|
Student interviews-adams Phone interview You had a choice to
take this course online or face to face—why did you choose online? First of all I know that I was going to take at least 6 credit hours and I knew that I didn’t really have the time to spend another 2 and a half hours on campus—you know, during the week ---so, it was just more feasible, more beneficial to take it online because then that allowed me to do it at my own pace—that’s basically it: I just didn’t have another day to give the campus—I actually prefer the on-campus classes—I think we interact more, and, I think we interact better—I think the online classes are a little more generic for some reason……yeah, you have more fun face-to-face—it’s more convenient to take it online but you miss that face-to-face interaction—you miss the realness about it—the genuineness about people—it’s so easy to not be yourself when you’re typing in something (lol) and it makes you wonder how much of it is a real situation What are some of
the challenges you have faced in your efforts to complete this course? I really didn’t have a whole lot of challenges, I just took the whole thing with stride—I read my chapters ahead of time, and any chapters that were, perhaps alike in some inst ance—you know, like differences in the brain chapter and consciousness—so I really tried to relate everything—I really didn’t have any challenges—I enjoyed it actually 4:33 One challenge was trying to keep up with the reading online, because you want to keep up with what other people are saying—but, you know, some of those postings, like 110 of them!—you know, and I do, I read a lot of them, so you know, like wow—this person’s interesting—so, I might follow what Robert says a lot because he’s very interesting or (?), I love what she says—so, yeah, the challenge is trying to read all of it because that’s what I want to do—I have a goal of reading the postings, because I’m interested. It was challenging, but it was something that I wanted to do (there’s so many posts to read) I know, I want on one day and [my phone cable was cut for a while so I couldn’t log on—I still use a dialup connection –I didn’t have access to the online questions for three days What worked best
for you and what worked against you and your personal learning style? I’m more of an auditory learner—what worked more for me was being able to go back and go over the questions, or whatever, but I’m more of an auditory learner—it would have been best if I had taken the class (lol) and LISTENED –because I never forget a conversation…….when you just read it online—and sometimes people just go all the way over to left field and you’re like, “what?” –while you’re trying to decipher what point they’re trying to make as it relates to the question—then a lot of understanding kind of goes out the window. Were you
comfortable with the technology? No, it’s not a problem at all; I don’t have a problem with it—I guess because I’ve taken so many courses where even though we’re not doing a discussion board—generally I don’t do online course, but, because a lot of my professors when I went back for my certification—they required a posting –you had to maybe read an article and post—so….the technical part of it was ok—so it wasn’t new, I can handle it—actually I think it’s quite fun. Did anything work
against you in this class? No, but it worked against me in that it took more time—however, had I been in the face-to-face course, being an auditory learner, I would have gotten it—I would have walked away with it; whereas, when I read it online, sometimes I have to click back on it and say, OK, what did you say?, or, What was that question? Or, I have to print the question and then answer it—but I guess because it took more time—it takes more time—having to go back. 11:06 What adult learning
methods do you utilize when you [work on] this course? As far as a method, I don’t even think about that—really I don’t—because I am a self-starter Imean I have no choice—I’m just going to tell you what motivates me—I think, which direction do I need to go—this is not working for me—I need to make some adjustments, so, it wasn’t about anythng else, or anyth body else; it was all about what I needed to do—and I’m coming up on 40, so I’m on a journey to 40 which –not necessarily getting into a life crisis thing..,but what motivated me as an adult learner was, what am I going to be doing in the next 5 years—so, that’s what’s helping me in this class—and even in taking this class, I was like, ‘I need to know more about the adult learner’ which is me –because I want to learn—and because I love to learn, I’m what they consider a professional student (lol)—so I don’t really even think about whether I’m a self-starter or—of course you have to set goals or you never accomplish anything—so. I have accomplished a goal of finishing classes—as it relates to this particular set of courses that I have to take to get where I’m going—and I’m actually focusing on special education—I was just interested in the adult learner—I thought, ‘that’s an interesting title’. 13:52 You need to be a self starter to take online courses—if not how can you take it online—you cannot be passive [in an online class]. You need your own inner drive. If you don’t have it within your self to get up and do what you need to do—if you’re a procrastinator you definitely don’t need to take this----yeah, I don’t need that nudge, I’m really interested in what the next chapter’s going to be about or the next posting’s going to be about—that’s what drives me to go on the next topic or subject or to participate 15:27 What did you gain
from taking this course Just learning more about myself as an adult learner—I had done some things with learning styles before and I talk to parents about it a lot……when I did the learning styles inventory it really helped me to know ‘me’ as well—and so, that’s what I gained—I learned to apply these things from now on… When I told you I was an auditory learner, I’ve known that for a while, but I’ve never really told anybody that—you’re probably the first person I ever said that to. Describe your own
learning experience in this course I was more disappointed when it was time to post—if you have an emotion you need to feel it and then you can move on and I cannot harbor things, but I was so angry we didn’t get together—we had decided to post together and she went off in a whole different direction she went off in left field wnd, well, but I must say, that she did call—in Friday she left a message and apologized because she said she figured out what I was talking about and you saw Dr’ H’s last posting on the mix-up on the posting schedule==other than that, that was the most disappointing thing—I’ve learned that when you are going to work online you still need to go after that person especially if you’re going to do a project together or a discussion together—I contacted her 2 or 3 times but really if you’re going to work with someone online, you’ve never seen them before, you don’t know anything about that person—it’s best that you start early and that you stay on it because I don’t think if I had not called her those many times she probably would never have called me {Sandra martin} At any rate, we were going to try to do something live and she had agreed, and then we agreed to do some other things but then it turned out to be something else. But like I said, I learned that maybe if I had typed it up and sent it to her….so, it was just a learning experience—it’s just hard to coordinate with people when you’re online—but I don’t see that would be any harder in class—I think that some people are just self-centered and they don’t think about other folks, whereas the whole time I was thinking, ‘ok, the two of us, we’re doing this together.—I think she was focused on herself—I wouldn’t have done her like that……and it’s not about the grades—I’m beyond that; I have 2 masters degrees—so, I’m not thinking about the grade—I’m learning because I love to learn—I love to understand—like now, I’m so fascinated about the world of the special school district and children and what they’re doing in the special school district now and special needs children—that’s just a big thing for me so I’m just going to go after all I know how to get from that from that particular area of education----so, this adult learning class—I took it because I wanted to understand more about who I am I’ll tell you this—if I had the option of taking all my classes online, I would, for the convenience-----but, I would miss working with the people face to face---I would miss that, but, just for the convenience if I had the option of taking this whole program I’m taking on line, I would do it. So, is this an elective for you? Yes, it is But you know what, I’m motivated by people projects by group activities and group work I’m very excited about it and that’s what keeps me moving—like I said, online just for the convenience This class is definitely working for me I enjoyed it, in fact I’m going to look for other adult learner courses 32:00-48:00 is in class recording Amir talking ============================================= Dana Franz interview ( Questions?: no Why did you decide to take this class? One of the reasons I took it online is because it was a conflict in schedules for me I’m a nursing student—I wanted to take this class but it was the same time as my nursing class but I still wanted to take the class and the only way that I could take it was an online class—it’s been very interesting (lol) 2:56 The online course was very challenging—it is challenging—I would probably have preferred to have done face-to-face------because I think that when you have more face-to-face interaction you can put names with faces and, um, I think it’s just better for me to do a face-to-face more so than an online—because I like to meet people and when I meet them I like to put a face with people I don’t like to just see a name and don’t know who I’m talking to or what I’m saying, so – a lot of times it was sort of hard for me to just post to a name like if I wanted to say something to—well, I’m talking to a name that I can’t put a face to……. Was this your first online class? I had an online class, um, and it’s been about 5 years….and it was totally different—the online class I