AUTHOR MUSINGS
Some words of wisdom
Have you ever MOOC? 6th Dec 2020
Not moo, but Massive Open Online Courses.
In 2016 I dared to try a free MOOC
with IOWA International Writing Programme.
I was unsure how it could possibly work, with so many participants from around the world, but it was easy to navigate, the videos were mostly interesting and helpful, the links to extra reading and information all worked and if you wanted you could get a certificate.
All the lectures and support materials were available for six months after the course finished, which was great for going back over certain aspects of writing, and are now available for anyone to look at
https://iwp.uiowa.edu/iwp-courses/distance-learning-courses/moocs
It was flexible with time although new videos were posted weekly. It was easier to receive feedback if you participated each week but because there were so many people participating, and as you had to leave feedback to get any it worked very well.
The feedback was guided by questions related to the teaching points of that week’s task and everything I received was helpful. It was possible to edit after comments and then receive more too, which was helpful.
I was surprised at how well the system worked and how much I learned as a writer about skills, concepts, and styles.
I was surprised at how well the system worked and how much I learned as a writer about skills, concepts, and styles.
My writing ego was boosted by positive comments which encouraged me to continue writing and the constructive comments pushed me to learn more about writing.
After the course I felt that I could be a writer and was determined to learn as much as I could and write as much as I could.
I participated in the course in 2018 too, where the emphasis was different and the systems even smoother to use. Again, I gained insight and confidence bit also the realisation of how much I had learned about writing.
If you’ve not tried a MOOC maybe it’s something to think about for 2021, and it doesn’t have to be about writing.
Learning something new keeps the brain flexible.
Copyright © 2020 Jenni Clarke Author. All Rights Reserved