Reflective Post

This class has been an experience that I have never had before. I have never been completely in charge of my own learning, never had a blog, and never was required to write in my blog or other people's blog. I had and still have very high expectations for this course, and I have loved it so far!

Giving us the ability to consume, create and connect on our own is a revolutionary idea! In my previous blog post I shared a video that basically explains Digital Civilization. In the end, they show that with all the technology updates that we have, we have to rethink the way we learn. we have to rethink education, connection, and even ourselves.

I think that this first part of the semester has been a great learning experience for me. I learned about Pascal, I discovered a Christian Blog that spoke of Happiness and Pascal, I even facilitated a discussion on languages through my post.

All that being said, I don't think I have gotten the most out of this class. Having a daughter halfway through this midterm period really threw a wrench in my ability to stay caught up with my blog posts. I have found it MUCH harder to fulfill the create requirements for the class, when it comes to writing posts and responding to others.

However, recently I have found an increased ability to consume in my self directing learning. I mentioned a few of the examples above, included Randy Alcorn's blog and Michael Wesch's videos. I started using Diigo (about a week after it was introduced), which has been an amazing tool for this requirement. I definitely see a difference in my self-directed learning when I am able to consume more information from different sources on the internet.

Finally, connecting has been a breeze with the introduction of the Digital Literacy Lab groups. Well, connecting within the class. I was able to meet others in the class and put names and faces to blogs. Having an RSS feed for my fellow bloggers has helped me to connect to others in the class. Meeting with students outside of class for sharing of the Digital Literacy Labs is just as helpful.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, it has been difficult for me to connect with people outside of the class. Only recently has this become easier and more natural. I know that in the coming months these areas that I am currently lacking will be ironed out. I am beginning to connect and consume outside of the class; I am just disappointed that it has taken me this long. But, as I said, as much as I love my daughter, she really has made it difficult to stay afloat in my classes. Don't worry, this isn't the only one that I am lacking in...

Above all, this class has been great! I absolutely believe that I have learned more from this class than I would have learned from a normal humanities class. Hopefully this post satisfies the reflectiveness...can't wait to meet with you both today!