Thursday, December 4, 2014

Incidental learning

I'm doing a Master's online, and it is really interesting and really good and I am learning a ton. A ton.

But there is also incidental learning that is going on.  Part of what my incidental learning involves is working in teams, and also working with groups online, both synchronoulys and asynchronously.

I am primarily a classroom teacher, which means that I work alone almost all the time.  I sometimes have a group of fellow teachers and we may confer on things, but I really never ever work in a team.

So that is interesting.  (in both the good and bad sense)

Add to this the online component, and it being in Catalan and you get a little more deeply into this.  When working entirely online there is no facial expressions, it is much more complicated to develop a sense of the other person, partially cause it is easier to cover up your feelings, and also cause it is easy to misinterpret or be misinterpreted as there is no tone of voice.

Add in the cultural element, Anglos are generally shorter and more direct in emails than Catalans or Spanish speakers, and you can have some misunderstandings develop.

It isn't directly what I signed up for, but it is in fact a valuable part of the learning process.  Things we need to learn.

Can't say it's always fun though.

I have to say that I have also had some pretty good laughs at times too.

3 comments:

kate said...

Yes, it is interesting...

And I thought you might be interested in this short video:
http://aeon.co/video/culture/casteller-a-short-film-on-one-of-catalonias-extreme-rituals/

Anonymous said...

hahaha. Written communication is a minefield. Takes quite a few gigabytes of emails to get practiced at wording exactly what you want and mean without the slightest ambiguity for any party involved, regardless of ethnicity, background, and of whether "" is their mother language or not... :D

oreneta said...

Kate, yeah.....I know a lot of people who do castellers, youngest wanted to when she was young....I'm getting a little old at this point, but it is tempting. Very cool. They don't fall as often as the video makes it look.

ElP, isn't it just a minefield!!!!! Then there are the people who are really good at it and once you meet them.....meh.