On Friday, we
met for the very last time in our PBL-group. It feels like we just started
functioning together as a group, and now we have to part ways. Maybe there
should be a sequel to this course, where you continue half pace?

We discussed
our experiences of the course, the positives and the less positive aspects. I
think our facilitator summed it up very well, when she said, “The course is the
course”. By that, she meant (to my understanding) that everything beside the
actual topics also is the learning outcome or the hidden curriculum. The course
is a learning experience where team building and group dynamics, PBL-work as a
method, stepping out of your comfort zone and interaction is as important as
the actual theories or topics we cover. At least for me, I really do feel that
the way in which you work in this course is the foundation of this course.

What are
the lessons learnt and what do we do in the future? What I am going to do from
now on is to introduce more collaborative and interactive methods online in my
practice. I don´t think I am the only one who have had the perception that
online courses often are very individual and you work alone in your on pace. It
is convenient to take an online course, since you get to choose when and where
you do your tasks. However, the fact that you do feel alone in a course in a
crucial way also lead to much completion fails. During the second topic, we
discussed dropouts in e.g. Moocs. The statistics shows, that astonishing many
drop out, already after the first week. The same applies to our PBL-group and
apparently other groups as well. Some people never showed up, even though I
respect their reasons for it, it is still a pity.   

My practice
is in no way massive open online courses, I have very limited groups of students,
but I think the same psychology applies. If you feel anonymous, invisible or
alone – or maybe even worse, the teacher is anonymous and invisible, it is hard
to motivate yourself to finish the course. What I have experienced during ONL,
is that online courses can and should be very collaborative, interactive,
playful and fun.

I feel
that, I have received tools and somewhat developed my digital literacy in order
to work further on course design and plan useful and hopefully enjoyable courses
for our students.

ONL has
been a good experience. Very frustrating and hectic at times. When I scroll
around in the course content and my own contribution, I hardly even remember
talking or writing about certain topics. It is a time- and energy-consuming
course. I would still recommend the course to everyone. It is a great opportunity
to learn, grow and question your own practice. It is also very healthy occasionally
to be the student yourself.