I ended up going onto the Open University web site and taking a class. The class that I took was over Global Warming. Thank goodness that I was interested in the topic because other then that they make it hard to want to stay on the site and keep learning more. It was very text heavy with little graphs and diagrams to follow along with. The greatest thing was this Climate Model that was designed using flash. It actually let you go in and change some of the variables affecting the climate and see how that one change would affect everything else including the climate. In the lesson it would actually break up the sections by activities. I didn’t find it a good idea to prepare a presentation with supporting facts and such. That activity seems like it requires too much work especially if you’re the only one going to see this presentation. Where’s the fun at? Some of the other activities were a little more insightful and straight forward. I like that they reienforced what you just learned or read. This class would have helped me learn more if it just included at least one video. Yes, some people learn just fine by reading all this stuff, but what about those who need to see it, or those who have to do it to learn it? I want to listen to one of those classes on iTunes University and see how I like those. More to come later!
rkingston1979 said,
April 27, 2009 @ 10:15 pm
I agree with you on not having enough images and interactivity. For me, it seemed like I had opened a textbook. I got good information, but lost interest halfway through mine. I don’t think that learning has to be a video game, but the more interesting we can make it, the better.
Michael said,
April 28, 2009 @ 3:02 am
Yeah I agree with you It is difficult for me to learn anything just by reading it. I have to really be interested in the subject to read about and even then I don’t like to read about it haha. So switching thing up a bit would help a lot when trying to create a online course.
fanatiq said,
April 28, 2009 @ 4:22 am
I agree with everyone here. I was about to do a lesson on the UK site, but it wasn’t as fun and interactive as it could be. I though the actual information was valuable, but it maybe could be presented in a better way. And you’re right, it would make it interesting if there were some activities that went along with the information.
You might want to check on what I wrote about in my blog in iTunes U that had to do with the solar system because that might relate to the topic you’re dealing with on your site.