- Problem #1: Expectations: Some people have expressed concerns because they still do not know exactly what they are doing and have either been told they are not doing so well or have not and still don't know if their work thus far is up to par. The concern here is that while Professor Burton has given us an list of things we need to do the class is not set in stone, it is totally grey. We has the what but not the how. I agreed with this at first and it totally terrified me. I had never even read a blog and after five years of college I am definitely used to the traditional way of teaching. This new way of thinking was a nightmare but I was determined to do it. It took me some time to figure it out but I think I have a handle on it now. However, not everyone is able to function academically without implicit and unquestionable guidelines and rules. The result of this is that they do not blog as often (me the first two weeks). It does not mean that they are not thinking about the class as much as the most other students, it just means that their time is not as productive because they do not know what to do. An good analogy for this is how bacteria does not grow grow in a moldy environment. Not every student will thrive as quickly as others in every learning environment.
- Solution #1: Feedback: I don't know if this will help everyone but I feel like it might help some. I think it would be beneficial if Professor Burton were to send students an brief e-mail at either the end of each week or the end of every two weeks telling them what they should continue doing, or what they should stop doing or what they should start doing. I know this adds to his work load but I feel like there would be a lot less wasted time and faulty posts as a result. This leads into the next bullet.
- Concern #1: Time: Some students have expressed concerns because they do not feel that their posts accurately reflect the amount of time they are putting into this class. I do not have a solution for this other than keeping track of your time which seems a little . . . inappropriate for a blog. I guess my only solution is to provide an example. For me it takes at least an hour for any post longer than a paragraph. This might just be because I have slit perfectionist tendencies. Another "example" would be to state the fact that this is currently my most time consuming class. The reason for this is the post expectations and the lack of concrete direction.
- Answer?: My Personal Solution: This is the part that I am excited about! I might should have included this in the first bullet but I felt it deserved its own. I was going to say I finally figured out what I am doing but a more accurate phrase is that I have finally decided what I am doing. I am going to do a few things.
- I am not going to worry
- I am going to study what I want to study
- I am going to blog about what I want to.
- I am going to read what I want to read.
I could go on ALL day! In short I am going to do what I want to do (keeping the syllabus in mind) and suppose that Professor Burton will tell me when and if I am doing something wrong and what I should be doing instead. I am doing this because worrying about it takes up too much time so I am going to just lay back and enjoy the ride as I see fit.
Have I hit the nail on the head or did I hit another piece of wood entirely?
