If you had asked me five weeks ago what I thought of blogs I would have responded by saying something like I think they are for teenage girls or for middle aged women who need something to do while their kids are away at school for the day. However as I have taken this class my opinion on blogging and numerous other methods of communication (including facebook) have dramatically changed. After 13 or more years of conventional education I have been conditioned to see certain avenues of obtaining knowledge as taboo or off limits, specifically those on the Internet. However this class has flipped my understanding of seeking greater understanding on its head.
I feel that self-reflection in a class such as this is both necessary and helpful. I will reflect on my performance in this class according to the outcomes of the class: namely
1. Students understand western civilization across general historical periods
2. Students understand a set of basic computing concepts as well as characteristics of digital culture and can relate these both to history and to critical issues of the 21st century
3. Students take control of and manage their own learning
At first, I found because the given historical content was less than other history classes I have taken it was difficult to gain a good picture of the historical periods we are studying. However, after becoming a little more familiar with the purpose of the course I felt freed by my ability to research a particular facet of any given time period. A great example of that was when we were assigned to learn about the “new scientific method” there were no sources for learning about Renee Descartes. So I went and used a tool that I had never used before, Google Blogs, to search information on him. What I found stimulated my mind. I found blogs, videos, summaries, essays, etc. And I actually enjoyed learning more about him because I felt as though it was my decision to learn about Mr. Descartes. As a result I feel a little more passionate about this French philosopher. Furthermore, because I was passionate I was able to make a passionate, and meaningful blog post.
But learning what happened is only half the battle. Another reason I feel successful in this aspect of the course outcomes is based on the structure of the class itself: networking. I feel it is important to learn what happened but then to understand the implications thereof is equally important. When I search through the blogs of my classmates not only do I get to learn more about the important people and concepts but also others’ opinion on their impact on us today. For example: I was reading on Chase’s blog Chasing Knowledge and read where he mentioned that the glorious revolution in England was a precursor to the American constitution, an idea that I had never really thought of before. I was happy to have had the perspective check. My classmates bring a unique perspective to the table both in class and on the web and I am glad to have been able to use both mediums to learn more.
Generally speaking, I am not a huge fan of history classes, however I have found that since I have been able to take more control of what I learn and how I learn it I have enjoyed it more. This is indeed a unique approach to history. But another strong point of this class and the second point of my evaluation is that we don’t just learn history but also computing concepts.
Since entering the class I have learned more about things that used to be simply a foreign language to me. Algorithms, bytes, programming, source software, all these things used to be a total mystery to me. I am not illiterate at the computer but many of these things are very new to me. One of my favorite conversations has been that of the free software movement. It spurred a lot of excellent conversation and caused me to learn more about a topic I had no idea was even on the table. After learning what open software is and what the movement is about I researched it further, specifically the economic implications. I wrote a blog about it and actually had fun! I also found our conversations about algorithms very fascinating. Finally I know what that means. But then I thought it was really neat to connect that to the idea of the new scientific method. My ideas on the subject were expressed in a comment on Dr. Zappala’s blog post: Algorithms and Truth. There have been a number of other computing concepts that made a perfect connection with the history we are studying and I would never have thought to make that kind of connection.
Lastly I will reflect on how well I have done in taking control of my learning. I will address this in three parts: how I have consumed, created, and connected. I think that there have been evidences of all three of these ideas in my reflection already but I will be more specific here.
Consume: I love that I am learning new tools for learning. Diigo for example will be an amazing tool for me to use for the rest of my college career. I stretched myself to learn new search methods. I found a few amazing sources which I reported on in my blog. The ability to consume was enhanced by Professor Burton’s blog post on how to not use google. I have been consuming in ways I have never done before. As I said before I have never kept or followed blogs before. I have never seen social networks as feasible means for obtaining knowledge. I have learned other ways to consume through the connections I made on my blog (I will talk about connect later). For example I learned about Jing from Kristi’s blog. All these new tools have allowed me to consume information from many more sources than I had previously thought were available. This will no doubt be useful to my education in the ensuing years.
Create: This one has been fun. I have always loved to use garage band and i-movie and other creative software. But one new aspect to my creativity has been soundcloud. This website allows me to share my original music on the web really easily. I am so excited. After finding this website I began recording new songs with my sister that I plan on putting on soundcloud. Also there is no doubt that I will use a pretzi in the future as a more creative alternative to power point. The first time I saw it in class I thought it was the coolest presentation tool I have ever seen. Also I have enjoyed using different types of media to respond to concepts learned in class. Posting videos and music is totally kosher on our blogs and I love that. I look forward to doing a lot more creating.
Connect: what is the point of creating if there is no connecting with others. I am pretty sure there is already a strong undercurrent of connection all throughout my reflection. But this has been the most interesting part of the class for me. As I said before I have been finding amazing enlightenment as I read my peers blogs as well as search for other people’s blogs on various subjects. And i love commenting on other's blog posts as i have here. Or responding on my own blog to others' comments as I have here (i was "puddin head" at this point). It brings the conversation in class to a much broader stage. Also learning about diigo will make future research so much easier. And still the line that I have been pondering the most from this class is one said by professor Burton which goes something like this: “social networking will be the most powerful means of obtaining knowledge, mark my words”. So I guess with in our digital world if you aren’t ahead you are falling behind and staying connected is the best way to stay up.
The class is barely a quarter finished and already I feel very satisfied with what I have learned already mostly because of the applicability of all we learn. I look forward to the rest of the class with excitement.
No comments:
Post a Comment