Our final topic not only consolidated the online tools and knowledge gained but also my personal journey doing this course. It has been empowering, enabling me to be a more confident online student and facilitator. I have also become less fearful of online tools and am more willing to dabble in digital learning.

The group that I belonged to had the most brilliant ideas and were so well versed and exposed to various learning platforms.

 

Each and everyone contributed to my knowledge base for future learning so a big

 

thank you to each of my group members who have in this process become more than colleagues and more like friends!

For this task I became a student and really felt what it was like to walk in my students shoes at the same time realising how the learning process works.

In the beginning there is great enthusiasm and commitment and you give off 100%.

 

THEN..life takes over and commitments come in the way and then we embark on this intricate balance of being an employee and a student. The same goes for the learning process it ebbs and falls. Our challenge as facilitators is to create constant interest and

 

 

engagement at the same time filling in the gaps for those not being able to attend. For that I worked in a remarkable group who supported and understood and filled in those shortfalls.

THIS WAS THE AMAZING JOURNEY OF ONLINE LEARNING..

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Hi Everyone

This topic really got me thinking about collaborative learning and teaching. Sometimes you get so involved with the planning and understanding about what is being discussed that we forget to take a step back and look at how is this going to be received by my audience, is it going to benefit them, is this the best online tool I can use to convey my ideas etc.

So this task really captured my attention because in determining the benefits of online learning it enabled me to understand that the advantage of using online tools is closely linked to the kind of online tool you need to use to maximise the learning experience for the student. And indeed as we have observed in this course there are MANY!!!

So this will definitely be something that I will be acutely aware of when it comes to learning design and facilitation. In concluding online learning has numerous benefits from emotional, psychological and pedagogical and there is no doubt in my mind that this is the way forward in education!

 

Life has been crazy busy!! And maybe thats the reason its taken me this long to post my reflections on Topic 2 , considering I was one of leaders I should have loads to say!

One word that sums up my experience on Topic 2 is TEAMWORK!! This was such an integral aspect of negotiating which person will contribute to which topic and because I have the honour of working with such highly motivated individuals with a wealth of experience and expertise, to say it was an incredible learning experience is being frugal with my words.

The final product of the task was a conceptualised in a movie and this is certainly a tool that I will employ for my own lectures. It appealed to the audience in a visual and auditory manner without compromising on the integrity of the content. This will  accommodate a diverse group of learners and how they experience learning.

So topic 3 is underway and ready for release ! Till next time

Top Three Fears

In my technology role, I have come across a lot of fear about the cloud. Here are the top three reasons:

1. Security
2. Lack of knowledge and understanding
3. Lack of control

Fear 1: Security

What’s more secure, an unencrypted USB stick or Google’s servers? 

What do you think?

Of course, the USB stick is not a secure option. It’s so easy to lose or break a USB stick. Chances are the person that you’re talking to about cloud security is a USB stick user.

After we’ve had this conversation, I’d probably go on to explain that:

Google will not sell or share any data that educational establishments place on their servers. If you are a G Suite for Education user, whatever goes into your Google Drive stays there. 

Fear 2: Lack of Knowledge and Understanding

It’s to be expected that colleagues will be nervous about a new system that they are not experts at using. They are worried their students will find them out. This is a legitimate fear and definitely one that I can relate to.

However, what I would say is this: you have been using Google already for a pretty long time as a search engine. So there will be some familiarity there. It’s quite intuitive.

Fear 3: Lack of Control

Google Drive is a good example of something that causes this fear. It’s so easy to share documents and collaborate on them that my colleagues sometimes are worried that they’ll share things without realising and lose control over their documents. 

The fix for this is a simple one really. It is all about professional development.

The way I work with my colleagues to help them understand how to control their documents and how to navigate their Google Drive. We look at how to use “shared with me”. The only solution to this fear is training and support.

When colleagues see the benefits of using a cloud-based system, it becomes clear pretty quickly that the benefits are far greater than the concerns they have.

Hi Guys , Topic 1 went on abit slow at fast so much to talk about and some many ideas were shared. Really found out some interesting facts about my colleagues and what their thoughts are. I had the privilege of showcasing my Digital Footprint, which opened up many hidden fears within me. Online we tend to share our thoughts, views and our students learn from example.

View my thinglink below: 

Yesterday I did a task where we had to provide information on ourselves as part of a group powerpoint presentation.

I generally use powerpoint as a tool in my lectures, this was different however in the sense that I seem to be speaking alot about myself lately and also having to navigate tools in order to share the slide with the moderator. So grappling with this task on Sunday night a little panicked I finally succeeded! How do I know this??? Because Maria my module leader said so!

It is really amazing as a South African to be able to sound ideas off people across continents! I have already learnt so much. So here I am anticipating the next task ahead…in trepidation and excitement.

Hi Everyone !!

Welcome to my blog, I am Zeanette Naidu a law lecturer at Varsity College , Westville situated in sunny South Africa, Durban!

I am embracing my new venture with online learning and I am so excited to share this journey with all of you. Navigating my way through online learning is quite a scary experience because I come from a place of very little knowledge to hopefully  land in a place more empowered and invigorated to reproduce this experience with my students.

So here we go..DAY 1 !!!!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton