3rd Diary Entry


Back to School I go...


If anyone has ever done an online course, they will, I hope, have sympathy for me. For those who have never done it and are under the illusion that it's a breeze, that you can sit there in your pyjamas, swigging wine, sending notes under the desk to your friend and generally not paying attention - how VERY wrong you are!

In a normal classroom, you have a teacher to focus your attention - online, you have facebook and twitter and bejeweled and lots of other lovely, interesting, fun things to distract you!

In a normal classroom, you can ask the teacher to expand a little on a point you're not quite clear on - online, you sit and look at the screen and read the page in front of you 10 times and your brain still refuses to interpret the hieroglyphs you're looking at!

In a normal classroom, a teacher can provide examples of using something so that the point of it becomes obvious and therefore you learn - online, you read a point, think I'll never use that, switch off and forget all about it!

In a normal classroom, you can roll your eyes at the person next to you and whisper I don't get it and receive comfort from the fact that you are not the only one - online, you sit there feeling completely stoopid thinking everyone in the world is laughing at you right now coz you is simples!

Learning online is hard - it takes willpower, self discipline and a lot of concentration; 3 things I have always struggled to maintain. The course is 18 modules with support from online tutors (I swear I can hear the intake of breath whenever I click that Q&A with Tutor button!) and after the 3rd module I will admit I was struggling a little. You are encouraged to put what you have learned into practise, although you don't submit assignments until module 6, so I sent some of the macro shots to a couple of friends for some feedback... which was rather muted, instead of cries of how fantastic, amazing, awe-inspiring! I realised I needed to talk to a real photographer, face-to-face so clicked that lovely Q&A button and asked advice. Go on a photographic walk was the answer! Great idea, I thought, I need the exercise!


Going for a Walk