took was advanced pathophysiology and basically what the teacher did was gave us and assignment, we printed it out and did what we had to do—we printed it out and then we went back in and put our little marks in and then she graded it –um it was not like a discussion and everybody responding to a discussion, or what you were saying or how you’re responding—it was totally different than this particular class 5:54 Challenges in this course: I think what was overwhelming to me was that---I think this just blows my mind when I click on the computer and I’ll see, gosh, 60 things to read, and I’ll be saying in my mind, gosh, where do people find the time to just post and post and post ---and I guess just really finding the time to do all the posting—is more challenging to me than anything—even though my goal this weekend is to have everything posted (lol) before this course ends—I just think that was a big challenge to me. (talking about amy—who didn’t respond to Dana regarding a group forum) I emailed her, I emailed amy and I gave her my home phone number and I told her that we were supposed to post, and, you know, what does she have, or, what does she want to do—if she wanted to contact me here was my home phone number –I was up for anything she wanted to do as far as the postings ….and, I have not heard from her ------it is hard but, I just look at it as --I have to get a grade for Dana, I can’t get a grade for amy—so there’s no way that I would have went without posting something--------I did try to make that connection and I did not…… So, challenges?: just finding the time to do what I needed to do Did you find the time? ----no I still would like to go through each one of those postings and do a posting—that’s important to me—what I thought about the readings. What worked best
for you? Just sitting back and reading—some of the comments were really interesting to read—whether or not I responded or not—just to read them and see where other people were coming from was interesting—it was very interesting What made you
respond? Just to give the person feedback and say whether I agree or disagree with what you’re saying and what you said was interesting. 11:20 What made you take
this course? I just wanted to do it because, you know, in nursing we do a lot of teaching—we do a lot of one-on one teaching…..I do a lot of patient teaching, I do lot of family teaching…..I basically just wanted to explore and see how the adult learner really processes information—just to, just basically for my patients….I wanted my communication skills and my teaching skills to be effective. Your own learning style? for me, I can’t say that the class really worked against me—I can say it opened up my eyes to quite a few new things to quite a few new theories that are out there—that I can agree with it, or, I can disagree with it—one of the things that I really agree with is that the adult learner, especially for myself, if I’ve experienced something I’m able to process it a little bit better, I’m able to relate to it—if I can take some of my life experiences and relate to it with my learning experiences—it’s easier for me to relate to it and to process it—so, just reading some of the things that the authors have said they do make you look at things just a little bit different, they do make you open your eyes and you—well, this is what they’re saying, and, what do you think about it….like, that one –do you think that there’s a difference between the men and the women learning…..so, when you think about that you think, like, weeeeelll? You’ll think that, but, is it true? But when you go back in the research you’re able to say that maybe there’s something different going on…….but I think that a far as my learning style, I’m a more hands on—life experiences is what helps me get through my studies, and when I can just take something and relate it to it it helps me to be able to comprehend it within myself What I find is when I work the night shift I can [find the time to post] I can just sit there and do it, but when I’m doing the day shift I have to find the time—it’s like night and day, you know because you know, when you get off of work you’re so tired, you’re like, ok, I’m going to try to go and look at it and even though sometimes I’ll go and I’l look at it, I’ll just read and I won’t post--….and I’ll think, I’ll get back to it….that happens a lot. Has this class
enlightened you about your own learning? 20:28 What about the learning contract: I went ahead and I did it, and then when I read some of the comments he put on it, it made sense, but, it wasn’t until after I did it and I got the feed back on it that I thought, oh, ok…….I wasn’t sure I was on the right track because when I did it I basically, I geared things towards me, but I also geared things towards somebody else that’s learning----so it was like, me learning as well as someone else, I guess you could say, as well as me teaching someone—so, that’s how I did it What did you gain
from this course? what I feel that I really gained from this course is, like I said, I was really interested in the way the authors presented the theories—it was interesting to know that so many different theories were out there, and, um, putting the together—that was interesting because I did not, I had never really expanded on anything like that because I’m so wrapped up into nursing and how the body works and stuff like that, I’d never really thought about the piece about breaking it down to the different theories about learning and the way people process information and things like that –so I think that was like a game for me because I take that and apply it to not only my everyday life, but I can also apply ot when teaching, or, you know, or different things- it gives you a different way to look at things—it’s like, someone may not be picking up information that you’re sharing with them—maybe you can do a different with them so that they can understand what you’re trying to give them. Any trouble
negotiating the MyGateway (online) piece of it? no ----I didn’t have any problems with it………..but overall it’s been a good course, I mean, I’ve enjoyed it. Nursing has a lot of online course—do they use it like it was used in this course? No, not like in this course Anything else about this class? I actually feel kind of guilty that I have not caught up with those postings; I feel like, how am I going to ever do this; I really feel bad that I’m not caught us, so now it’s like pushing a situation to really, really post before the course is completely over, so, but, I don’t know, so, would I do it again? I don’t know; has it been an experience? Yes. I pay attention—I pay attention—there’s some people who’ve just dropped out—there’s some people who post all the time and it used to be discouraging to me, but then I thought, maybe they’re a mom and they don’t work and just go to school Do you think your
time was about the same as a f2f class? yes, because even in a classroom, I wouldn’t have responded as much, I would have just observed—I’m more of an observer of people—I would just sit back and listen unless I had a really really strong feeling about something—then I would speak, but the face-to-face, for me, would have been the same as it is for me in the online because …….if I was asked a question and I really had to answer, I would but you have some people that answer everything, just jump, jump, jump, jump, jump—that’s not me; I am the kind of person I do like to observe, I do like to see what other people are thinking and then I process that information and then I either agree or disagree—if I felt very very strongly about something, at that point, I would speak. …..it’s really what you take away from this course…of all the things that are out there, it’s really about being able to take something away from the course that ‘s useful Why did you agree to do this interview? What I really thought was that now I’ll be able to put a face with a name and it would be interesting to see……I like meeting people so, I thought, I’ll do it It (the class) was ok, it was just a matter of just doing all that you needed to do to keep up with it ===================================================== Cheryl grabber interview --Wednesday april 20th, 2005 You had a
choice—online or F2F—why did you opt for online? I had an incredibly busy schedule this semester and I know that this was my very first class in my grad program and I wanted to be able to really pick what I thought would be a slower-paced class, so I wouldn’t have to be away from my job, away from home—other things—more a matter of convenience for this first class—I’ve taken online classes before but the new part was the discussion board—that was the new part, my other online classed were more of the, ‘here’s the chapter, read it, answer questions’ there was really not a lot of interaction with the students, it was more about self-directed type of learning experience. Tell me about your
challenges My challenges were relating to the student experiences—I feel like I’m on a different page than they are; I’m looking for different things out of the class than they are; they’re in different fields of education than I am; everyone has different experiences—a lot of people I can’t relate to so I have a lot of problems responding to a lot of the responses that are out there that you’re supposed to interact, and you want to interact but I can’t relate to a lot of it so I just don’t respond—I’m not going to respond because that ‘s what I think I need to do—I say something if I feel like I need to say something, if not-----I do learn from other people –but I think that’s the biggest challenge for me….the interaction part. It’s not even that it’s on line, it’s not even that it’s not being face to face—but they’re living a different life than I am. I think there would have been more interaction in the group [it the class had been face to face] as the experiences—everyone would throw out there experiences and the instructor would feed off of that in tying the class together I think that—I think that’s the part about being in a seated course as opposed to an online course—it’s not that you can’t see the people face to face, it’s just that there’s so much information that you can put down that people like to share in answering the questions and just interacting—that I can’t relate to. [in face to face] I’d be able to stay right there, in the open room—what are you talking about, what do you mean [she’s looking for more feed back here] –to respond to somebody online and not appear incredibly stupid—I just won’t do it—I just don’t feel the need to—I gather and glean the information that I need and the rest---tschhhh—it’s gone. What worked best
