Recently I had a really positive experience taking an online course. The irony was (well, there were two). The first irony was that I thought it would be a slog, you know. Group projects, absent instructors, etc. But this wasn't the case at all. In fact, this was a very positive experience (and continues to be - there are two weeks left).
The second irony (maybe more of a silliness than an irony) is, more obviously, that it was an online course about eLearning offered through Canvas by instructors at the University of Brussels. On top of that, the group project assignment had a group with four members scattered across the world, literally. So let's just map that out for a moment.
Prezi is a cool tool.
I was pretty sure that the group project would be a disaster, but it was 100% complete in a week, on time. Everyone did their part, and we all learned new tools. I did not know how well Microsoft Office Mix would work, but it was a breeze. Now, the project itself was not perfect and it definitely would benefit from some serious editing, but it was amazing to me that everyone stuck with it and came up with something that everyone was comfortable sharing with the class (everyone in the class is a working professional).
I'm looking forward to doing a cool final project for the class too.
This brings me to the point of my thought. Taking an online course is an exceptionally good use of time for a learning designer. You pay attention to how things are presented and designed, but you are also trying to learn a new skill/concept, so you are really immersed both in your craft and your learning motive. This experience has informed me and, suprisingly, inspired me.
