Well, I've been putting this off for a few days but now I'm going to post my first proper blogpost! It's a really strange experience for me as I am in a support role at the University of Portsmouth, used to answering technical queries from students trying to post blogs themselves, but I've never been an online student so have never really had to blog myself!
I can now completely see what people are always saying about the 'lurkers' in the online environment...that was me this week. I logged in to read the discussion forums yesterday and started to feel very nervous. Many of the other participants in the course are academic staff and some have been involved in teaching online before. Everyone seems to be very confident about posting to the boards, and the posts are all interesting and well thought out. How would I ever be able to match them! I had an email from Patsy this morning to remind me about contributing and that has sparked me into action! I realise now that the only person I would be letting down by not involving myself would be me! And far from being afraid of the other posts on the boards I should learn from them and use the wide range of knowledge amongst the other participants to my advantage. After all, that's what learning online is all about isn't it - the participation and communication? I also now know that I can bring something to the discussion boards as I have a lot of experience of the technical side of eLearning, and I know what is technically possible and what might be less so.
I have learned a valuable lesson this week. There will always be students like me who take a little longer to become comfortable with sharing their ideas and opinions. It might take a little longer and a little more effort on the part of the tutor to coax us in, but not too much I hope in my case! Thank you Patsy for your email this morning, it was just the virtual 'push' I needed.
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Glad it helped - would not liked to have missed your blog.
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