Week 11: Forum – Reflect on Your Experience of Being Online Learners

• How did you feel becoming a student again?

I have absolutely loved being a student again- especially coming out of maternity leave. I have felt it has been an empowering experience as my identity changes from independent maker and freelance tutor to mother. This course has given me the opportunity to become excited about my practice, and to be honest, think about myself. It has given me the confidence now to pursue jobs and apply for a more permanent tutor role as and when it arises.

• How did you interact with your peers?

I have enjoyed interacting with my peers on this course, I have taken part in the forum as much as I can, the majority of the webinars and a breakout study group occasionally with two of my peers. To be honest, I haven’t taken much notice of our initial buddy groups which we were assigned to. I found that initially half the students were not engaging, so thought my time was better used replying to active members on the forum who posted around a similar time to me in the week. Maybe on reflection, I should have mixed this up a bit to get a wider view of certain subjects, but I felt that my schedule and workload would have been impacted.

• How are you juggling your professional commitments with the demands of an online HE course?

I feel that I have handled the juggle better than I would have thought. At times I have felt anxious and behind due to childcare issues or a pure lack of concentration to read scholarship from exhaustion, but I feel that somehow, I have managed and I have surprised myself. I suppose this is the real benefit of online learning for me at this stage, as it illustrates how I can pace y own learning depending on my circumstances at the time.

• What are the challenges and opportunities of the online environment, in your experience?

I feel that motivation has been a challenge for me at times, along with peer interaction and feedback in forums. At times I have felt a lack of motivation to feedback, because I have not had any feedback, particularly in this final term. Dare I say: I think I have had the feeling of, well why should I bother if other people are not? Which I realise on reflection is completely counterproductive and undermines the process. I think what I am trying to say is, when time is an essence you prioritise, and this is where aspects of online learning, such as momentum, can fail.