Personally I have felt relief with SOUL. Having entered the MET program from another Master’s cohort in Language and Literacy, my classes were in a face to face format, the first week my stress level with the online format was high. It took me awhile to understand Connect and the format of how online classes work. I am taking two courses, work full-time, and have a family. I like SOUL because it provides time for me to do readings and reflections without feeling hurried to post my thoughts. Honestly, I am insecure about posting my reflections. I am amazed at how well some fellow students are able to articulate their thoughts. All of this technology theory is new to me. I find that I need time to read other’s postings first before I can put my own thoughts into comments that make sense and sound somewhat academic. The only thing I am wrestling with is that in a classroom format, the benefit of discussions with the instructor present is that they often join in on discussions and let you know if you are on the right track. In this setting the instructors tend not to add their opinions. I understand the premise behind this, but sometimes wish for a little bit more feedback. All of the intructors I have had at UBC have brilliant minds and ideas and I am someone who would love to hear their thoughts on the theories and articles presented.
In response to a comment thread titled “Interaction with Instructors”
As I read your comments, I went back and looked at Adams article on PowerPoint and began to think of this course through a similar lens (perhaps it would make a good topic for Assignment #2). Although online learning offers many affordances, I am unsure whether or not what is lost (human interaction, etc) outweighs the benefits. So far I am only into the third week in my first two online courses and would like to give it a bit more time before I pass judgements. I love the topics in MET but do wish I could take some of these same courses in a ‘real’ classroom so that I could compare my experiences.