Well, here in Australia (well, my little corner at least) students went back to school today.  So, the time for leisure is over and its time to jump into my new role with both feet.

Today was an interesting day.  It’s obvious from the outset that it is going to be difficult to get the students to wholeheartedly accept the new teaching and learning style we are implementing. Despite feeling like they are flexible and ready for anything, many students are very resistant to change, and their approach to education is no different.

The eLearning focus of my blog might be missing a bit for awhile - the experiential learning project I am in involved in does not have a lot of technology resources so far, although it is an area we will definitely be pursuing.  I am hoping that blogging, a Ning Community, and use the of mobile phones and gps units will be some aspects we explore.

But for the moment, just getting students to be adventurous, to trust us, and each other, that this new approach has benefits, will be a major accomplishment. Many of the activities we tried today fell flat, which was due in the most part to students being unwilling to ‘give it a go’ and being self conscious about the activities.  I think we are going to have to build up an environment of trust before we can expect them to engage in activities that they cannot see an immediate benefit to. 

One of the students said to me today “But we arent learning anything”.  When I queried that fact, she acknowledged that they ‘were learning life stuff’.  I thought it very ironic that she was astute enough to realise she was learning, but that she had no appreciation of the importance of those skills, or why we would teach them in a formal environment. “Dont we just learn them through life?” she asked. It’s is going to take awhile before the students understand how valuable that experience can be.
What a learning curve for all of us! - staff and students, but it should be an interesting ride!