learning , resources and tools
Think about your own learning – the resources and tools you use, where and when it takes place
What is your experience of being a learner?
I consider myself to be an open practitioner, and by the same vein an ‘open’ learner. I think the whole idea of being able to learn in an open and honest way suits my learning style and personality. I think this may have had something to do with the fact that I have been brought up on distance learning. I prefer being able to direct my own learning and much prefer to be able to do this at my own pace although this is inevitably not quite as flexible as I would like. I also think I am quite a bit of a social learner and the advances in technology have really helped me interact and engage with others.
What tools and resources do you use? What are your views on different technologies?
I tend to be a bit of a tool and resources butterfly … I tend to flit around using new tools as I come across them. Some I settle on and stick with such as wordpress for blogging and twitter for microblogging but others I have to revisit a number of times before I really get used to using them. I cant quite get a handle on what makes me engage with a particular tool yet though but I have a feeling it might have something to do with a) ease of use b) cost and c) how pretty it looks ! That probably sounds fairly shallow …
Can you think of examples where technology has made a significant difference to the way you learn?
I think blogging has probably had the most major impact. I’ve been blogging now for just over 18 months and I think it has really enhanced my reflective thinking skills as well as improving my connections with like minded people.
Can you think of counter-examples where you had a bad experience of a particular technology ? What did this do to your motivation for learning?
Yep I used a particular VLE on a short online course at work towards the end of the year. I just didn’t get on with it. I was really surprised as having had quite a deal of experience with online learning I really wasnt prepared for the impact that the VLE would have on me. I found that the desktop version was cumbersome, really difficult to navigate , full of technological quirks that were quite frustrating to overcome and above all quite boring. This really affected my motivation to engage with the course. I did find though once I stumbled across the mobile app ( by accident) this did work much better and consequently improved my motivation and engagement with the course …
How did you deal with the situation?
I guess I dealt with it by searching out possible solutions – hence looking for and finding the mobile app. I suppose I also did rather a lot of moaning and complaining inwardly and in some cases outwardly ( which did give me an awful lot of material to reflect on ! )
You have already sketched an outline of your own Personal Learning Environment in Weeks 21/22. We want you to return to this now, but this time we want you to explore how you might articulate and represent your learning experience and environment.
My blog post on my PLE is here … I’ll be revisiting this shortly ….
One response
Hi Deb.
I think your criteria (ease of use, cost, how it looks) are not shallow at all. I’d say that that is pretty much the exact same criteria as our students would list if asked.
Wayne