Week 1 reflections

This week I started with the course proper of FET5601 Instructional designing for flexible learning, my 7^th course in the Masters for Educational Technology programme. Since iam already working in the field of instructional designing (ID), I basically know aspects of ID.

Interesting thing which I have noticed in the course introduction is about graphic organizers. I, personally am not a big fan of concept mapping but after reading about it in the course introduction I have noticed the benefits of it. It gives a visual representation as to how the content all fits together, how they are connected and related to each other – a holistic view – the big picture kind of thing. From a learners point of view I see certain benefits:

- gives a overall picture – a snapshot, summary which is easier to comprehend and recall rather than a whole page of text.

- provides direction to the learner as to where he/she is and where they are to head to ( guides them)

Also I managed to find out the difference between mind mapping and concept mapping. Mind mapping considers only one concept while concept mapping considers several concepts All this time I was thinking that both mean the same or synonymous. I had never used Visio to do concept mapping and this week I had Visio installed in my PC and have started to learn how to use it…..the course is already bearing its fruit.

It was also good to see some familiar student names from previous courses and some new names. They bring a lot experience and diversity to the course which we all can learn from each other…..i think semester will be quite a learning adventure.

Can’t wait to progress with the course.