Well it is with a figurative tear in my eye that I write this, my final reflective blog post. I looked back on my first blog post “we are no longer the center of the universe” wherein I concluded the internet and the ptolemic model of the universe both make us realize our place in the world is not as high as it once was. And I feel after a full semester and nearly 50 or so posts that I am now even smaller in this huge digital universe. But because of this class I also feel empowered and ready to take on my education like I never have before. Here I will reflect one last time how I met the learning outcomes for this class.
Historical content: This one is easy. I began my posts in this class with a little emphasis on history but more on computing concepts or things relatively unconnected to the historical content. But after my first interview with dr. burton I really stepped up my historical blogging. And since then I have tried hard to make nearly all my blog posts about the historical content and make them meaningful connections. A good example of this is how I connected the industrial revolution to China’s industrial revolution of today and vice versa. Or another example is when I reflected on the connections between einstein’s theory of relativity and his historical context of modernism. I found that by really cranking down and trying to find meaningful sources about the topic and connecting it to things that I find interesting, I internalized the historical significance better. I have said it before and I will say it again, because of this method of learning history I not only remember what happened but I also can understand better the significance of it. I can see why it matters now and where its influence still exists today. I guess you could say that this in itself is another learning outcome: self-directed learning. Because I am in control of how I learn the historical content I really care about it. In the end, I now have a love of history that I did not have before. This is one of my biggest take-aways from this class.
Computing concepts and digital literacy: I have shown great improvement in this area as well. I was thinking back to the beginning of the class and at that time I didn’t even know how to embed a video anywhere. I think about that now and I am appalled at such illiteracy. This class has got me excited about finding and using new tools both to make my life easier and to connect to the world at large. My latest tool that I have been using is google voice. It started out as just a digital literacy lab but I haven’t stopped using it. Another great tool I found to both consume and connect is sound cloud. I used this site to get music for my final project as well as shared my own music with others. Also I tried to show a variety of blog post types. I feel I was somewhat successful here. My posts ranged from book reviews to short movie clips to my own thoughts on a random point. I think the long and the short of this aspect is that just like the people who most effectively used the printing press gained power and influence, so too can I gain leverage in this world through simple understanding and maybe mastery of new communication and creative tools. Regardless of whether or not I continue to blog I will continue to search out and use new digital tools.
Self-directed learning: This one is my favorite point of the class. I feel strongly that I have taken control of my learning throughout this class, both in historical content and computing concepts. Everyday as I was reading the assigned readings I would look for a specific aspect that was interesting to me or for a specific connection to an area of interest of mine. By doing this my ensuing research was much richer and what I found was a lot more meaningful to me. A good example is my post on keynsian economics. Being an econ major I was very excited while writing this one. another example is my thoughts on evolution. I was passionate about the lds view of evolution and what that means to me and so I explored that idea a little further and ended up having a great online conversation with a classmate about it. Other times I researched things that I just didn’t know that much about. For example I didn’t know much about Freudian psychology at all and so I learned more about it and posted about the Id, Ego, and Superego. It was very fulfilling. Because I took control of my learning the content came alive to me. It wasn’t just dead on the paper pages of a text book that I am forced to read. It was so much better this way.
The area I need to improve most upon is connecting. I need to do more to share my knowledge with the world at large and share my creations. This class has given me a starting point and a direction to go and now I really need to make sure that I connect as much as possible for the rest of my learning. I cannot forget these principles.
I think my experience in this class can be summed up by what a Jeff Whitlock said on the video I made when he said “I no longer look to just bank information into myself to become more valuable. Instead say let me learn something so I can share it with someone else and in turn learn from them”. that will be my new thesis for learning. I look ahead to the rest of my education and I want to learn so that I can learn something and not just get a grade. And even after I graduate I want to always be learning and connecting with other people. I feel like I am really ahead of the curve now having taken this class. I know I can be successful in any capacity if I try and utilize the principles I learned in this class. And so, goodbye digital civilization, and hello world…
No comments:
Post a Comment