MOOCs

Teaching Teamwork & Communication Skills 

I spent the first week of the online learning looking for which course would suit me best, so I chose one that no one else was enrolled in. After registering for the course, I found out that the course in question was preceded by another course that I should take for a better understanding of the terminology and some paradigms. However, I decided that I would take the "previous" course after completing the one I had originally chosen, and hopefully, that would be okay and I wouldn't be too troubled by this fact while going through the information units. In the meantime, I'm taking notes and trying to figure out how to do the course effectively based on the recommended articles in the interactive syllabus. I had my first "public interaction" in online learning, and that was introducing myself and my work in a discussion for the course. Now I'm waiting for the first module, which is a 6-minute video. Visually it doesn't look the most attractive, so I'm curious to see what it will be like.

In the second week, I was surprised by what was included in the module, that it wasn't just about the video, but alsothe quizzes and the studies, the interactions in the discussions. It makes sense, of course, but I imagined it a little differently originally. I chose the following "strategy" for the first module: I read the background information out loud, for better perception and understanding. This time I also prepared a glass of water and a paper and pen to concentrate more intensely on the content of the video. It suits me that the first video of module number 1 has only a few minutes. At the beginning I was slightly bored by the official information and statistics, especially in connection with the quality of the, I assume older, video. However, I'm struggling with my typical problem of keeping my attention, and several times, even during those few minutes, I picked myself up and went to do something else. Then I went back and fast-forwarded part of it again, or used subtitles and transcript alongside the video. Anyway, because of this feature of mine, I watched the video for almost half an hour instead of 6 minutes, which is not twice as effective. At the same time, I'm a bit confused - from the - for me unclear - continuity of the different parts. And that there were many of them. I suppose I'll get used to it in time.

In the third week, I was able to mentally somehow connect more with what was mentioned in the lessons. As a person who constantly thinks about how Slovak and Czech education is set up, especially in the direction of primary and high schools, I really appreciated the parts about teamwork, about being able to show students that the path they take during their primary education will guide them into the future more than the effect is given to it. I watched another video that highlighted team communication and disagreements with my mouth open because I saw in it an exact example and solutions that I could practice with my work group of people. With that, I completed Module 1.

The fourth week. Today I finished module 2 and with that the whole MOOC called Teaching Teamwork & Communication Skills. I have mixed feelings about this course, I feel that certain parts of it have taught me a lot/confirmed what I have been reporting myself for a long time regarding communication and communication skills. At the same time, it went into areas where I wasn't entirely clear what the course was trying to say. Respectively, I was confused mainly because I found the course in question too long for what its content was. Anyway, considering that this is my first online course (which I also completed). I rate it more positively and I'm looking forward to what the next course will bring. 

I recently wrapped up a MOOC focused on teamwork and communication skills, perfect for classroom or work settings. It was a good mix of discussion forums, videos, and research readings, all centered on making communication smoother across cultures. We tackled everything from communication "life hacks" and handling communication anxiety to adapting styles. One of the coolest parts was the role-playing exercises designed to teach stress-free communication—a solid way to practice managing real-life interactions without the nerves getting in the way! It also included a TEDtalk on how TEDtalkers engage their audience. Well, it was fun :)

ADDITIONAL TASK:

· Have you completed your first course? What precisely - in terms of learning
outcomes - did you learn in it?

Yes, I have already finished the first course. I learned what communication skills a person should have and how to use them. How to motivate people and especially children not to be afraid to talk. I learned why and how teamwork is important and how not to get mad when it doesn't work the way we want.

· Did you experience any problems? What is the most challenging thing for you
during your studies - you can mention anything from time management to language
competence.

The biggest problem I had, in the beginning, was overall with some understanding, both of the course and the subject itself, MOOCs are something where the student needs to work with a tutor, especially for their first course. I had a problem with time management, in the sense that I didn't know how the course was divided, I didn't understand at all which week I had to study how much and I was confused. But I would say that it was good for a start-up, now I have more clear understanding in the second course.

