In the night, I was thinking about reflection in a public forum like a blog. Does it mean that people might leave out a large chunk of the reflection their learning so as not to appear whiney or angry? Could it in the end just turn into a chronological list of tasks completed; devoid of an authentic context? How much of this is about concerns related to others' perceptions of us? I set up my blog not to be harvested by Google, but in the end that is irrelevant - it is still a fully public document. By contrast, on the course site we are talking in class and it is never read or used by others or for other purposes. (at least theoretically).
It is probably only me who gets concerned about these aspects, (too old and used to more privacy) and that is the other bit of blogging that concerns me... do we get too focused on ourselves in this process and does it encourage too much introspection and not enough active participation and knowledge content acquisition? One thing I can see for sure, for me this course will certainly use up all the hours expected from us in terms of expected amount of time invested.
Engaging with the technology certainly took some of that allocated time this first week. Although Wayne has explained the importance of iframes to permit more people to have access to the content, it seems that that has reduced the experience for everybody. Where is the balance between providing some form of access for all and using device agnostic technology solutions? Also, from my tiny first look at WikiEducator, itseems to use java and cookies and other bits and pieces so that use of the iPad to interact with it becomes an exercise in frustration.
Recording these thoughts now should allow me to move forward, coming back from time to time in the next weeks to answer some of my own questions as we learn more about the way that the course is intended to operate, and understand more of the theory that underpins these practices.
Not listening to any music right now...
Hi Lyndsay,
ReplyDeleteExcellent reflections and I commend your candid and public posting of these views.
The use of a public blog on this course is intentional -- and you're right, a large chunk of learner reflections will not be published on the blogs and that's fine -- it's the discipline of writing for a public audience that's important here. The course discussion forums are intended for more "closed" discussion within the EDEM630 2013 cohort - -so there are multiple avenues for interaction and reflection.
Given that this is a course about change with digital technology we have also purposefully integrated pedagogical approaches and technologies which the majority of learners will be experiencing for the first time - -which will hopefully contribute to a more authentic learning experience.
The iPad challenges are interesting given that the technology uses a number of closed protocols. In the context of widening access to education the question of equity needs to be considered -- i.e should we restrict access to learning for those who choose not to use closed technology or can't afford it?
Lots to think about -- and great blog post!