Antoine's PBL blog

Some years ago I heard about the OER (Open Educational Resources) initiative launched by MIT (see for example https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-282j-introduction-to-astronomy-spring-2006/).  For several years after I was an avid follower of MIT's open-courseware programmes, but mostly in a casual and dilettantish sort of way.  Nevertheless I did learn a lot and it was an invaluable experience.  Recently I discovered the research reports (academic articles) published by the anthropologists and geologists who had discovered and are exploring the fossilized remains of Homo naledi , a new species of the genus Homo discovered in the Rising Star complex of caves near Johannesburg in South Africa in 2013.  These reports are all freely available in the open access journal e-life sciences (for example at https://elifesciences.org/articles/09560 ).  Dedicated reading of these fascinating articles can nurture the amateur anthropologist or geologist in anyone...

In the course of Topic 1 of the ONL172 I have already had to confront several of my own fears and phobias concerning the online world.  Here are three of them:  Fear & phobia #1:  Not connecting – total technology failure  An ever-present fear (not being a digital native – see David White’s webinar at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPOG3iThmRI&feature=youtu.be ) is not being able to connect at all – or experiencing slow and intermittent connection.  In the class-room this can be very frustrating because of the valuable time lost.  On the ONL172 course my big worry was of being irredeemably left behind and not knowing what was going on.  Connection to our group meetings was eventually solidified when we moved to Zoom.  And then there was the amazing connection I had on the day I was visiting Durban for a workshop.  In the midst of an astonishing, massive storm (see http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/in-pictures-ma...