Sunday 20 January 2013

12 steps to Addiction Recovery? I Just Want to Have Fun

Hi , I'm Angela and I'm  a MOOCaholic.

That's the first time I've said those words. They don't sound as bad as I thought they would. Maybe I can live with that.

I've completed one MOOC with Coursera (Introduction to Sustainability), I'm about to start two more within a week. I have another one beginning in February another in March and another two at dates yet to be announced.

So when fellow edcMOOCer, Ary asked me to join ETMOOC, I said, "No, I'm sorry, I'm too busy".

"C'mon",  she said, "it will be fun, we can do it together, you, me and all our other edcMOOC fraingers".

So I looked at my diary. I'm in the last 3 days of a long, searingly hot summer holiday, about to restart work where I tutor in a fully online post graduate course at the University of Western Australia. We have 4 x 14 week units to update, several more to put together and only 4 weeks in which to do it. No problems.

What about family life, remaining activities for school holidays, my huge 11 acre farm that I maintain and those other MOOCS?

And that PhD I'm meant to be starting?

Within 12 hours I had registered with ETMOOC, messaged Ary to tell her I'm in, hastily put together a slide show with the wrong music and here's my intro.

In writing it, I realise that not only am I a MOOCaholic, techaholic and OK, chocaholic, I'm also totally addicted to learning. I don't care if I'm a teacher or a student or just mooching around, I always have an insatiable desire to know things, how things work, what things mean, how we learn, how we can inspire others to learn, how we can know the truth, what might the future hold, how can we make the world a better place.

I know things have a good chance of going pear shaped. There are not enough hours in the day to do what I want in the next two months, but hey, I'll deal with it all after that.

I used to be addicted to lateness, but I overcame that and now it causes me a great deal of anxiety to be coming into ETMOOC at the end of the first week, but I've been following those tweets that have hashtags to edcmooc as well as etmooc, so there are familiar faces and I've probably scooped most of the articles people have put out there in twitter. I'm also blogging already (sorry, I'm using my edcmooc blog) and use blackboard, so I'm hoping all will be fine if I jump on board and have some fun.

As for my addiction, 12 steps just ain't gonna be nearly enough!

Here's a slideshow with some of the things that really matter to me in my life. Sorry Ary, I had to emulate your concept due to time constraints (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery) but I just couldn't match your wonderful audio.




12 comments:

  1. When in the world did you have time to make ANOTHER blog? Good grief, girl, you are really addicted! Love it, though! Isn't it interesting how we are all moving like a pack from one MOOC to another? Making connections, creating, influencing and pushing each other to try new mediums? The movie is next on my list.

    We need badges for our blogs that say "I'm a MOOCaholic!"

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  2. Believe me, this was written in record time. Because I didn't have to think about it....it's front of mind! Oh no, which movie? Hanging on by a thread, nearly ready to drop my bundle! I put a lab photo on fb, have a look, a day out at the bike track was much better than at the rotten pooter.

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  3. Your post reminded me of another MOOC I enrolled at alongside EDC - Fundamentals of Online Education: Planning and Application. It was done during summer holidays - no school, plenty of free time... Since I had no experience in MOOCing, I didn't realise the measure of involvement it requires. Now I'm hesitating whether it's a good idea to take two courses simultaneously. Thanks to your enthusiasm, Angela, I've decided to give it a try and to start both. I'm not scared of MOOCaholism:)

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    1. I watched that video from Duke University with Lynn O'Brien, where she explains how clicking that enroll button is not really enrolling, but indicating an "expression of interest". http://youtu.be/UbK0i4mhpWU Having done one MOOC and starting another while I still had 2 weeks left of the first, I realise it is not easy for me to engage fully in more than one. So edcmooc will be the focus, etmooc has a lot of crossover and I should manage (this post was the first activity for etmooc), and I might have to just watch the lectures for Fundamentals of Online Education. It was only to get a few ideas for something I already do. But I'm glad you are going to give the two a crack, you will be as nutty as the rest of us by then end of March!!!! And I think it will take less to do the actual course than our precourse activities. Maybe they have been good preparation in that sense!

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  4. Angela, you, Laurie, and Ary amaze me. I am content with my one MOOC. Hoping I can get through that one and maybe, just maybe ,after I see how that one goes, try another. I loved your video introduction. Australia is more beautiful than I imagined. Viewing a snippet of your life makes the connection we have more real. Thank you.

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    1. Hi Willa, maybe you will get the bug after doing one MOOC! I loved the first one I did and there was quite a sense of loss when it was over. Although I didn't make any connections in that one, I did it with a friend and we used to check our quiz scores together (well on the phone) at 3pm every Wedneseday and shriek like teenagers when we got a good mark. It was insanely fun although I found the quizzes a little challenging at times and they were time consuming.

      I'm glad you liked the pics, my word through rose coloured glasses perhaps. But then I'm never going to put a bad shot in! Australia is beautiful and like the US, a country of great diversity, in both its people and landscape. Most of the shots are at my home, I live in a cool climate (not last week though) and we have very European gardens. And good vegies!

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  5. Beautiful slideshow! I admire your energy--a family, your work, all of this, and a farm? Wow. Maybe I will stick with the Elearning and Digital Cultures course in addition to ETMOOC. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.

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    1. Thanks Donna, I think we will need to spend our time wisely to manage both MOOCs. I have to tweet a bit less, blog a bit less and keep away from facebook! That one is a real trap. I used to have someone help in the garden and they have retired, so at the moment it is a big job. My 18yo son helps me, sporadically, as they do! Etmooc is scary for me, I am totally lost having started late. Anyhow, the email arrived today and I will just do it one step at a time till I find my rhythm. What is your blog link?

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  6. Angela, that was truly amazing and inspiring....blew me away how beautiful Australia is! Your family too is gorgeous! Love your passion for everything! I love how we are all learning so much about each other and creating our own digital community. That sense of community is what helps people learn and brings out the best in people. I should have added pictures of my daughters too. I'll have to introduce you to them next time we Google. I never thought the MOOC experience was going to be like this, making connections around the world...wow..I'm so happy to have met you, and I love that we are going to be MOOCaholics together on this journey!

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    1. Hi Ary, I have a very good feeling about the connection we have made too and those with our other edcmoocing buddies. I am interested to see how the forums pan out, they can be insane. People try to get on and post immediately so they get in first and it can be very strange watching the frenzy.

      I put out an SOS in my last MOOC and a fellow from Australia answered my cry for help and gave me some very good advice. And that was to first of all look for the people you have connected with and comment on each their posts (and then they generally post on yours too) so that you are not just putting things out there to be sucked into some cybervacuum and then ignored. Forum posting in the massive context is something I hope to master this time round and I'm hoping our community will make it easier and funner. I love not having to do any academic writing precourse. Such a relief!

      We should book in that next hangout and you can screenshare some pics.

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  7. Angela, your slideshow makes me feel like I've met a soulmate! Although I'm not putting my hand up for another MOOC, whilst getting my head around EDC, however this is the stuff of dreams. Dreams of creating fantastic instructional design, courses that will have participants reeling with the joy of learning, whilst I myself am learning and growing and meeting like-minded people. Could never understand why people didn't share my passion for visual design in teaching! This EDC MOOC makes me feel like I'm home.

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  8. What a lovely comment Cath. I like the course focus on the visual. I just wish I had more confidence in my ability to make whatever this artefact is going to be. Great opportunity to develop some new skills though, and best of all is doing it with this amazingly supportive group of people. Maybe other MOOCS will never live up to our edcmooc experience. So we should enjoy it while we can. Did you have your coursera meetup?

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