Each one of us has unique stories to tell about how we got to today from yesterday. These stories explain who we have been, who we are, and where we are going. Here are some of mine.
Continuing Visions in Learning
How could online learning and growing happen?
Here is how individual, couple, and group online and face to face learning could be accomplished (This is from a missions context):
Shy Spouse
Susan has always been shy. Most of her life this hasn’t been a problem, but now in her second year on the field, it is. Since she has two little ones, she has been able to hide her struggles because she had to take care of the children. John has made good progress in language and culture learning, and is establishing himself as part of the team. Being an extrovert, this has been easy for him. However, his activities are keeping them apart more than he realizes, causing Susan to be feel more like a failure. Last week at the annual conference, she asked John if they could talk with the counselor there, and he became very anxious. First, he didn’t know the counselor and didn’t “trust” him, and second, he didn’t want there to be any blemish on their developing ministry. So, Susan kept quiet, again.
This week she thought again about their going home. She felt like she wasn’t contributing to anything, and she was a burden to John. She didn’t feel especially depressed, but didn’t feel at home. She pulled up the email from the mission and read again about the eLearning programs the mission now had for all the missionaries. She went to the search component, and discovered there was a learning course called “Shyness during your first term.” Wow…that was what she was experiencing. She discovered she could join the learning component individually and confidentially, and did so. She worked through the 10 learning steps on shyness, and learned a lot about how she did small things daily which kept her apart from people. She even did some “homework” and practiced listening and asking questions during a monthly meeting. One of the other women came to her after and thanked her for being open and caring – and outgoing! What a surprise!
After she finished the shyness course, she discovered there was another course called “Getting your spouse to understand your shyness.” She started that course, and then introduced it to John when the time came. He joined the learning community as well, and they completed the course together. It was very interesting how the eLearning brought them closer together. Susan would send a little note about what she learned to John on his phone as he traveled, and he would respond. Susan felt John was really concerned and supportive. Once they finished the course, they decided to share some of their insights with the community repository maintained by the mission. They were even so bold as to let people know they were interested in communicating about what they had learned. In a few weeks there was a “shyness community” of 15 couples around the world who were sharing and learning and growing. Each had access to the conversation, and each was providing experiences where they had effectively overcome shyness. These examples were archived, so that everyone could review them and learn and grow at a later time as well. Susan had become something of a resource on overcoming shyness. She was writing her own content, and helping other missionaries, and nationals manage shyness as well. Helping nationals also helped her language competency! The eLearning community had provided her a way, on her own at first, and then in a community to blossom. She doesn’t think about going home a failure now.
Sound like something doable? Well, it is! This is an example of the process one would go through with my curriculum currently under development. You can find out more about our learning initiative here, including a link to my learning survey. I would also welcome any ideas or feedback if you would like to contact me. In the meantime, stay tuned!