finding the meaningful within the massive: personal narratives of learning and student impact...

Personal Narratives of Learning and Student Impact Finding the within the Meaningful M L S Guelph, Ontario, Canada KB St. Louis, Missouri, USA I WritingII: RhetoricalComposing W Explor ingtheconceptso think ing,respon ding,argui ng,researc hing,andreflecti ngcauseda undamentalshif inhow Iwas to approach allinteractions movingorward rom t hat first MOOC Itook. I enter edthe10-week cours eas a reactionto doorsclosin gallaroundme inmy lie,and exitedthe courseinto a w orldull o opportunities. Iwas not alone. D Digitaltechnology competenciesare no longer optional. oo many peoplehave littleor no real understandingo digitalculture andhow it i schanging our wo rld-- rapidly. W TeWritingI Icourse team understoodthediversity o MOOC participants. A cultureo sharing expertiseand viewpointsevolvedamongst peopleseeking insightsabout how to maketheir callinguseul andrelevant inthe21st century digitallandscape. Teoverarchingcharacteristic that helpsmeengagewith,andimmersemyse lin a MOOC is passio n. Whena courseis devel opedanddelive redwithgenuin epassion–I am hooke d. M. S N Lahore, Pak istan K N Lahore, Pak istan I Ihadalwaysregret tedocusin gmy ormaleduca tiononbusiness . Iwantedto revi sit theworldo SocialScien cesandtheHumanitie s. Iwantedto explor ethewritingworldthat hadcalledto me inearly you thand never stoppedcalling. I CalculusOne Tesecourse senabledmeto help othersto connec t withMOOCsandlearnsubjects that they couldn’t nor mally havethe opportunity to learndue to cost andavailability. My maingoal wasto learn about Quantum Physics,however in order to do that I neededto learncalculus first. Calculuswo: Sequencesand Series Massively MultivariableOpen OnlineCalculus Course “I found myself applying course principles in all my communications – Not a single dynamic in my life r emained unaffected.” – Leni I CalculusOne Calculuswo: Sequencesand Series Massively MultivariableOpen OnlineCalculus Course W D MOOCsspark eda new passioninme whichisto do practicalexperi ments. Trough thesecours es,Iwas ableto achieveknowled gethat allowedmeto usescienceandmath withcommon householdobjects to createan experiment that measuressmall objects. W Ineacho theMOOCs,Iounda senseocommunity inthediscus sionorums . Tiswasa valu ableplaceto help one anoth er aswe learnandgrow stronge r inknowledge together. I I echnicity W echnicity inormedme about opendata effortsand Codeor America whichled meto discover andjointheOpenData SLgroup whichpromotescivicengage ment thro ughprovid ingopen data resourcesrelatedto the city o St. Lou is. D Troug hthiscourse,Igaineda sharpe r ocusoncitizencoll aborat ionwithpublic ,privateand government companiesto bringab out changeor my city. Inever inmy wildest imaginationsaw mysel ona planningcommittee or a youthhackathon, however i t wastherelevance o the cours ematerial sthat prepar edmeand gavemetheconfidenceIneededto becomeinvo lved. W Teproessors regularly interactedwith their studentsin thediscussion orumshelping to establisha connectednessregardless o whereandwhen onemight connect into thecourse. Te challengingcontent wasstructuredto meet variousranges o abili tiesand skillsets. Tisexpanded opportunitiesor successbeyond coursegrades into practicalcourse applicationin lie. I Iwas inter estedinlearni ngabout sensor sand thei r useintheinrastru ctureo citie s. Iwantedto understandthe roleso urbanplanners andcitizens andhow they contributeto a ‘smart’ cit y. “I’ve applied the teachings of every MOOC I’ve taken. – Inspired for action, I’m helping my city to alter itself in meaningful ways for its citizens.” – Kim “My experiences introduced me to a world with no boundaries, no restriction of age where I can freely learn.” – Shaheer Tesecourse socusedonpractice,driv ingyour ownlearni ng,andhelping eachother throughthe course. Tey openedup doorsto moreadvanced topics. Teocuso mylearningisAstroandQuantumPhys icsbecausetheyarethe most intri guingtopics I’veever set my eyesupon. For th is,I neededCalculus. W D WhenIstartedlearni ngwithMOOCs,Ididn’t realizethat it wouldhelp me touchhorizons o knowledgeI couldnever hav eimagined to grasp. Inthese MOOCs,one isboth teacher andlearner withmany possibilit iesto explore. W Teorums giveyou a chanceto interact witha global,united community o peopleshar ingonecommongoal: learning. –I most enjoyedtheorums . I “Let’s not confine ourselves with typical learning when we can explore many other possibilities.” – Khadija Y V W W MOOC S MOOC WMOOC u.osu.edu/voicesofimpact u.osu.edu/voicesofimpact Scanforexpanded stories Scanforexpanded stories Tomas Evans DigitalScholarship Research [email protected] @taevans Officeo DistanceEducation & eLearning odee.osu.edu odee.osu.edu/odee-moocs

finding the meaningful within the massive: personal narratives of learning and student impact...

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