This is my farewell post.
May I start with a story?
“What is your problem?” asked the Doctor Wise.
“I have headaches, some sneezing, and pains in the joints, don’t know why, I am just feeling tired. Last night, I have fever.” said the Patient A.
“Let me examine you.” the doctor then examined A. Checking the temperature, and the mouth, nose and chest of Patient A.
“You have the symptoms of a flu, here is the prescription, follow the instructions in taking this flu medicine (may be an anit-virus medicine).” Doctor Wise explained. “Go home and take more rests, drink plenty of water, and you will recover in a few days.”
“Do I need to take any antibiotics?” asked A.
“No, antibiotics don’t cure flu.” explained Doctor Wise. “You need to allow time to restore your health, so taking the flu tablets and more rests will do. If you are still not feeling well after a few days, come and see me.”
Does it look familiar to you?
Why would I choose this plot of seeing the doctor? It’s the McGuffin! May be, I think it describes fully what I have experienced when I have fallen sick and visited the doctor for help in the past. It’s a story that I would like to share.
So, how do these relate to my taking of the MOOCs?
To a certain extent, the facilitators in the MOOCs are like the doctors, they know what experiences patients have, and the symptoms associated with various diseases, or the actual problems associated with the different diseases. They would try their very best to explain to the patients what to do in response to those problems, or to perform surgery where needed.
But is this what MOOCs are all about? No, that is just my share of what I have learnt through MOOCs, with the most important part of learning still yet to emerge. I will share in future posts.
What most facilitators and educators would do (in MOOCs) is to provide advice, help and support, so as to enable the learners to learn more effectively and efficiently in courses, through the various interactions and engagement in different platforms, spaces or media.
However, how the learners would take that into their hands could be totally different. I am not a “patient”, but a learner. However, I could understand how difficult and challenging it could be when I sensed those challenges, symptoms of confusion, when immersed in a new or novel learning environment.
So, with the MOOC – Change11, I could also be the doctor of learning, where I fully appreciate how learning could be the best dose for healing, in restoring health, and be happy.
I have come across these 35 weeks of intensive learning, with the facilitators providing their valuable perspectives and experiences, all FREE to all of us. Special thanks to the host facilitators: George Siemens, Stephen Downes and Dave Cormier, and all guest facilitators of the MOOCs, and the many participants that I have met and connected in various ways (not in any order) with their blog posts:
Tai Arnold, Steve mac, Tony Bates, Brainysmurf, Catherine Cronin, Jaap Soft, George Hobson, Vanessa Vaile, Jupidu, AK, Jeff Lebow, Alan Levine, Jenny Mackness, Ana Cristina Pratas, Liz, Clark Quinn, Mark McGuire, Matthias Melcher, Heli Nurmi, Mary Rearick, Howard Rheingold, George Veletsianos, Nancy White, Bon Stewart, Valerie, and many others that I would like to list them all here.
Here I would like to borrow:
Learner Weblog 
Thank you Suifaijohnmak, for all your posts and tweets. I have enjoyed reading your blog, and learning from you. I was new to the MOOC environment, but it was friendly and knowledgable people like you that made it feel like I was learning alongside others (who knew what they were doing). I hope we can do it again sometime soon.
Thank you for the fond farewell (particularly the Sound of Music clip, which was a favourite from childhood and left me goosebumpy today). Moocs are like tasting champagne and blog posts like yours are the bubbles! Keep well and see you ’round the webosphere. 🙂
P.S. After watching the Today Show clip of the cast, I wonder what we will say about our mooc experience 45 years from now?
@Kelly, You are most welcomed and I enjoyed the company with you too.
See you.
@Brainysmurf, That’s a lively taste – the champagne with the cheers. Who knows what would happen to each of us who had once upon been in a loosely distributed MOOC? We might be able to share a few more personal stories in nostalgia after a few years. I am not sure what I would look like in 45 years from now, but it could be interesting to see. MOOCs might be everywhere… 🙂