Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
TDLC Staffer Reports On MFTOT6—Part II
Reporting by TDLC Staffer Mirei Nishimura
The currently ongoing course marks the sixth delivery of the program, initiated in 2005. Trends have been showing an increasing number of participants in Japan, and this sixth course offering has had the highest level of student enrollment in Tokyo to date. Click here for more details on the MFTOT course.
During the course, participants meet face-to-face with their classmates and tutor at four video conference sessions. A guest speaker makes a presentation either here at TDLC or at an overseas site, and all students are linked by video connection and have a chance to ask questions and exchange ideas. These live conferences are followed by local sessions where assignments and country-specific topics are discussed in depth. The MFTOT course is a unique blend of these interactive learning methods. Students who might be a bit shy to speak up during their local sessions can also do so through a secure virtual space called Moodle, where messages can be posted 24/7. Once a participant satisfies all the course requirements and passes a final examination, he or she can become accredited as a microfinance course trainer. Students who opt not to take the final exam can receive a course completion certificate.
I’m taking part in this course as I work for TDLC. Here’s my first entry on the first video conference for MFTOT 6. I sent on this URL to my parents, who currently live abroad. Their response came with a tinge of sarcasm; “Good for you — you get to go to a seminar in the middle of work!” Well yes, but it doesn’t really overlap that much with my duties here…
Though there is plenty of homework in this “self-paced study”. I’ve been struggling a bit with the weekly assignments. But our tutor’s words to the class sounded like music to my ears: “let me know in advance, and I can give you an extension.”
I’ve wondered if I was the only one struggling with the course, and asked fellow participants how they felt – to discover that I was not alone. One student grinned and said, “I spend all my weekends on the assignments.” Another was worried about her English language skills, although our tutor had repeatedly assured us that everyone’s English skills were fine. Then of course, there was a person who’d been involved in microfinance in her line of work, and beamed with confidence; “I just sit down in front of the computer an hour before the assignment’s due and really concentrate hard!”
The learning materials are well-designed, and I think they help students to learn efficiently, in a fun way. The provided CD-ROM equips students with the fundamental concepts of the course. Each of its modules consists of 30 or so minutes of presentation, which, for my limited attention span on a weekday evening, is the perfect length and volume. Sometimes taking quite a bit of research, the assignments can be tough to complete on time. Our tutor called out to us as the second MFTOT 6 local session was drawing to a close; “If you aren’t happy with the work you provided, you can submit it again, and I’ll be more than happy to re-grade it!”
“So this is what self-paced study is all about!” I felt my stiff shoulders starting to relax, and began making some mental notes on how to go about tackling the next assignment.
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