It came back to me though, when I was recalling my first few NetGL experiences. I was confused at first, due to the perception that the semester would require me to constantly interact, post, read, explore and absorb through means that were unusual to me. I felt a little bit of angst. I like to do well and I didn’t want my learning to be hindered by always having to think about the content for my net blog post, as opposed to researching some solid theory on why we need to be writing blogs to succeed.
I reopened a journal article on ‘Attention Control Theory’ that I used as a basis for some of my learning design. It’s long and polysyllabic, so I won’t go into it, although it did pose an important consideration (in me at least) for the future of teaching NeGL. That is: Anxiety occurs when we are uncomfortable, feel somewhat out of control and unsure of what to do, which seems a highly likely possibility when newcomers are experiencing NetGL for the first time.
So, as educators, how will we deal with anxiety so it doesn’t detract from the end results of a well ‘connected’ future and will that anxiety assist or detract from our learning?
I remember Sharon’s first post, which expressed a degree of angst about this new experience. However now, Sharon explains that she’s begun to embrace things in a better light thanks to the network.
Has anyone else felt the same?
Is angst a necessary stimulant for successful NetGL?