Learners from all over the county met the brains behind the Trinity College Massive Open On-Line Course ‘Irish Lives in War and Revolution 1912-1923’ in Wexford Town Library last Saturday.
Running throughout September and October, 18,000 students worldwide signed up for the study.
Wexford students acted as a focus group for the pilot project. About 80 had been meeting every week in local libraries all over the county. Representatives had plenty to say about their experience.
“It was wonderful”, said Eimear O’Leary from Screen. Ms O’Leary continued: “I loved the access to original films, photos and other documents. We couldn’t possibly examine such a range of materials any other way.”
Others talked about their online conversations and regular contact with students abroad in the UK and North America.
The library sessions were valued as opportunities to debate, discuss and consider even more opinions and different approaches to the research.
The three course developers Dr Ciarán Wallace, Dr Ciarán Brady and Dr Anne Dolan were also pleased with the extent to which the Wexford learners had interacted with the exercises buried within the lessons.
“ I am especially delighted that our principal intent, which was to encourage learners to take control of the course and set about making their own historical judgments has been enthusiastically embraced by the Wexford groups,” said Dr Wallace.
The lively meeting lasted well over an hour.
Discussion ranged from general interpretations of Irish history through specific points of fact and evidence to technical issues concerning the design and organisation of the course. However, feedback on the course was overwhelmingly positive.
Learners were delighted to hear that the course would be available to those who had registered for a considerable period of time after the six-week rollout had been completed.