for you? I think it’s the self directed—I had to be more disciplined in my learning to really get out of the information that’s out there—the reading is fine, I don’t ever have a problem with sitting down and reading a chapter and I can take whatever information I want from out of there and then take everyone else’s view on it so—call that informal learning—ai think I informally learn from just reading and just growing in my learning—in myself directed experience—I think that this class worked fine with my learning style—I don’t know that I really have a particular learning style—I can do hands on, and I think I can learn in many different arenas I’m very open to learning—I don’t see myself as having a really huge learning style –as I think about it and apply all the information, I’ve learned, gathered and read, I totally see it in my classes—I see, ok, this learning style, --there type of people usually gather in this type of course—whether it’s a technical course or whether it’s a computer course—you’re going to have a certain –we have a certain type of people who gather in and when I get feedback—I read everything and evaluate—there’s so many differences in the feedback in what they are learning—I think that they have different learning styles—their expectation are different, and I can relate to them probably because their learning style is different—the way that the instructor presented it is ok with one group but not ok with another group. 7:50 How do you get past that, I don’t know—we’ve been talking a lot about those different things in the class--…I have this ahha experience in this class—I might get one or two things out of 105 responses and correspondence that I’ve read but to me, that’s acceptable—if I leave with something, I’m happy—it can be overwhelming to read that stuff and—what you’re going to take out of it and what you can’t and I can see when I pop one open and I read it—a response from someone—I don’t even have to read too far into it to know that this is not something that even is equating with how I believe, how I think—and then it’s gone—I don’t even take the time to It is difficult to maneuver through all of those [posts in the discussion board] I’m pretty careful just putting someone’s name: hi, so and so—but it is kind of hard to maneuver through it sometimes You don’t know how many new [discussion board posts] posts are going to be there when you log on. What methods did you use in this course? -I’m kind of a sit-back-analyze kind of person and I think that relates to my personality—I’m not a jump-in blah-blah-blah-blah-blah kind of person—I sit back and I gotta read all the material think about it and then really have some type of plan of action whether it relates to something I’ve learned in the book or not, it’s just ok, here’s how to post this, here’s how to break it down and here’s how I’m going to relate facts and I figure out how I’m going to do it—how I’m going to learn and that’s me directing my own learning and if I get into it and find out that this really isn’t working for me—then I have to backtrack and just think about how I want to approach it and what better way can suite me—and sometimes, at that point in time the other side of me will kick in and I’ll just fly by the seat of my pants and not think about it—just because that might be an easier approach and you’re analyzing it too much and stop it [the learning contract] was just an extra thing I had to do and think about and whether I would apply that to my learning? –probably not—would I go back and say that I learned based upon that? It was the first time I’d ever used a learning contract and I had some conversations through email and on the phone with dr. Henschke saying, give me some direction here, this is hard, and I’m thinking, maybe, you’re in a masters class you’re in a grad class you should not have to ask people how to do this stuff and at your age, what are you doing not knowing how to do it That’s not how I learn [using a learning contract] I don’t have to break it out and put it on paper so it was a little different kind of experience to force myself to really think about it and do it I have a lot more things to be going out and doing than going out and analyzing how I’m going to learn and I know that’s just preparing me for really being aware of how my students learn—I know it’s for a reason but making myself want to be ok with it is probably more difficult challenge and the difference with me, too, is that I’m not really instructing—I hire instructors, I have them in my programs, I evaluate programs, I evaluate curriculum, I do that sort of thing, but—to actually be in a classroom, I’m not and that’s not something I want to do—so that’s where I also struggle with this adult education program. 18:50 What did you gain
from taking this course? One course closer to maintaining my certification—it was a first step for me into a grad program—it was a first step into interacting with other students through an online course How much time did
you spend on this class? A couple hours—some weeks more, some weeks less—again, if it’s a topic I enjoy I’ll be in there checking on it, relating and interacting—if you’re not in there responding early in the week—people who respond at the end of the week—there’s no interacting with them—and it’s hard to go back—we’re done—we’ve talked that topic to death—we’re ready to go on to something else—and they’re just getting in and responding—and so, I don’t even read their responses at that point in time because it doesn’t matter, I’m ready to go on the next thing—I’ve already done my thing in there 26:40 By the time you get half way through an online course when your starting to figure out who your personality might jive with –it’s a double-edged sword—email and communicating back and forth—you feel like you gotta watch what you say but then again you might say something where you are thinking in a very soft tone of voice but it comes out to somebody else in a very harsh manner or sound critical and I think that’s a really difficult type of interacting to maneuver around. There are tactful ways of getting something across but still but, I don’t think it has anything to do with the livelihood of the conversation or how boring it might be —there are still some things that can be interpreted differently regardless of the opinion it comes from If I’m in a crowd, I’m the one standing back—taking notes and letting everybody else have the discussion—I’m very modest about that kind of stuff What do you do with the people who respond late—I know life happens and that’s the nice part about being in this type of course and using the discussion board and posting just because so many times life does happen—especially like really busy times of the year, with your kids and with your job just in and out kind of stuff where your able to interact early on because your schedule is lighter—but then again what happens with these people who consistently just pop in at the end of the week because that’s when they do their work at the end of the next week—but then there’s no interaction when that person posts late 31:59 We all have those weeks but I think that some people are doing that as long as I post—and then there are people like me who some weeks I’ll post more and some weeks I’ll post less…sometimes I don’t have anything to reply back—so I would be just for the fact of ‘ok I’ll get my number of posts in I’ll bet if you took people who had taken a second or third online class their postings would double or triple because it was becoming familiar to them, becoming a way of life for them versus someone who’s having a class and seeing how it really goes down for the first time—and I kind of stepped back, too and looked at myself as being one of those people—this is my first online class and I’m not really sure how I’m interacting—is it comfortable for me? Where I would think a third class, boy, I’d be the brave one to be in there—saying what I thought more probably than what I do as a first class—and everyone I think experiences that, I know So it is hard to grade people on that [how much they post] because you don’t know their experience, maybe they’re not posting a whole lot but they’re learning tremendously in their own way and not being able to reply a lot—responding back to people because maybe they can’t relate to that person, they don’t think that person deserves a response, or whatever I find myself, OK, now I just read that and I want to come back and respond to it but where was it? And which thread was it and how do I get back there 37:39 I think it would be much, much easier to learn in an open environment where immediately you can pop back a response to someone and have a discussion between three or four people and not waiting several days for somebody to respond and then sometimes if you respond to someone they don’t ever answer you back, you know what I mean!? So you might be waiting 5 days and finally they might come back for a response and they might never ….and that’s why, when he says, take this time to go back over your postings, how many people really go from several weeks before maybe and catch up on postings—usually when I finish up with one week, I’m done, but sometimes I’ll track the week before because there might be things that I want to follow up on, or learn about or read about so, I’m monitoring not two weeks out but I’ll monitor the current week and the week prior to I learn what I want to learn out of it [this course] and this course has certainly met my needs—besides all the adjusting or whatever, I definitely learned I’ve had a lot of great experiences in my own little mind—and I thought WOW, yeah, and I can come back and apply them in my own program, so, have I had learning? Absolutely 41:26 He [John] can direct the curriculum in the best way that he knows and he’s very knowledgeable and has lots of experience and I totally trust the direction he would be taking the class and would never question that—the only thing I would question would be myself—are these really the things I want to be learning about is this really the direction I want to go in, in my learning—not ever questioning the class ================================================================ Ksolakas interview (may 26th, 2005) Any overall
