Linda's Meta-learning Journal

So here we are, half term. Five weeks or so since Ultraversity term started. What have I learned about my learning this year?
My joy at finding some lectures on line about qualitative research alerted me to something. It was such a relief to sit in front of a screen and be passively taught something. Everything that was said was stuff I'd read about before. There were no surprises except my reaction to it. I was happy - it felt like the pressure was being taken off as this person explained things like the different forms of data analysis and the different kinds of notes you need to take in qualitative research. Not rocket science but funny how much clearer they were when he spoke about them than just from reading. It reminded me how much I used to like going to lectures and making my own notes on what the speaker was saying, what a powerful way of understanding concepts that can be. It's a skill I haven't used at all in this degree. It's not the same as making notes from books or papers, not that kind of study. It's more about understanding principles and concepts. In some ways the speaker doesn't have to be as strong academically as an author. They just have to understand what they are talking about and be able to express it clearly.
It seems to me that whilst a lot of my learning as an adult has been experiential and much of it has been social constructivist, there is still room for hearing someone do a 'talk and chalk' lecture sometimes. Hmm