topics at a time. Just the right amount to keep us interested...
Disclaimer: I have joined other MOOCs before, but never went through them all. I usually picked up what relevant information I needed and left. Yes, I am guilty of contributing to the abysmal completion rate for most MOOCs.
However, with new beginnings, come new opportunities. I pledge to complete this particular MOOC in its entirety and co-create a new learning community with many of you. Yes, even if it means joining the zoom sessions late at 11pm, Singapore time (so as to coincide with 9am Mountain time). I look forward to knowing many of you and staying in touch even after the course is over.
With that, let the unlearning & relearning begin!
Benedict Chia
10 Sep 2022
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