questions about the class? I enjoyed the course—it was the first course I’ve taken outside of—I’ve taken only higher education courses—so the students were new to me, the subject matter was new to me—I really had no idea that such a field existed independently within the field of education –so that was really an eye-opener for me that there was such a body of literature that had to do with adult education—so I really enjoyed that aspect of it –it was a true learning experience I’ve done one semester of online classes before –but it’s still new—before last year I I had never taken online courses before—and it was a challenge, it really was—I’m isolated geographically from the rest of my students (monika was living in Greece for most of the semester) and then you’re further isolated because you’re in that cyber-environment—so it’s sort of a double isolationism –so I had to get used to that And (because of the time differential—8 hours ahead, I was either ahead or lagging—so a lot was going on during the discussions—I guess discussions tended to cluster around certain times. Did you have a
choice about taking this course online or face-to-face? No, I didn’t have a choice unless it was offered during the summer which, I’m not sure if it is but… Well, maybe you
could just talk about how this course worked for you Well, the good thing was, it was online so I was able to do it…my work is very, uh, I’m a multi-tasker—I’m the administrative head of a study-abroad center—so I just do a million different things every day and every day it changes, so one of the challenges was, um trying to fit in time—I’m always at the computer—like 90% of the time I’m at the computer, but it was hard to fit in the time to concentrate, to focus on online courses while I had so many other things—and also I had –and also, I don’t have an office that’s private and I have a receptionist too so it’s open to the public so I have constant interruptions: from students, from people coming in, the phone is ringing, um, I’m having to deal with not just the study-abroad students but people outside……I have a laptop at home, but I have a strange schedule—the way it works in Greece is you work until about 1 or 2 and then everyone takes lunch and a siesta, and then you work at night…it wasn’t bad, I didn’t mind it, I’d go home around 1 or 2 and have lunch, my kids were at daycare—then I’d come back around 5 and work till 8 or 8:30—yeah, I kind of liked that—business here close at 1 or 2 –that took a lot of getting used-to because here in the states you can go to the post office at f, but, nope, not here in Greece, so you have to learn----but the way I worked we adapted to those hours because that’s what we had to do 6:20 Yeah, it really re-energizes you even if you don’t take a nap, just take a break, go home… Are you connected
to the internet at home? Yes, but I have dial-up so it’s slow and sometimes it’s down, it was not consistent—just the quality of the internet connection—we lived out in the country, so it was windy, forget it LOL OK, Lets talk about
the challenges The challenge was having to insert my school work with my ‘work’ work. It was really difficult for me especially because I have trouble concentrating—I need absolute silence—I’m not one of those people who can play music or have background TV—I need quiet, I mean even talking to me—so that was really because I really could only do my school work at work and I had to somehow learn to really focus with all the chaos around me, and, it’s also hard to switch gears to go from the work mode and the administrative, to the student mode –that was hard and I usually needed more time to make that transition---and also I’d been out of school for a while…I really got out of the routine and I had to brush up on my study skills—and also when I was in grad school the first time I didn’t have kids—I have 2 kids, 6 and 3, actually I finished my masters a couple of months after I had my first child….so it’s just a combination of things—I haven’t lived overseas that long so adjusting to living overseas and a new job—now it’s been three years and it’s much better, but, I think I try to take on too much and it threw me for a while, but now I’m ok and I’ve completed 5 courses now and kind of gotten the hang of it, so… My emphasis is not adult education; I’ve taken a few adult education classes, but The challenges? Time management issues----….and also I had trouble with the specific course format and the all-online courses—I still am trying to get used to that, I do better in face-to-face real-time discussions than I do in the asynchronous environment…..yeah, well I think that you lose spontaneity—this is what happened to me over and over again: I’d read something that somebody wrote and it would um spark an idea in my mine and then I’d go to answer it and respond and I’d see that 4 or 5 other people had already responded or had added to the discussion and I felt strange inserting my post between two postings because it felt like it was not going with the flow of it, but, I didn’t want to read those other postings because then it would alter what I was thinking….when you’re discussing in the classroom you’re sort of bouncing ideas off of each other---your response changes according to what other people’s responses are, but, if other people’s responses are already there, you don’t have that evolution of thought—and that bothered me, more than anything 11:32 …so what I found myself doing was I tried to ignore….I had to ignore everyone else’s postings and focus on what I wanted to respond to and not let that affect me—it felt strange—I don’t know, maybe those are the same things people would articulate in a classroom, but maybe not---somehow the nature of the discussion really changed in an online discussion. So the structure of the online discussion sort of worked against you? Sort of—it kind of inhibited me….but the more online course you take, the better you get at that—[on line discussion board] is a lot more focused, it’s more planned, you have more resources at hand than you would…it is a trade-off….and I think, that because of an online course, you do learn to be very succinct, very direct—you do get rid of all the filler words that you use in everyday speech or that you would use in a classroom, so it’s more efficient that way—yeah, and I guess that helps for people who are not comfortable with public speaking. What worked best
for you? I tend to be very, ….I like to work alone and in group projects, I’m usually the one who takes over so that I get it done quickly—so that really works for me—I like being independent….but, also that’s a problem because I tend to take over…I don’t show enough interest in what other people have to say unless it’s something that I’m interested in---or if they’re doing something just to fulfill the course requirement—I don’t dismiss it, but I like to get done what I want to get done—so for all of the online courses, I’ve noticed that most of the work is independent and individual—yeah, [that works to my advantage because] I am so stretched about the time that I feel like I just have to do what I have to do to get it done….that’s what I like about these online courses is that most of it’s on me and I just work better that way….so I enjoy that part of the online courses I enjoy reading the [discussion board] summaries that the students did of each chapter—that was helpful to me, and, I learned a lot about adult education and we’re going to have more and more adult students in our program overseas—they’re trying to encourage the continuing ed students to study abroad and I think it’s fantastic—so I’m glad I picked up some things to help me with that… The most useful postings were the ones where the people really obviously read stuff and could write well—some were stronger than others----you see the people who really have something to offer, but, they don’t know how to write very well and...well, it’s the only avenue on an online course, too write it, so…. END ====================================================================== Student interviews-Sandra Martin You had a chance to
take this course face to face or online--why did you chose to take it online? To save on the parking (lol)—that was the main thing, and then to save on travel time, and I could do it as it fit into my schedule rather than having to work my schedule around a set time What were your challenges? What things were difficult for you Well, gosh, it was extremely difficult, I had no idea how difficult how difficult it would be…to try and experience the class as a group from an online setting—I did not recognize how much screening I did based on what I was seeing from other people and hearing, either tone of voice, or I don’t know what sensory input that was missing in the online experience and I was totally overwhelmed when I started this to look at 20 some people, I don’t remember exactly how many were in the class, but a lot---typing responses that I wanted to, very much wanted to read through so that I could experience what is this group having to say what can I learn from some of these people---and I recognized quickly, I can’t read all this stuff And because I couldn’t see the people I couldn’t make any judgments about who I wanted to read from—unless I was reading, initially almost everything from people to see, well ok, this person’s comments are kind of redundant of what I’ve said, I’m not getting as much from this person so I’m going to focus, or I’m going to read one comment from everybody every other week, or something-----that was extremely difficult Well, the strategy was that I could only do so much and I did my best to read----I tried initially to read 50% of the comments---as I got into it I was reading less and less, um, I typically tried to read yours and Johns----and, if they commented on somebody else, I’d go back and read what they had to say---and then I was doing some spot-checking for a time just trying to get a feel for all the different people---and it just---I never really developed a system that I thought might—that was comfortable, but I did continue to try. I definitely skip the longer [posts] and the difficulty is, in the longer ones I didn’t know how to format my comments so I could put maybe a title or even paragraph headings or something so that somebody that wanted to skim could skim through and just read the topics—I didn’t know how to do that formatting so it ends up just being this huge block of stream of consciousness writing that’s extremely difficult to skim --at least in my experience …and I saw that some people had created attachments—they had, and I’m just realizing this now—I didn’t know this they have allowed them to use a word processing format they were familiar with, then send it as attachments Any other problems? that was really the big thing--I really did miss that sitting down with this group of people to get a feel—I’m a real feeling type of person, from the gut –I guess I never really trusted what I could see or experience over the computer----without that framework of seeing faces and getting a feel for these people 6:51 …that was the difficulty…in abstract…looking at this black and white letters on the screen just was not sufficient for me to experience what I enjoy, I think, experiencing about a class What worked best
