What did I gain from ONL ?
Looking back at my ONL journey with contentment, gratitude and a sense of accomplishment, I feel this course opened several channels that will keep on flowing for my entire academic career. Knowing how to learn is important than what you learn as a curriculum is subjected to frequent revisions. So is the role and functions of an educator, to suit the needs of the generation and changes. COVID-19 revolutionised higher education to an extent that was unimaginable. So I do believe it is a duty of an educator to be resilient as well as adoptable to change.
ONL guided us through a journey where we had to take our own initiative in learning and learning from peers. These are, in fact skills that an educator should develop and sustain. ONL provided a practical insight to this stimulating myself to keep on improving my teaching pedagogy.
Additionally the four broad topics led me through ventures never explored before .For instance , the open concept of learning was naive to me. The group discussions and webinars covered multiple dimensions and learning from peers was extremely encouraging.
Was ONL challenging?
Yes. Looking back towards the ONL journey , it was a bumpy road at the start, figuring out how the ONL space works and activities. The facilitators did an excellent job bringing the group together, in our case Diane and Ulf. However ,after we bonded as a group , and was producing meaningful outputs and helping each other , the path started to get easier than before.
Allocating time within the busy academic schedule was another challenge, but meetings were definitely something that I was eventually looking forward to!
Did I find it useful?
Certainly yes. I would recommend it to my colleagues as well.
What else do I want to learn?
Academics have to collaborate with colleagues at different levels of the career. I would like to learn more on strategies for effective collaboration with fellow academics.
May 12, 2023 at 1:47 pm
Thanks for this post, I found your reflections on the ONL workshop interesting and insightful! You’ve touched on the changing role of educators and the necessity of being adaptable in the face of changes, such as those brought about by COVID-19. You’ve also addressed the benefits of taking initiative in learning and the value of learning from peers. These are important aspects of being an educator and it’s encouraging. I think that the challenges you faced during the course are understandable, and probably shared by many other, especially in terms of adjusting to the online space and balancing the program with other commitments. It’s good to hear that over time, these challenges became easier as you bonded with your group!
May 30, 2023 at 2:48 pm
It’s been a privilege learning and working with you in ONL231 Group 3 the past 3 months! I’m really encouraged by how motivated you are in trying to improve your teaching and trying out various pedagogical approaches. Indeed I would also recommend this course to my colleagues who may be interested but it is not for the faint-hearted. It takes personal commitment to want to complete the course; learning buddies, colleagues and group mates who cheer us on helped us to persevere til the end. Til we meet again, who knows maybe on campus!