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Learning Support.

You may have seen films and photos of students sitting in lecture halls frantically scribbling and trying desperately to copy down everything that the teacher says…… You may have even done this yourself!

BUT

This picture is fundamentally flawed as a perception of a lecture/CM and represents a recipe for very little learning indeed.

If you spend all your time and effort trying to copy down everything that is being said, then you are doing all this (and you won't be doing it well – we think we can do all three, but in reality we can only cope with one!):

What you are desperately trying to do is:

  • Straining to hear
  • Listening
  • Concentrating upon the line you are writing and not what has gone before or what might follow

What you are not doing is:

  • Memorising
  • Seeking to understand
  • Relating to what has gone before
  • Reflecting
  • Applying to your prior knowledge and experience
  • Actively thinking, questioning and participating.
  • …. LEARNING!

 

I will endeavour to get you out of this conundrum by virtue of the use of my website which will obviate the need to copy everything down…. Although I won't rule out the possibility that I may just say something interesting in class/in discussion/in a digression which is not actually on the site itself

My Tonyversity Learning & Teaching Campus:

  • Is easily accessible from anywhere in the world
  • Is permanently available Is not password protected
  • Is updated regularly
  • Contains the Unit Specification, Teaching Schedule, Assignment details and ALL the materials or linked pages you will see me using in class

Rather than merely copying things down I want to see you:

  • ·         Concentrating
  • ·         Actively listening
  • ·         Reflecting
  • ·         Questioning
  • ·         Participating

So there is no need at all to spend each session laboriously copying everything down …. no need to bury your head in a keyboard or pad of paper.   If copying down were the only point of education, it would be easier for each teacher to just write a book and for you to stay at home and read it!

So come to class prepared, relaxed and willing to participate – and my job is then to put my knowledge and experience together with yours and to guide, support and encourage you and give you performance feedback throughout the programme which will enable you to improve your understanding and your capabilities.

I've been doing this since the dawn of the internet age in the mid- 1990s, so trust me!  I am not, in fact a great supporter of what is termed 'Distance Learning' (no actual classroom attendance), but I am a passionate advocate of what has become known as 'Blended Learning': a judicious combination of classroom activity and electronic/internet-based facilities, because I believe you will find it easier and more interesting and hence you should be that much more motivated to learn.