for you in terms of your learning style? What comes to mind is the flexibility of it—that there was a lot put out there to read---that there was a lot of conversation and that I could pick and choose—I mean I did most of the reading-------my learning style is kind of a combo thing---so, because there were many options it worked for my learning style ……for instance, I never did the learning contract, just because at first it was so strange how how I could not get the concept for that—I just couldn’t figure out what that was supposed to be and then once I figured it out I thought, now what’s the point of doing it—we’re 3 quarters of the way through the semester through the semester and I’m going to write a contract about what I’m going to do?---I’ve already done it! That would be cheating, but Long discussion with Sandra about the learning contract 23:47 What worked against
you during this course? What worked against me was not having that social interaction, that actual real-time-that face-to-face with people—I think that worked against me because I think I’m a social learner—that’s a piece that I hadn’t thought of—that’s interesting, I think I’m a social learner—what do other people have to say—how do they say it, where are they coming from—what is there life like and how does that context then frame their comments –and not having that was a real down-side –I couldn’t connect people with what they wrote—I know we had those little personal websites and I read through some of them at the beginning—some of them weren’t complete including mine—here again it was technology—I’d have to learn a whole new thing a new system as well as take this course along with everything else—so, take that and reading about this person –I just couldn’t match up! 25:15 27:30--What do you
get out of these posts? I felt negative and judgmental so I’m hesitant to say it but…..I’m afraid not much….I got nothing out of the posts they were dull and boring—somebody saying, yeah I found this interesting, too….What I would like to have seen, and some people did this was like , Monika would say “I do this in my work, or, this how this theory applied to this and this is how I see this being used, and some of the people did that but it didn’t seem like very many and it didn’t seem like, as I was kind of hitting around trying to find the interesting ones to read that I hit on very many—for 2 reasons: 1 they hadn’t applied it and written about the application and 2, they’d done it in such a way that was long and I thought, ‘well, I’m never going to get around to reading this, so…I’m afraid I feel guilty now because I got long-winded in some of them 30:26 You know what would be cool, if we could take that web page that we were able to create—first of all I think we need more support from the technological side of it in the first place I knew nothing about how technology worked when I stepped into this class –so I was stepping into a class that I was a bit worried about: ‘how am I going to do this, this is a doctoral program’ and at the same time I have to learn the class material and at the same time I have to learn all the technology that supports me taking this class—so it’s like I was taking two classes in one It’s a damn good thing that I didn’t sign up for two classes this semester which is what I was thinking of doing—but I would have drowned So, to get back to the point, if we each could have created a web page that gave us a little more detail that gave other classmates a little more detail, and then if that web page could be displayed at the same time I was reading your comments—I can see Monica, or Lynette, or Rob’s picture…..and then as I’m seeing their picture and seeing a little bit of their history blurb, I’m also reading their comments, now I’ve got an association, now when that person says something I’ll know’ ‘ok, John his setting is interesting—he’s in a similar setting that I am and I might like to read his comments ……and another thing….I’m reading recently about sympathetic resonance, and can I resonate with you if I’ve never sat in the same room with you; I don’t think I can resonate in the same way as I can as this, if we’ve had an opportunity to connect at a different physical level Now I guess on the same level, I guess there are people……I had an animal communicator read my cat from Quincy Illinois—anyway, she did a reading and communicated with my cat from Quincy –she’s at a spiritual energy level that does not have to be limited to this This animal thing goes on for a while------50 bucks Then we talk about kids …the writing, the formatting, being a good writer, and I like to be concise—I’d like to be able to say, ‘ok, here’s my point in one 7-word sentence—now, I’ll expand on it and if you want to read all of it that it’s fine—if you like what the point was you can read the rest Yes, I do a lot of screening with my writing—as I’m writing this, I’m thinking, ‘how are they going to react—yes, I do that—I think I do [speaking about the differences between online and face-to-face] I guess I just really needed that real-life thing When you’re dealing with a new situation, what methods did you utilize during this course? First I want to talk to people, I’ll read, I’ll go to experts, I’ll go to symposiums and workshops and listen to experts to hear their ideas—it almost depends on what I’m learning about So, I’m thinking, as an informal learner, if I want to find a dentist in a new area, I’m going to talk to prople who’s opinion I trust. ‘who do you use, why do you like them?’—informational interviews—I’m now in job-search mode somewhat and I’m doing a lot of informational interviews, I want to talk to people that are doing things that I think I might like to do TAPE 2 What did you gain
from taking this course? I think the greatest thing I gained was to be in an academic setting; I just love that. I just love being involved in talking about ideas, conversations like this, ideas and concepts, new approaches and new ways to think. As well as the whole field—I didn’t know there was a field of adult education—didn’t even know such a word [Andragogy] existed What about THIS
course, specifically? Well, this being my first course in the program…… How did you find
this program? I had lunch with this friend of mine and I was saying that the counseling program wasn’t a good fit and what other ideas did she have, and as I talked more and more about what I wanted to do she said I should talk to John about adult ed Getting registered was difficult—that whole system is not user-friendly at all—in fact I don’t think I ever registered myself—a friend of mind did it fir me….when I was first trying to get started I’d go to the UMSL web site and I’d be looking and looking and looking—where on here do I register for a course, I can’t find it….and that whole STAR system, oh, my god what a freaking nightmare that was 5:56 ============================================================================ face-to-face Student interviews (nursing) Cook 1 “I had originally signed up for the online class but when I went to sign up …it was going to take a while...so in the interim Dr. Henschke told me to just come to class so you don’t miss out on anything and it was about 2 weeks before I could get in…and I enjoyed [f2f] so much I decided to stay.” I’ve done a class online before…not here Me: what is it that
you like about the f2f class? “I like the interaction…the talking to other students—about getting their perspectives that involve issues about adult education that I couldn’t possibly get online…because you just don’t have that kind of spontaneity online that you do in person…so that’s been very beneficial to me” Me: Challenges that
you’ve faced The only challenge that I had was that my employer did not want to give me Tuesdays off---which is the reason why I was going to do the online [class]…but it worked out that they let me switch my schedule around so that I could take Tuesdays off---but I haven’t had any challenges with the course itself…but this is my 2nd masters degree so…I’ve been in graduate school before Me: What worked
best for you? A combination—independent reading activities, student interaction, interviewing, and just my own personal research, and learning style—so a combination… Me: your personal
lifestyle? I learn stuff from other people, I read a lot, I like hands-on activities, visual learning –some TV some videos, depending---the internet—just a combination of all of those –they help me become a more self-directed learner -----I don’t need a lot of motivation—if I have a passion about something and I really want to do it I don’t need other people to [direct me] I feel like I have the resources [to learn] and even if I don’t have the resources, I can find the resources Me: anything work
against you in this course? No Me: what methods do
