This month we interviewed twenty mme moe users. They ranged from pre-service teachers using mme moe as a personal professional development tool during their professional experience, to very experienced teachers. Here is a precis of their views:
 
A finely tuned focus generates a greater sense of purpose
The interviewees reported that mme moe enabled them to access and engage in learning with a clear purpose that was directly connected to their personal identified needs and applicable to the classroom in which they were working. They were able to identify a clear purpose for professional learning that they felt was productive and valuable.  This was in stark contrast to what they heard anecdotally in the staff room about teachers’ professional learning experiences.  
 
Personal learning pathways increase engagement
They reported that they were able to address their own different needs, strengths, and learning styles, as opposed to being receivers at a conference, a lecture or even a workshop.  To focus and support learning goals, they liked the access to their teacher competency framework, and the capacity to self reflect and and develop their own personal professional learning plan. If they found a learning object that didn’t engage them, they quickly left it behind and found another, and were able to keep looking until they found something that engaged them in the way they needed. In particular they looked for learning objects which modelled how they wanted to manage learning in their own classrooms.
 
Time, Time, Time
They reported that the capacity to learn when it was best for them was extremely powerful.  The capacity to access learning objects at their own pace, place, time and path gave them the feeling that they were in charge of their own learning. As teachers they value professional learning, but often couldn’t make time for it when and where it was offered.  Mme moe enabled them to effectively use the time they had to connect, collaborate and learn. Happily they also reported that time used on the daily habit of reflection, and for some, journalling, wasn’t an issue at all.
 
Loneliness, Collaboration and Coaching
They reported that they were hungrily looking forward to mme moe’s collaboration functionality (the beginning of which has just been released). Some reported that they felt the need to engage with others who are invested in solving similar problems and issues. We look forward to providing this functionality asap. A number of the students particularly, identified that it would be very useful if they had had a mme moe mentor (almost a teacher coach) throughout the experience.

At mme moe we were impressed by the thought that the interviewees gave the process and we thank them very much. Like them, we are learners!