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READING
E
XPERIENCE
7: V
ISIONING
: C
LARIFYING
Y
OUR
F
UTURE
190
L
EARNING
TO
L
EARN
: B
ECOMING
A
S
ELF
-G
ROWER
e-Learning and Virtual Classrooms
As of 2007, almost 3.9 million students were participating in some version
of an online learning experience. It is even possible that you’re taking this
course online. At the very least, you’re using technology to expand the context
of your educational environment by accessing and using online resources.
Virtual classrooms do not exist in physical time and space the way traditional
classrooms do; they take advantage of technology as a way to bridge the gap of time and distance
between people. Increasingly, however, the idea of virtual classrooms and e-learning is not simply
a solution to a problem, but a new way to view and think about learning—just because we can’t
be
together doesn’t mean we can’t
learn
and
think
together.
Tying It All Together
You’re confronting a potentially overwhelming amount of information and it probably feels like it’s
coming at you all at once. It is important to recognize that while you are ultimately the person in charge
of your education, you are not alone. You are not the first person to have scrambled and sweated over the
questions of what you’re doing, what you should be doing, and, last but not least, how do you get from
where you are now to where you want to be at the end of your educational experience.
There are advising and support services in place to help guide you along the path you’ve chosen, and
even to help you choose your path. You should take advantage of the experiences of others as much as
possible and relentlessly ask what they did and how they arrived at their educational and career decisions.
Knowing that others have successfully run the course you’re on now will be a relief to you and help you as
you sort through the tough questions. If you do not have a role model or mentor, consider working to find
someone who might be willing to work with you in this capacity (you will learn more about mentors and
mentoring in Experience 13). As someone once said, “A mentor is someone whose hindsight can become
your foresight.” That kind of help is truly invaluable.
“When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there
would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.”
—
Joseph Campbell