Hooray!
Today's the day when the runners and riders are off, starting or in my case finishing their degree courses.
The air is filling with a palpable sense of anticipation, the future is marked out by activities, blocks and the dreaded Tutor marked assessments, followed by either ema's or exams, battles with references, all head spinning activities.
Our lives for as long as the course lasts will revolve around these and the study materials. Any free time, will become extra study time, with very little time for friends and families. As I type this I'm surrounded by folders, just waiting to be filled with study notes, study guides, printed off research, which is cited in the study notes. Highlighters stand ready to do their thing on both study guides and research.
No wonder why me head hurts already.
The forums for my course have been open for a week or so now, and lots of my fellow students have introduced themselves. What a mixed bunch we are, from teachers to lowly Teaching assistants and everything in-between.
We seem to be scattered from all over the world, but that is the same for almost all of the courses I've done so far.
As I read the same worries posted by my fellow students, how will this on-line learning work, uncertainties of being up to speed with the study materials, posting on blogs or forums, so-operative learning etc. The list seems to get longer with each new post.
The fear of the unfamiliar is often what puts new students in such a spin, but like most things practice is the key. Only by doing do we truly understand.
So here's to practice & just a smattering of patience for these new students, for whom this O.U. learning is all new. Us old hands need to help them to understand that it's not as hard as they think.
Enjoy your courses, talk via the forums to your fellow students, you never know, you might just make a new friend or two I know that I have.
Until next time. Keep calm and keep studying!
Jan