· What did you enjoy during your learning?

I quite enjoyed some of the videos, which were very playful and managed to summarise with real life examples the problems with, for example, teamwork. I enjoyed being able to always refer back to things that were unclear to me during the course, or to remind myself of some important concepts.

· Do you keep a diary? Can you tell me what the diary brings you? Have you got
used to it, do you plan to continue it, perhaps beyond this course?

I didn't keep a diary. My diary was just that, a portfolio, where I put my progress in the course and the feelings I had every week. In retrospect, I know that such a diary would have been fine and would have helped me to capture what I had learned for a longer lasting effect.

· Have you already chosen your next MOOC? If so, tell us which one and why you
chose it.

I have another MOOC selected. I'm linking to it already in my portfolio. The course is focused on people management, which I have a lot of experience with during my time at university, but I feel I always have a lot of opportunity to improve. I also took a Leadership course last semester, which pretty much motivated me to take it.

People Management Skills 

The first week of the second course was quite an eye-opening experience for me. The working environment of this course is much more approachable and user friendly. The course is 5 weeks long, which will probably be a bit of a problem with the fact that I'll be finishing on the ninth and have to complete 10 of them throughout our class. Anyway, the course unlocks gradually, and is exactly divided into weeks, which suits me fine. I learned about several types of leadership, which complemented my knowledge from last semester and the Leadership course quite nicely. The first lesson was about the opportunities for management, leadership tips. I am looking forward to next week!

I don't have any strong feelings about the second week in this MOOC. I just continued what I started. In the course, I learned how to write an engaging as well as informative job description, how and where to find the right people to do some jobs. I even did the quiz at the end of this week and got 100% on it, which made me happy. I also learned something about succession planning.

I started the seventh week in a bit of an unfortunate way, I accidentally started repeating the previous week. It was only after I realized, that it was strange to see what I'd seen last time again, I figured it out. This week is dedicated to developing the team. About the fact that a good manager should discuss with his employees their ideas and needs, but at the same time he's it's very important that a manager doesn't forget about themselves and their well-being. I don't have any hard feelings about MOOCs anymore, I just continue every week according to schedule, but I'm terribly tired of it in connection with the fact that towards the end of the semester it's all too much somehow. I can't concentrate on it, so as much as I'd like to, and to be honest, I don't really enjoy the time but I don't think that's the fault of the course as a whole. 

In the fourth week of the second online learning we come to performance management. This one didn't attract me at first, until they gave a real example of such a situation. The example was in the form of a podcast and involved a coffee shop that was busy on that particular day and a new employee messed up a regular customer's order. It really drew me into the storyline of my brigade at some point and brought my attention back. That's how I was finally able to realize what this kind of management is really about. At the same time, it was immediately shown how differently the boss could have reacted. I was also surprised that SMART, which we are all always learning everywhere, finally didn't come across as 100% effective to someone in every circumstance. I also liked the advice about the manager's conflict and pulling him away from the staff. If I had read something similar a month ago, I might have avoided increasing conflict in the association.

In week nine, we're dealing with wellbeing, which makes me happy. I find this topic to be profanated, and I feel like everyone tends to think they can talk about it. Which would be fine if they didn't all strongly stand by the fact that what they think is the most necessary truth. I really like the idea of having a manager write back on emails during "normal" work hours so as not to put pressure on their employees (or themselves) to deal with work stuff outside of work hours. And this is especially true for work that a person times himself. I'm really sensitive to this topic, because I feel that good time management in this day and age is not so much about having to do one's work duties as it is about actually finding time to relax. I can see how this "free" system is ruining the health and lives of several people. And the sight is horrible. Freedom is complicated.

Build a free website with WordPress

For the third course, I chose a course on creating a website using wordpress for the last - tenth week. I enjoyed the course for its intuitiveness and at the end I found it to be a very good idea. I'm particularly unhappy with the general look of my portfolio, and would like to switch to a different platform. So I combined two useful things together.