The Freefloating Theories of AOL

It's an interesting journey at the beginning of Module 1 - There's the theory and the discussions; which feel a little like 'normal learning' our tutor's suggest a topic for discussion or post a video, we  use this as a starting point for our own exploration and (hopefully) learning, we come together to discuss our ideas, we reflect on what we and others have said and then we post our (hopefully) deeper thinking on the topic. By reading the posts of others you can see this learning process in action, it makes me happy to see the simplicity of the complexity of it.

Then there are the AOL's - Which feel a little like indoor skydiving; there you are trying hard to maintain any position at all just to stay afloat, while the ideas whiz around you, wildly buffeted  by the wind tunnel, every time you see something you think you can get a grip on, you or it are forced the other way by an unpredictable force.

Having spent a few weeks feeling a little 'air-sick' I went back and read every single blog that Adesola, Helen or anyone else that has already done Module 1, had written about AOL's and I found myself getting more and more angry - Angry at the absence of knowing, angry at myself and subsequently angry at the course. So I decided to focus on the framework - what was the course all about? - and to forget about me and my AOL's for a while. 
For me this meant going back to the theory, reading and reading anything that related to the theories, that related to the framework of the course. Then I read a sentence by Moon, she is describing situations when material of experiential learning can be challenging;

'In relation to experience we have suggested that mediation is a secondary process in which the material of teaching is simplified or recodified usually to create an easier or more certain situation for the learner... Mediation thus usually reduces the complexity of direct experience. Sometimes, though, mediation can involve manipulation of the situation in order to increase the challenge to the learner and guide her into useful learning about her learning process'. (Moon 2004)

Ping! the light bulb came on - the anger evaporated - and I was able to think again (thus also learning by experience the lessons of emotional learning).

I wrote an outline for one AOL - It is only a beginning but at least it is a beginning!



Moon J - A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning - Routledge Farmer, 2004