I utilize? I try to understand the major concepts involved, analyze those concepts and try to apply them to real-life situations---and if I have to teach, I try to think about how it would impact my students—of the theories we’ve learned, I try to take the most positive elements and apply them to my own learning style ---for the purpose of teaching I try to think: ‘ok, what would work best for my students’ –[and if it’s not working, then think, ‘what would work better?’ Some [learning theories] are a little abstract and it’s almost like, ok, ‘what kind of concrete application does this have? (lol)…..if any Me: your
perceptions about this class? I think that some students might deviate a little bit too much…and it’s kind of distracting because it takes you away from the issue we are really studying ---I think that some times, some students clearly give more information than is needed for the purposes of discussion –the discussion sort of wanders at times Probably, if I were the instructor, I might have a conversation with a student if I thought they were being disruptive and sometimes disrespectful in that they don’t allow other people a chance to say what it is that they’d like to say ----and sometimes when you want to say something the person might be so abrupt and rude and I don’t even think they’re aware of it) that you’ve lost your thought (lol) Wanna know what happens to me? I go off…I lose focus –you think, ok, ‘here he goes again’ –so I kind of lose focus –because it’s going to take a long time—the person is very wordy, they have a lot to say, and they know everything (lol) ……sometimes it can be very aggravating. I know that Dr. Henschke said that we have to allow for individuality, but there are times when [that behavior] is inappropriate Me: Online, you can kind of ignore somebody like that –by not reading their posts, but you can’t ignore somebody that’s in your face It isn’t a drawback—just an observation –it can’t be perfect, so you just accept it and deal with it Me: any observations on group dynamics? I think the physical structure [of this f2f classroom] is conducive to positive communication—I don’t think it’s intimidating in any way –I think it facilitates more open dialogue –when you have people sitting in a circle you really feel like you’re part of a group –as opposed to when you’re in rows –I mean, you can see everybody –nobody’s back is in front of you—so I think that the arrangement is very conducive to open dialogue. 24:00 Inner circle, outer circle—created 2 layers of relationship –as opposed to the single circle Me: why did you
want to do this interview? A responsibility, respect, beneficial to you—you can get a lot more out of it—issues surface f2f that may not surface on the phone Me: what did you
gain? A lot of knowledge about adult learning theory about because I’ve never taken a course before and I really never gave a lot of thought to how the theories give credence to a lot of reasons why people learn and don’t learn ….or how some people can learn one way as opposed to another way ---just the whole issue that involves what we can do to make adult learning more attractive –that is, the whole process of teaching individuals how to become more self-directed learners –so learning how to become more self directed, and learning how to transfer that knowledge to [my] students.. I value education—I had a lot of role models –people who valued education ---I was taught that you never stop learning because, really, whenever you stop learning, that’s probably when you die because as long as you live, there’s always something you need to know –look at how fast things are changing –every day, there’s something new –so, in order to keep up with modern times we have to invest time in learning ---and it just makes life..a lot easier …I can’t imagine going through life never reading and never knowing anything or getting all the information that I need..that’s just my motivator—you have to know what’s going on –really, that’s life-long learning. Other than that one annoyance, I enjoyed the class End----------------------------------------------------------- I’m just not so sure that [the online class] would have been as beneficial to me as the f2f class has been and the reason that I know that is that I’ve gotten so much out of it and I know that the possibilities to get the information that I have gotten from being face-to-face just wouldn’t be there online; it just doesn’t happen that way and I think that’s the difference between technology and human contact. I think [the human interaction] has been very beneficial; I have really enjoyed it ….we have a lot of fun…and I think that whole bit about people telling stories..you know…how much you really can learn you know about people applying theories I can’t say you don’t get it online, but I can’t imagine how online class would be as beneficial as f2f would be, in terms of the interaction provided –that I fine to be very stimulating --Discussion about how individuals make a difference in the ‘chemistry’ of the class It’s been a fun class, it really has I’ve really gotten my money’s worth out of this class, but I haven’t really even thought about it in terms of monetary value because what I’ve gotten out of it is far greater than—what is it 1000 dollars?— But it’s interesting, because Dr. Henschke really doesn’t teach a lot, but you learn so much from him…so I think that’s the difference from having a really effective teacher versus ineffective –because I have learned so much from him and it’s not because he said, ‘do this, do that’……I can’t describe it, and maybe that’s the difference between being and adult learner and……. END--------------------------Cook ===================================================== Dan Creech interview How do you like the class so far? I’ve really enjoyed the class; I especially that the first half of the time; it’s not really what I was expecting; it was much more….philosophical….um, I’ve really enjoyed the class ….much more personal than I expected it to be….but I like it it’s been a challenge Why did you choose
(did you have a choice?) face to face? Yes. I had a choice----I took an online—or a self-directed course last quarter—it was more of like a directed readings—it really wasn’t online, but I could do things online, but I really didn’t do it that much—and I missed the interaction with people and I just didn’t want to do another one of those….another reason is when I was talking to Dr. Cooper about enrolling for this semester and I was aware of dr. Henschke’s reputation and writing and she indicated that he probably wouldn’t be teaching this course again –so that made me additionally interested in this course (my online course) was more of a self-directed self-study—we set up a project at work about needs assessment, and, um, really what I did it was just a work project that I conferred with Dr. Cooper every now and then about and got her input on stuff so it really didn’t seem like a ‘class’—it was, it was very practical—what I was doing, was what I WAS doing so I just got credit for it. But I also got a lot of insight that I wouldn’t have gotten I work on a PC a lot and have a lot of technology but I certainly wouldn’t be considered an IT guy—but just having been there (at my job) 6 years and having to use them, I’ve learned quite a bit –so I’ve learned by having to do it So, just that one course online? Graduate course, no, not a graduate course---um, part of our company has online courses—their training…skills,..classes you can get through our company –those you can get online; I’ve had to take a lot of those because I’ve had to review—do a review of them…um…so, that’s one example—Ihad to get online quite a bit and do bulletin boards and chat and all that..and kind of did some research type things—I will research things that I think are pertinent to me…..so I’m pretty comfortable getting out there and digging up information Talk about
challenges that you face in taking this course Now, it hadn’t been a challenge up till recently and that’s just mostly workload and been given a lot of tasks—I’ve been procrastinating on the little interview thing—fortunately that’s not a huge paper, uh, I just have a lot of things I have to get done, but it hasn’t been a challenge as far as completing it, um…..maybe one of the difficulties has been making that direct line between this class which is very theory based and very broad in its approach—how applicable to my unique work environment it is—I’m not saying that there’s not application but it’s….not as direct so I’m going to have to make some jumps with it….I guess what I was hoping for—being a trainer and instructional designer was more…direct…skills, more how you build a business-type curriculum—needs assessment—that type thing—how you pull instructional design into your training—how do you select needs in train the trainer—things that are really pertinent at work—now I realize—this is a mattress program that you’re going to start off with a lot of theoretical stuff that you thought was a progression, I assume—a lot of programs do that…. There really aren’t a lot of people in the class that are in the same boat as I am—you know, a lot of them are nurses What worked best
for you? Well, I like theory and abstraction, you know, I like that….I don’t have to have it all wrapped up…I can have it in bits and pieces….you know, that’s ok with me….so, there was a lot of that here….that didn’t bother me 10:00 I have a masters degree already… 2 bachelors degree and tons of hours—I’ve done the school thing quite a bit—I guess I’m seeking kind of a healthy balance—I can make application as to much of my life much broader in a broad way and that’s a good thing –I’m still going to have to develop some work skills…….but I’ve been a little surprised that there aren’t really some concrete programs for trainers—I would have thought there would have been more …….I had a coworker –she told me about the program, she told me about dr. Henschke—she told me about, I guess, the learning contract and the adult principle of making the personal application—and that sort of rang true with me, so, pretty much ever since then I have gone out and actively sought stuff that would specifically do that –and even if a course wasn’t quite what I wanted I was always able to adapt and get to what I needed What adult learning
