BLOG POST #1

one technology mediated learning experience that i started but did not finish was an online finance focused course that i took outside the university. i initially registered the course to learn about financial planning that could have helped me in landing better Co-op opportunities and also help in my career.

My motivation was strongest at the start of the course because of small lectures and more interactive elements, i actually felt a sense of progress and competence that encouraged me to continue. however, my motivation started to take a shift half way into the course when the learning stuff became more intense and the length of lectures increased and became boring.

several things about the course contributed in my disengagement. the first thing was that the instructional videos became much longer and more lecture based and it was getting very difficult to stay focused. the second element was the time that was being taken by the instructor to mark the assignments and even replying to the emails as the course was fully self paced. The third thing was the course lacked good social interaction, discuss forums were totally inactive that made it more difficult stay engaged.

This learning experience could have been designed differently to better support motivation. For example, breaking longer lessons into smaller segments, incorporating more interactive practice, and offering clearer progress indicators could have strengthened learners’ sense of competence. More active discussion prompts, peer collaboration, or instructor presence could have improved relatedness. Finally, connecting course content more explicitly to real-world applications might have increased its perceived relevance and helped sustain motivation over time.

Reflecting on this experience has helped me better understand how design choices in technology-mediated learning environments can significantly influence learner motivation, engagement, and persistence.