I am attempting to see if I get this right. I am reading through David's blog for the course https://netgl.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/week-1-me-and-networked-and-global-learning-ngl/#feedly, trying to make sense of what I am supposed to be doing. So apologies for the late start and setting up my blog, but it has taken me several weeks to wrap my head around all of this. For some of you, this blogging, twittering, Facebooking (alright so I know the basics of Facebook, I just don't like using it!), comes naturally to you all. For me, I give it a red hot go, but it all is too time consuming, and to be honest, I don't think anyone is concerned with what I have to say about what I had for breakfast (bacon and eggs), what I did on the weekend (watched my children play and studied) or what I think about current events (Go Sarah Harris for hitting back against weirdo mum critics http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3199014/Sarah-Harris-hits-critics-scrutinising-drinking-coffee-wearing-stilettos-bleaching-hair-pregnancy.html )!!!
Soooooo, blogging for assessment in my Masters is quite frankly frightening to say the least. So I will apologise in advance if my blogs are just streams of consciousness and me fumbling all around the place trying to make sense of my digital world. This could be messy, funny (or painful) for whoever reads this and excruciating for me. BUT ..... I signed up to this course because I wanted to learn how to do this (Networked and/or Global Learning), and I knew that it would entail some form of ACTUAL Networked and Global Learning. I do learn best through doing, and like most, my best learning has come out of some of my biggest mistakes, so here goes.
So how does Networked and Global Learning 'fit in' to my life as a student, learner and teacher, and why on earth would a technophobe want anything to do with a course called Networked and Global Learning N&GL?
As a student in my Masters of Education I have had some experience of N&GL before. I have investigated 21st Century Learning, Digital Badges, MOOCs and all that comes with those topics. These topics are not necessarily N&GL but most of my learning on these topics started to open my eyes up to what skills and knowledge is/are required to be an effective N&GL. Learning about 21st Century Learning in particular opened my eyes to what skills my students should have to be effective Lifelong Learners. Some of these skills were lacking in me also. If you go to the link 21st Century Learning
above (Bilisim Teknolojileri, Mar 22 2013), it explains some of the key skills required for 21st Century Learning. One of those key skills is to have media literacy. Something I am working on now in this course I think.
As a learner, I do believe that I use N&GL to inform a whole range of informal learning opportunities for me. I am an avid Pinterest user, and I do use this to learn a whole range of different things, or more so to inform my husband of how to build something :) I actually have followers of pins that I have posted and this is probably as far as I have gone in the N&GL environment before. I have recently signed up to Twitter @rshields05 if you are interested. I had to learn how to do this for work purposes. What I have to post is again riveting.... not. Do I learn informally through N&GL, yes absolutely. Who doesn't love to learn how to sing "Somewhere over the rainbow" on Youtube to teach your 6 year old son who has ASD how to sing? What about my awesome savoury muffin recipe that I recently made for my sister-in-laws baby shower, I highly recommend them.
As a teacher, I use N&GL somewhat, but I am hoping that I will use it more, or learn how to use it appropriately more. I do think that working in a Higher Education institution does limit this somewhat, however not as much as working in a high school. This is discussed in Week One of N&GL course when we look at Bonzo and Parchoma (2010). I agree with the notion that there is this strange paradox between what is expected by our employer in regards to social media usage, online learning and what this means, and what the student is expecting as a consumer of education, a user of social media and ultimately ... time poor. I myself am a student and a lecturer and as a student I don't want to hunt around in fifty billion different places for my information on what I need to do and how I have to do it to complete my studies. As a lecturer who is also time poor, I am constrained by what I am allowed to do in regards to how I present my course content to my students, how to contact them, whether I can do this via social media etc etc etc. The constant struggle and strains continue on. The message that I get is that I can use Moodle and email and some other Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning, but Facebook, Twitter, Blogs etc are not used unless vetted and approved first. Kind of takes the whole N&GL feel out of the learning and teaching doesn't it?
Have I done it right???
So if you are still with me and haven't fallen asleep or injured yourself because the thought of reading one more word upsets you, then I am hoping I have started to answer the questions and spoken about what I needed to speak about. If not, then feel free to kindly post your comments below to what I have been rambling about.
Soooooo, blogging for assessment in my Masters is quite frankly frightening to say the least. So I will apologise in advance if my blogs are just streams of consciousness and me fumbling all around the place trying to make sense of my digital world. This could be messy, funny (or painful) for whoever reads this and excruciating for me. BUT ..... I signed up to this course because I wanted to learn how to do this (Networked and/or Global Learning), and I knew that it would entail some form of ACTUAL Networked and Global Learning. I do learn best through doing, and like most, my best learning has come out of some of my biggest mistakes, so here goes.
So how does Networked and Global Learning 'fit in' to my life as a student, learner and teacher, and why on earth would a technophobe want anything to do with a course called Networked and Global Learning N&GL?
As a student in my Masters of Education I have had some experience of N&GL before. I have investigated 21st Century Learning, Digital Badges, MOOCs and all that comes with those topics. These topics are not necessarily N&GL but most of my learning on these topics started to open my eyes up to what skills and knowledge is/are required to be an effective N&GL. Learning about 21st Century Learning in particular opened my eyes to what skills my students should have to be effective Lifelong Learners. Some of these skills were lacking in me also. If you go to the link 21st Century Learning
above (Bilisim Teknolojileri, Mar 22 2013), it explains some of the key skills required for 21st Century Learning. One of those key skills is to have media literacy. Something I am working on now in this course I think.
As a learner, I do believe that I use N&GL to inform a whole range of informal learning opportunities for me. I am an avid Pinterest user, and I do use this to learn a whole range of different things, or more so to inform my husband of how to build something :) I actually have followers of pins that I have posted and this is probably as far as I have gone in the N&GL environment before. I have recently signed up to Twitter @rshields05 if you are interested. I had to learn how to do this for work purposes. What I have to post is again riveting.... not. Do I learn informally through N&GL, yes absolutely. Who doesn't love to learn how to sing "Somewhere over the rainbow" on Youtube to teach your 6 year old son who has ASD how to sing? What about my awesome savoury muffin recipe that I recently made for my sister-in-laws baby shower, I highly recommend them.
As a teacher, I use N&GL somewhat, but I am hoping that I will use it more, or learn how to use it appropriately more. I do think that working in a Higher Education institution does limit this somewhat, however not as much as working in a high school. This is discussed in Week One of N&GL course when we look at Bonzo and Parchoma (2010). I agree with the notion that there is this strange paradox between what is expected by our employer in regards to social media usage, online learning and what this means, and what the student is expecting as a consumer of education, a user of social media and ultimately ... time poor. I myself am a student and a lecturer and as a student I don't want to hunt around in fifty billion different places for my information on what I need to do and how I have to do it to complete my studies. As a lecturer who is also time poor, I am constrained by what I am allowed to do in regards to how I present my course content to my students, how to contact them, whether I can do this via social media etc etc etc. The constant struggle and strains continue on. The message that I get is that I can use Moodle and email and some other Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning, but Facebook, Twitter, Blogs etc are not used unless vetted and approved first. Kind of takes the whole N&GL feel out of the learning and teaching doesn't it?
Have I done it right???
So if you are still with me and haven't fallen asleep or injured yourself because the thought of reading one more word upsets you, then I am hoping I have started to answer the questions and spoken about what I needed to speak about. If not, then feel free to kindly post your comments below to what I have been rambling about.