My mooc reflection story.

Topic of my mooc
MITx: 12.340x Global Warming Science
Motivation
Reasons why I have chosen to do this
mooc:
First of all, I am a geography student teacher, that mean
one day I will be teaching Geography. Geography is the
study of Earth as a whole, as we study this planet Earth of
ours we see that our climate is changing. So I want to
know more about all the factors that shapes our climate
and what can we do to decrease this rapid increase in
daily temperatures.

Motivation cont
The course focuses on the fundamental energy balance in the
climate system, between incoming solar radiation and outgoing
infrared radiation, and how this balance is affected by
greenhouse gases. It also look on physical processes that shape
the climate, such as atmospheric and oceanic convection and
large-scale circulation, solar variability, orbital mechanics, and
aerosols, as well as the evidence for past and present climate
change.


Reflection on the positive side
What worked?
I did not achieve lot of things in my mooc but one thing
which I am sure of is that this mooc will help me in a long
run.
The skills, knowledge and the experience which I gained
from my mooc would make me a better teacher one day.
My mooc helped me to know lot of thing behind Global
warming, all the background knowledge and all the
shaping factors which shape the global climate.

Reflection on the negative side
First of all the standard of the mooc was little bit too
high, in simple terms the mooc was difficult.
The difference in time zone was little bit problematic, it
made me to miss some of the first activities
The formulas for calculation were not clearly stated and
that made the mooc to be very difficult.
The mooc tend out to be more on the science part while I
was expecting it to focuses on geographic elements.
Some of the videos were too long in a way that you may
end up losing interest.

What I would do differently?
First of all I would dedicate more time on it, and be well
prepared by reading the additional articles and watching
video lessons at least twice or more.
I would make sure that I keep record of activities due
dates on my diary and convert time from UTC to South
African time.
Next time I wont be ignorant

Skills required on my mooc
I would say the only skills which were lacking on my side it
was computer skills, like writing scientific symbols and
putting units on answers.





That made me to fail other activities but dont get me
wrong I am not trying to shift the blame.
New skills
The skill which I am proud of is to solve huge complex
problem like to calculate the age of planet Earth, and
calculating the life time of a certain chemical in the
atmosphere.
Anther skill which I gained was to use a computer
calculator which I didnt know to use before, so I am now
happy because I know even if my calculator is not around I
will be able to count big numbers.
Inherent values of badges
Badges help you to be self-motivated and to be
enthusiastic on caring self directed task.
It is a form of a reward which makes a person to keep on
doing the good work, and it guide you to see if you are
still on track.
Having online badges they enrich your CV making your
chances of employability much higher compare to others
who have the same qualification as you but who dont
have those extra achievements.
Mooc influence
First of all my mooc gave me a lot of background
knowledge on climate change and on global warming.
Since these are one of the geography themes on our
school curriculum I will use my experience to teach it in
more advance way.
I would say my mooc would have a huge influence in my
career in future especially in use of technology, in future I
will use video clips to cultivate my lessons and make them
more interesting.