methods do you use? 12:53 I guess I would try to understand in a way that I would understand…I would try to approach it in a way that I sort of owned it—people can tell you the way that THEY think, but you have to sort of own it –now, how I get there is different ways—one method I would use, I guess it’s a variation of mind-mapping—I don’t think in a straight line—I’m sort of all over the board—but, I would go in—and often do at work—take a black board and walk around and do a mind map—write the concept down and then whatever concept pops into mind—and that idea pops something else---then what I would do….is read the professional literature, which makes sense to me but sometimes that—and some people think that’s slow and irrelevant, while I see value in it, it can be slow –so, I would look at the relevant literature, read that literature, then I would try to come up to what my opinion was—then I’m going to go seek out other professionals within that area to seek their opinions, try to lead a discussion or a meeting of some sort to pull their ideas—not necessarily wanting them to tell me what to do –but just to hear their input—that’s why it’s important for me to come up with my own opinions first00not that I don’t want to be open to people, I mean I don’t want to be closed ----so I would approach it something like that What did you gain
from taking this course? 16:00 The thing that I’ve enjoyed the most has been the interaction with a group of people that I normally wouldn’t rub shoulders with—age, sex, race—not that I don’t, but I’ve been a minority and that’s really been intriguing—probably the person that’s contributed the most is Amir—and just some of the things he talks about –I think I enjoyed that part the most –right, right, that’s the way my world is and here’s a group of people with a really different background What about the way
we interact and the way the conversation flows? I’ve thought about that a little bit—I know some are a little more verbal than others, um, I tend to talk quite a bit—especially early on, then I kind of thought—then, I thought I maybe way out for some of these folks (lol)—so I’m more toned down— Why is that? Partly it’s because I don’t have a lot new to say—I think a lot of the theories—we’ve kind of evolved down the same path—and I’m kind of sick of hearing about contextual learning—we’ve heard it a number of different ways –while I agree that that’s an appropriate thing, man, we have hit that thing, I mean every little theory talks about it Also, I think, the discussions have just gone on too long—I really like the idea of, ‘ok, you’re responsible for teaching tonight’—you’re going to really gear up—if there’s going to be one chapter that you read it’s going to be that one , but….I think they went on too long and they tend to say the same things—the theories just aren’t that different—that’s been frustrating—it’s been like. ‘oh, man, I’ve had enough of this.’ –maybe that’s just the nature of …these brief little introductions to chapters—I mean there’s no way were going to understand some of this stuff—they really are just different nuance of similar ideas—there’s a difference, no I don’t really want to spend three more hours (lol) 20:44 Did the learning
contract cause any problems for you? Was it clear? no, I don’t think it was—I think the way it turned out was—we basically got to decide what it was, and, I guess I was making it more complex than it needed to be –I had done that with Dr. Cooper—when we did it I thought she said that I ought to hit on all the levels of learning—every one of ‘em—that was a stretch –especially on some of the end things—so I guess I had that in mind—this was all very practical, though, once it was determined—I even revised it later—I thought, ‘man I can make this even better—it was something really simple—just looking up article titles of certain things that are pertinent to me…so, no, I didn’t think it was particularly clear—and the clarity came with just throwing something out there and saying. OK, that’ll be it’. did you turn it in for feedback? yeah, I did and I got some comments on it –I think another thing that would help—I mean, I don’t know how many times this thing has been copied, I mean it looks like the form was copied about 35 years ago (lol) been Xeroxed 112 times (LOL) –something that looks a little more professional would be a , or, it does make you think that, well, ‘how old is this idea?’ I mean. It’s a good idea, I like the idea, but, a little more up to date would make it a little more attractive If you had taken
this class online, what do you think would be better, what would be worse? 24:00 (online) they could be simpler—cause I’ve thought about this—I don’t think I would look forward to it—I look forward to this class—I enjoy it, I enjoy coming here…I think maybe some of that really specific content I’m talking about—that’s what I would focus on online, specifics the objectives the outline..da,da,da--bam,bam,bam ---but the real interplay, the intuitive ideas that spring to your mind when somebody’s talking—I don’t think that’d be there as much, um, I’m not the best typer in the world—it’s so much easier just to blurt it out as opposed to write it down, I would think it would be more inhibiting, now it would be more convenient and I’ll probably do some more to knok off another degree at some point……might not be as hard, take as much time yeah, I like the interaction I’ve always said I like theory, but with this class I’m thinking, maybe you don’t like it as much as you thought ---and it’s almost like, “andragogy is apologetic like maybe there was an expectation of some harder science –it just doesn’t feel comfortable with itself 30:00 ….35:00 there is an expectation….nobody ever asked me, ‘what did you learn in that class?’….but that always is a driver….quantifiable, measureable controls there’s just something about sitting down and talking long and hard about something—that’s what’s interesting about this class ===================================================== Kathy Rush—interview You had a choice
about taking this course online or face-to-face—why did you chose f2F? Yes, I did have the choice, I did think about that and I did choose to take it as a regular classroom course I think because, one, I’d never taken an online course before so, I’m starting school again, so, do I go into something that is really brand new, or, do I go into something that’s more familiar classroom environment—so that made it a little more comfortable, but, most importantly, for me, is the dynamic situation in the classroom that I wasn’t sure I would find in an online course, or, if I did it would be in a different way—I think especially in this class we had so much good discussion and, for example, tonight there was a lot of emotion and a lot of interest and a lot of voices all at one time and you don’t get that, I don’t think I would get that same feeling—that’s a component you’re going to miss in an online class. I think they’re both valuable and I plan on taking some more online classes but I’m glad I took this one in particular as a classroom situation…. I’m comfortable with the technology…it was more the choice had to do with, “do I want to be looking at people and talking to them, or, do I want to be sitting at the computer and chatting online” Communicating on line…is in some ways more challenging; you have to be able to communicate thoughts, feelings, opinions diplomatically, tactfully, succinctly online and there is a piece of communication that is missing whenever you are communicating online and that is your non-verbal, and….the tone to the voice and everything else, the subtleties to communicating that you don’t get online—so you have to really structure what you’re saying to someone online carefully otherwise you can be completely misunderstood so I think especially when you’re taking an online course you have to be very careful so that what you’re saying is communicated the way you want it to be communicated so you get the response back that you’re expecting; otherwise you’ll be going around in circles—of course you can do that face to face as well, but I think it’s a little more challenging online. I do a lot of work with computers and I do a lot of email and my background is si much in writing and communications anyway, I’m really cognizant of the importance of that----I know, I get emails from some people at work and I think, “what are you saying!? LOL you’re not making any sense—so it’s really difficult to come across well in and email or an online chat session. What were your
challenges? 6:13 My challenges? Time, but I think that’s an excuse, …it’s more of a challenge of a split in attention, um, you know, having to work a fulltime job, your focus tends to be on your job…I want to be able to devote as much attention and focus to my course work and I’m not really able to as much as I would like to; there is that component that I’m not actually able to—on the other hand—even if I were able to and had as much time, there’s a choice that you have to make I think, as an adult learner maybe even more so than as a kid or as a college student--as a full time college student—I have to make the conscience decision to control my learning, to discipline myself to actually do the learning and be the learner—nobody is going to open my brain and pour it in—I have to do the work—it’s a lot harder when I have to do all the work and I think it makes it more challenging—to try and be a self-directed learner; especially if I’m not a really disciplined person to begin with—you have to really dedicate yourself to what you’re doing—and that’s I think my biggest challenge coming back to school this semester is becoming that learner that I used to be—because I haven’t been in a college situation in some years. So… It really makes you responsible—which I really want to be—I just wish I didn’t have to worry about all this other stuff—and then I think—Oh, I could be a full time student and then just really dedicate----and forget about all that job stuff….so I think there are some challenges that I didn’t have to face before and the interesting thing for me is learning that those challenges really are there and and that I am thie one that is