Online Education, Frustration and Design

Well, I'm writing this blog post from the perspective of having just finished teaching my last class for academic session 2020-2021.  Frankly I've never felt so exhausted and relieved and I'm quite sure a lot of teachers will feel the same when they reach summer break this year.  

However, I'm also in the process of studying for my #MAODE and I'm currently studying the module #H819 which recently required me to conduct a semi-structured interview with a colleague.  The questions I asked in the interview were intended to illicit information that would help me to answer my research question.  There's nothing specifically interesting about that, suffice to say that I'm investigating some of the reasons why students might drop out of education.  

What surprised me (and I don't know why because, in hindsight, it seems obvious) but the theme of frustration came up in the interview.  

("Frustration (was: threesixtyfive | day 244)" by Sybren A. Stüvel is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

I've been reflecting a lot on this recently and, as I always do, I started to read to help me understand this further.  It didn't take long to find a website that pointed out:

"Frustration is an emotional response to stress...  If you continue to pursue a goal without any result, the frustration you feel can lead to other emotions that affect your well-being and mental health such as:  loss of confidence, stress, anger, agressive behaviour, irritability, depression... [and] ...some typical responses to frustration are: losing your temper, incessant bodily movement, such as tapping fingers constantly and perpetual sighing, giving up, leaving, feeling sad or anxious, lacking self-confidence, trouble sleeping, turning to drugs and alcohol, bodily abuse, starving oneself, or irregular sleeping babits."  (WebMD, 2020).

I don't know about anyone else, but I can identify with the constant sighing, feeling anxious, irregular eating and sleeping habits.  I would bet that students during the past year have had similar experiences and I think it's more than reasonable to assume that some adopted the "fight or flight" response and simply gave up or left their courses.  Sadly I also know from speaking to colleagues within the institution where I work that in the past year along, 60 % of the learners who have been identified by the organisation as vulnerable have come to our attention because of reasons related to this definition of frustration.  

This same website goes further and points out that frustration is experienced when a person experiences barriers that prevent them from achieve something.  A study by Lister et al. (2020) @KateMarburg identifies a whole range of educational barriers which can have a negative impact on learners mental health which can be broadly classified under three themes:  Study related barriers, skills related barriers and environmental barriers.  However, equally the same study highlights that the same themes can also form the basis of enablers which support learners mental health.  A brilliant and thought provoking study - well worth a read (see the references below).

("Stop Barrier Ahead" by andyarthur is licensed under CC BY 2.0)

But as a member of academic twitter, Martin Compton @mart_compton wrote a blog post recently which highlighted the fact that we need to approach next academic session with a design thinking mind set.  Absolutely!  If hybrid learning is here to stay, as I suspect it might be, then we have to approach next academic session more critically.  Moreover, the article itself (see references below) also provides some brilliant and thought provoking suggestions on how to achieve that.  I personally don't want to feel like I'm running on empty for months on end.  But that's not going to change if we don't design out the problems and design in the solutions.

Perhaps the taxonomy of barriers and enablers to mental health provided by Lister et al. (2020) would be an excellent place to start with this redesign process.  

References

WebMD (2020)  Signs of Frustration [Online].  Available at:  https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-frustration (Accessed 19th June 2020).  

Lister, K., Seale, J. and Douce, C. (2020) Mental health in distance learning: a taxonomy of barriers and enablers to student mental wellbeing [Online].  Available at:  https://www-tandfonline-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/02680513.2021.1899907 (Accessed 29th April 2021).   

Compton, M. (2021)  Blended by Design [Online].  Available at:  https://reflect.ucl.ac.uk/mcarena/2021/06/14/blended-by-design-thinking/ (Accessed 19th June 2021).  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Reflection on Metaskills

Image
Introduction Have you heard about metaskills?  This is a framework that the SQA have devised that allows us to reflect on many of the skills and qualities that we have.  It also allows us to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses highlighting what we might want to improve on.   When I reflected on this framework I realised that my self-management, social intelligence and ability to innovate didn't just magically happen overnight.  They emerged over time.  So I wanted to write this with a view to sharing my own experience and to highlight some ways that other people might consider developing their metaskills too.  So here are two things that I'd like you, the reader, to think about.   1.  Focusing on the Important Bits. As a student when I began studying maths, I really found it hard to focus.  Maths was boring and hard, and there were lots of distractions around.  I wanted to be able to go out with my friends, play some music,...
Read more

H818 Conference Presentation: Mobile Blogging - A Course for Educators

Image
Downloadable Copy of Transcription Downloadable Copy of Presentation Slides Abstract The potential of mobile technology to enhance learning and teaching practice has been recognised in various academic studies (Xiao (2020); MacCallum et al. (2017); Mohammadi et al. (2020)) and the learning opportunities afforded through the use of mobile devices are complimented by a number of learning theories including connectivism (Siemens, 2004 as cited by Manchester University, ND) and social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978 as cited by McLeod, 2019) .   In contrast however, policies on learner behaviour management coupled with issues relating to the individual and collective identities of educators have led to resistance in the adoption of mobile technology within learning and teaching practice.   Indeed removal of mobile devices is still used as a punitive action against learners where the devices themselves are deemed a classroom distraction by educators.   Yet, studies address...
Read more

Waiting

Image
Just reflecting today on time, generally, and how much of it we spend waiting.  So here's a little poem I call, "Still waiting..." Waiting with baited breath for a new opportunity. Waiting for some response to my application form. Waiting for feedback from my teacher. Waiting... tick, tick, tick.   Waiting for the next bus to arrive so I can get home. Waiting for test results to determine the step. Waiting to meet the next group of people to come through the door. Waiting... tick tick, tick. Waiting for my true love to call me. Waiting for the fairy-tale to happen. Waiting for a letter to tell me some good news instead of bad. Waiting... tick, tick, tick. Waiting patiently on my own in a Waiting room. Waiting on customers to place their orders. Waiting for the end of the day so I can go home and do it all again tomorrow. Waiting... tick, tick, tick I'm still waiting.  
Read more