Distance learning reflection
In week 7 of this semester, the Taoiseach ordered all educational institutions and schools for to close and to start implementing distance learning. I was worried at first as I did not know how well I was going to be able to work from home as I knew there was a lot of distractions. I was lucky as a lot of people were worried about the strength of the internet connection but mine was a good speed and I was able to access live lectures and discussions etc. I knew it was going to be challenging for me and all of us college students. To make it even more difficult, this happened mid-semester, so we had already begun projects like our sumo bot so continuing with this along with trying to complete group work was very challenging as we had no face to face contact. Tasks that would have been simple like meeting up to discuss sketches and designs were now very difficult.
I feel that this system of learning has been a good experience for me, and I found it enjoyable and beneficial, but I can see that this might not be the case for all students. This form of learning is very self-orientated and if you do not keep on top of work, it can become overwhelming. There is no lecturer or teaching assistant asking you every day of the week to submit the work, it is up to you if you submit that work or not. Distance learning can cause a massive drop in motivation for students. Jill M Galusha explains how ‘adult learning is not without problems, (however,) such as loss of motivation because of lack of face-to-face contact with teachers and peers. (Galusha, Jill M). This shows how students can not only loose motivation due to lack of face to face contact with teachers, but also peers. Peers can be a great support for students as they can bounce ideas off each other and help each other where necessary. Distance learning does not cut this out all together but does make it more complicated to do so.
Online lectures can be as useful as face to face lectures if not more helpful, if students engage. I found the online and recorded lectures useful because I engages and looked back on the lectures. A study from the American Association for Anatomy concluded that ‘Data indicated (that) 30% of the students did not use the LRS at all with 41% of the students using it very little (less than 10 times for a total of 131 recordings).’ (Thierry R.H Bacro). In this case LRS stands for lecture recording system. This shows just how little students on average will fully engage in the lecture recordings or live lectures simply because they feel that they do not have to.
Overall, I feel that the distance learning methods adopted by UL worked well for me, but I can understand how students will have difficulties in different areas.
References
Barriers to Learning in Distance Education, Galusha, Jill M, 1998.
Evaluation of a lecture recording system in a medical curriculum, Thierry R.H. Bacro, 2010.
PN4056 