responsible for my learning, and, one of the biggest learning experiences I’m having right now is that I may not be learning as much as I want to be at this point in time because of other extraneous factors or because of my own limitations or choices—oh, I’d rather be doing this than studying right now, or I’d rather be doing this than researching this topic right now…and I’m learning that it is all up to me…some of the topics I could really get involved with, and some of the topics, not so much But I think what I’m getting—for me personally—at this point in the semester—I am learning how to discern what deem valuable for me right now or, what interests me more or maybe what I can apply more, take in more, absorb more, or just utilize more in my day-to-day life—so, for example the topic for tonight, although it was really very interesting, it was kind almost just too much for me; I mean I could talk about consciousness and all that till the cows come home but it’s not going to answer the questions for me. It’s interesting and I find some relevance in pieces of it and I believe some of it and some of it maybe not so much so I’m finding that I can take things and maybe deconstruct those chapters and find out what works for me… Sometimes I want to talk more and sometimes I just want to listen to what everybody else is saying—because there are so many diverse thoughts—like tonight for example I think because it is such a deep topic or maybe a broad topic there’s a lot that can be said about it—it is very interesting—I don’t think I would get that online—I think I would really miss that. I’m struck, too by how we have gelled as a group—and you may get that same bonding online (if you will) but I don’t think to the depth that you do in the classroom. What worked for you and what worked against you? Those are hard because I’m just now learning about my learning styles—I never gave it much thought—but I liked a couple of things—preferences, I suppose, I liked communication with other people; I like talking and listening and learning about people as I’m learning about whatever topic we might be on. And I also think I’m a very auditory learner so it helps me to have all of the---talking--- What worked against me? I think this goes back to what I was saying earlier—in a traditional classroom setting—it was lecture it was assignments—you do this, you take this test you write this paper and this is what you’re going to be graded on so, this course goes against everything that I mean there are all these expectations##### and there are very few expectations in this course so it’s challenging, sometimes frustrating to-------not knowing what those expectations are to have to place those expectations and standards on myself—so I think that’s probably what I battle with most and so I guess—I’m changing my learning style because I’m going to have to become—and this class is teaching me—that’s for sure, how to become a more self-directed learner—maybe that’s what it’s all about or, one of the things it’s about. 17:36 …and I don’t know if that works against me, maybe it works for me, but it’s frustrating…because you have to set the standards—you have to set the criteria…….suddenly in this course, or in this program I’m being pushed to get to that point where I make the rules about my learning…and I have to do it—I have to take full responsibility. 20:25 What adult learning
methods did you use? I do think I’m very auditory, so if I’m reading something I tend to read it out loud and take a lot of notes and highlight things that I think are important but I do like to read it out loud and then I let it sit and then I like to research key points that maybe I find and then go online and start looking for articles or looking for what other people have to say about this topic or this person—so most of what I do is when approaching a new learning situation—speaking about this course right now in particular—I will read it, and then I will write it, I’ll write down stuff and then I’ll read it again---and always very auditory—more so than doing anything visual—and then I think about it, and then I bounce it off people—and then I start talking about it to other people at work: this is what I read last night—actually trying to get feedback, or, to restate what I read. …..because when you say it, then you’re hearing it back 22:53 I think what happens when I talk about something, when I say something out loud, then, I’m hearing it so I can process it in a new way and it just helps to make whatever it is real, concrete or solidify the idea---I’ll take a lot of these topics that we discuss in class and I’ll—for example I’ll go to work tomorrow and they’ll want to know what we talked about tonight so I’ll start telling them what we talked about and some of the topics they’ll disagree with me on—then, it’s even better because then I can say but, it you this and this and this and think about this and this and this and I can start defending the point, or, take whichever point I want, and then I’m really beginning to own the information—so, that’s pretty much how I do it—very auditory, though ….although, I think I would be very fine with that (the online format) and will probably do it just because I think it’s a good experience to take an online course, or maybe more and I think that I could do that, but I think that this is more exciting for me to be in a situation where I can talk and have people talking to me …I think that because we are primarily a discussion group, we are not—even when someone’s leading the discussion—it’s still very loosely structured—and we were talking tonight on break about how we can start off—especially when you’re the discussion leader—you have some ideas you want to make sure that we stick to the text in some way or another and sometimes we are very good about sticking to the text—and other times we will go way off—and somehow or other we come back full circle and I find that so interesting because we bring in so many thoughts and ideas and we’ll go way off topic—way out there and then we still somehow or another tend to bring it all back….and I guess the whole point is that as we’re talking we’re learning something were learning from each other and were thinking of new ways, new perspectives and new ways to look at the topic—so, no matter how far off topic you get, you’re still in some way or another learning something that will eventually pertain to that topic. …some nights I’m thinking, you know, I don’t know that I’m getting any of this and then there are other times when I think I am understanding and there are other times where I realize that a lot of this, I’m not going to realize how much I know, how much I actually gained from this class until it’s over—I think maybe sometime this summer, when I start taking another class a lot of this is going to come back to me because I think what’s happening is as I discuss these things we are not we are not just learning the information cognitively, but we are I think bringing on a deeper level through the talk, through the discussion—for me, I hope, but that’s the feeling I get I think that I’m actually learning quite a bit—but if you ask me, what was chapter 4 about right now I couldn’t tell you. 28:44 …in some ways I think I am doing it right—in some ways I’m still uncertain—I think that the learning contract is….again, it goes back to putting those—putting that criteria and the standards and those expectations on my learning: what is it that I should be learning in this course –am I getting there, what’s my criteria how am I going to measure that and those are some questions that I am still struggling with as far as the learning contract goes …well I took it, and I know that Sandra did the same thing and we applied it because it was kind of left a little bit open, I think but we applied it to this class in setting criteria expectations, objectives if you will for ourselves for this particular class so, having said that, some of those objectives I think I’m on the road to meeting, others I’m maybe not so sure; some of my measurements and my evidence of learning….some of the evidence of my learning as I wrote it in the learning contract won’t come until after, when I can actually begin to see how what I’ve learned I’m beginning to use in my training sessions and my instructing adult learners in my sessions—how I can actually incorporate some of the theory that we’re talking about into those sessions and realize that I’m doing it and actually find that to be effective or not effective—what works for me and what doesn’t work for me—so, that is ,,,I think that a lot of evidence in this class isn’t going to come by whenever the class is over …….and it’s hard, because if you don’t jump in [to F2F conversation] somebody else will…….I think it’s fascinating—I think each person is absolutely different and unique and how they handle the discourse---there are times when I think, ‘oh, I’ve got something to say about that’ and then the point will kind of change and it’ll go off in a little bit different direction so I don’t say that and there are times when I think ‘yeah, I’ve got a point—no, this isn’t—that’s not relevant so you’re constantly editing your own thoughts as you’re listening—a lot of times somebody will say something and I’ll think Oh, I saw something in the book or in the chapter that really answered that question or that was really to that point and try to find it real quick---and a lot of times again I think it just depends on the topic, what we’re discussing and is it something that I have any knowledge about or any real point to make—I do think we take turns, I think that’s just learned behavior 45:54 What I find interesting is that there is this unique dynamic in this class—that if you changed one person in this class in any given night—how would that change the discourse—how much would it change the dynamic? Because I think everybody brings to this their own experience—that’s so evident and we’re all coming from different directions—we have so many different cultural, economic, professional backgrounds in this class that to change that, we may not laugh as much we may not talk about the same things we talk about as much…or laugh in different places—it would all be different—but I think you find that in life general |