It’s ironic that as a person who had to apply herself 200% to get through all my uni and post grad exams, I’ve actually come to enjoy the continuing education and professional development program that I now participate in each year. It’s just as well I like it because it’s compulsory, can be audited and is a condition of ongoing employment and recognition of my specialty.
There are several reasons my attitude to study has changed. Firstly, the pressure is now off with regards to exams and ‘getting into’ things (and staying there). Secondly, my perspective on what I’m studying has changed because of my practical experience ‘on the ground’. I see the purpose of what I’m learning and I know what I need to learn. So much of my undergrad time was spent not appreciating the context of things and often memorizing things just for the exam.
The format of continuing education learning is also more appealing to me than the exams and written assessments of my university days. Who doesn’t love flying off to conferences? In all seriousness, being immersed in your topic of interest for five days with no distractions except some after hours shopping and exploring really is a great way to learn. I just can’t provide you with the paper that supports this fact.
A form of learning that I’ve started to use properly this year is e-learning. I’ve just started a course with my friend this week and I’m enjoying it immensely so far. The unit runs over 5 weeks and there’s tasks, videos and discussions to take part in for each of these weeks. The time commitment is very doable for me (1-2 hours per week) while the lack of set face to face contact times will allow me to slot time in wherever I can to complete the week’s work.
What’s most interesting so far has been getting to know my fellow course participants. We’ve each posted on the course’s ‘getting to know you’ thread and shared our professional backgrounds, why we’re doing the course and what we hope to achieve from it. I’m looking forward to learning as much from them as the course facilitators in the coming weeks.
Have you studied anything via an e-course? What have you liked and / or disliked about your virtual classroom?