One of the things I've been concerned about with my design for the course is my decision to not requiring weekly discussions, as previously mentioned in this blog. For the first two weeks I did have an organized discussion set-up in which participation was listed on the Weekly Agendas as a to-do. My thinking with these early discussions was to make sure people were connecting to the course, each other, and me. In addition, I was hoping to sort of get people into the habit of sharing, comparing, advising, chit-chating about the activities and readings...so that when we transitioned to no-required discussion weeks that people would still want to connect and discuss in the Self-select Study Groups forums.
I really haven't given it enough time at this point. I am, as I anticipated, disappointed that people aren't clammering to discuss the readings (this week, Dr. John Medina's Brain Rules). I know that everyone has other demands on their time...and even if they wanted to participate, time just doesn't allow.
Just in case, though, I did post an announcement today as a reminder and invitation to join the discussion, if desirable. I also listed the questions I had posted in the forum so folks reading the announcement would know what was going on in the forum. There has been a little more activity since then...we'll see.
If the discussions are not relevant, then I don't want people to feel they have to participate. Then it is just busy-work...
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I think part of the reason for the limited number of responses could be because there was a lot to do and absorb during that week. All good stuff but lots to take in and reflect on. We had 3 videos, the In My Life example to find and evaluate, and Mayer's readings.
While we were doing all of this, we're supposed to use a blog to capture our thoughts and share ideas. For me, the blogging is new and taking some extra brain power. I don't think I'm up to speed on the best way to use a blog, so right now this feels like more effort than it probably should be. Other students could be having a similar experience.
I'm used to taking my own notes in a notebook, with scribbles that nobody but me sees. :) Now I'm writing some of "my notes" in a way that they'll hopefully make sense to me later anddddd to someone else in a blog.
Circling back to the self-study question, I bet since the Self-Select Study wasn't required, it took the back burner for the time being. It's also taking some time to get used to all of the various locations for posts/responses.
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