End of Semester Blog Reflection

My former blogs revealed a level of insecurity about myself and my abilities that I plan to address right now, and that will hopefully dissipate over time.

When I started this course I was eager but didn’t know what to expect. Over the course of the first few units I learned that the course structure helped me to build confidence through scaffolded learning. This approach has been very effective for my particular learning style. There were, however, a few touchy areas that ended up being big learning opportunities.

· Connect – I don’t know why it intimidated me so. I had never used anything like it and now, it’s kind of a piece of cake. Just getting to the point where I could use Connect was stressful because I didn’t have the correct microphone and had a wireless connection that caused lots of problems. Once I resolved these and began to work with Connect 2X weekly for our webinar prep, it became very easy. I also learned that technology issues aren’t necessarily my fault. They happen. You can do lots of advance planning to anticipate problems but despite this, s*&t happens.

· CIVS – The CIVS overlap with Horton and Kolb so there’s a lot of information and theory intertwined. I have come to appreciate the CIVs but I haven’t mastered them as well as I could/should. I think that I need to create a grid or something that will help me to physically experience the overlap. Incorporating, or at least considering, the CIVs in all learning activities is also very important. They provide a nice guideline and really help me to redirect/realign my focus. The CIVS intimidated me before but since they are not completely theory based, and serve as guidelines for actual Do activities (make sense?), I feel that they are well worth investing as much time as is needed.

· The Edweb proposal is something that I’ve not touched on in a blog but it’s been a great activity. When I first reviewed the Edweb proposal, I got a panic attack. How could I possibly develop that level of detail! I obsessed over it, and then attacked it. My strategy was to spend a couple of hours in the early morning with my course open, printed resources available, and a cup of coffee. This over the course of many days helped me to buckle down and tackle the job when my mind was clear and rested. Knowing that the Edweb proposal is the basis for what I will need to graduate made this a very important and serious activity. When suggested revisions were returned to me, I half expected that Jackie or Patrick would comment “you’ve got to be kidding”, however, with the positive comments that I received, this proposal has become my friend, rather than my nemesis.

So, I’ve learned some big things and have greatly matured as a student. I can definitely see this reflected over the course of my blogs.