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Can you get to a
computer with Internet access no less than 3 times a week? |
| There is no point
in joining a CMC programme with a group of like-minded people unless you
have sufficient time to regularly log on and contribute to the
activities. It is possible to join in from your place of work, but is
there always a computer free when you are and are the pressures of work
such that you have time to devote to personal development? If the answer
to both those questions is no then you need to identify if you have
suitable equipment at home and if there are opportunities for you to
study in the evening at weekends.
The Virtual College is accessible over a
24-hour period, 7-days per week, so should accommodate a wide variety of
lifestyles. You just need to identify how it can fit in with yours
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Do you have the time? |
| In CMC
programmes you need to make regular entries in order for the facilitator
and other group members to know that you are ‘there’ and following the
discussion. There is nothing worse than leaving a message and no one
responding to it (it’s like talking into a vacuum) and so it is
everyone’s responsibility to ensure that comments of the other members
of the group are acknowledged.
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Do you know that the biggest
resource in any on-line group programme is the learner? |
| Central to CMC is
computer conferencing, which means that you work with a group of
other people, collaborating on a shared goal. Thus learners talk to
each other and build threads of discussion by asking questions,
adding personal experiences and developing sound arguments.
Because many CMC programmes are
not dependent on learners being in the same place at the same time
you don't have to respond quickly to activities and comments. You
can take your time to reflect on what someone has said and,
therefore, you can give a much more considered response. In
addition, because of your personal and unique life experiences you
are able to add different dimensions and knowledge to any
discussion, and so can other learners, and this adds value to the
learning process. Knowledge is constructed on the
experiences of the whole group.
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Do I have to be able
to write well? |
| CMC programmes
are text based and so you have to comfortable writing things down. You
only need to have the basic level of skills because it is the content
that is important and not the way it is written. 'Little and often' is
what is required and it doesn't matter how long it takes you to make an
entry - so you can use others to check something you are not sure about,
use the spell checker or play around with an entry until you are happy
with it.
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Once you have said something
it is gone - but is this the case in Computer Mediated Communication? |
| Well no it isn't.
Although you are building up discussion threads in CMC, much the
same as you do when talking in a group, you are
actually writing your comments in CMC programmes.
This can be a little anxiety provoking to begin with, but you soon
get used to it.
Generally nothing in a CMC programmes
is deleted and so your entries are stored in the database until the
end of the programme. This has the advantage of letting you look
back at previous entries, lets you see the 'movement of thought',
enables you to self-assess, and provides evidence for the moderator
if the programme is accredited.
The downside is that if you put an entry in that you later regret
you have to live with it for a very long time!
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What happens if you
need a quite word with your tutor? |
| In some programmes there
are facilities to speak to the tutor in a private database or hidden
forms, or email maybe available. You need to check this before you
start the programme. You always have to remember where you are in
the programme (public or private areas) and make sure that you are
not saying anything in the group area that you don't want everyone
to read.
You must remember that it is easy to
say more than you would in a face-to-face situation because you
typing into a blank screen - so be cautious!
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