Module One- Starting!

So!

Today was my first self-agreed ‘slot’ for trying to make progress with my BAPP Module One and I had absolutely no idea where to start- and in a way I still don’t. So in this instance I turned to my Module handbook…

Do I now know what I’m supposed to be doing? No

Well yes and No.

I’m actually going to start this section by referring to pages 43-45 of the handbook, -The Theoretical Concept-Learning Cycles- and say that I don’t think I always ‘enter the learning cycle’ at the same point but I often enter through

*ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION*- a process of “trial and error”. I came to this conclusion based on my approach to the Module Handbook. Now last week I had a brief look through this handbook in what might be considered a ‘logical format’ starting at the beginning and working through. (Perhaps I didn’t equip myself with the best mindset before starting as I had already done a lot of the week one associated activities prior and my brain was already in overload) So no surprise, I got a fair way in and gave up. I couldn’t do any more! The biggest disappointment in this is I still didn’t feel I had any idea of what I was supposed to do. I like answers…. This course is not about answers!

Today in my search for answers I started at what I felt might be the fastest point to getting an answer, the ‘Getting Started on the ACI3611 Module One’ Section, I mean surely If there were to be instructions on what to do they would be there, right? Well actually I lied, this is where I intended to start but in actual fact I got distracted whilst turning to that page and actually ended up flicking my way backwards through the handbook as things jumped out at me. This also meant I got hugely distracted as I went… Just a side note, I wouldn’t recommend reading in my seemingly random order as you just realise that you’ve missed things and then inevitably get side-tracked! On the other hand, I know I’ve ticked a lot off today. I requested two of the books on the reading list get sent out to me, I opened and installed a RefWorks account, I’ve caught up on lots of Blogs and eventually I progressed with the Handbook!

I had so much to say about what I had eventually read today, Lens 1 and 2 but throughout the process of writing this far too lengthy blog I seemed to have forgotten so much of it so I will turn to picking out the main topics that stood out to me:

1.’Not seeing a community as a group of people who all agree with each other’- Particularly applicable to these series of blogs. I didn’t understand how I was meant to comment on other peoples blogs when we all pretty much stated the same things about our initial Skype Experience (a community agreeing with each other) , but now having read only a few of the conceptualised ideas within the handbook, and realising how much I don’t know, I can see the real benefit of engaging in conversation with others to further expand the level of understanding of concepts and to provoke each other into considering things from different perspectives.

2. The Mark Zuckerburg concept that he thinks ‘connectivity is a basic human right’– (the implications are that he is referring to web connectivity) this concept is one I definitely wish to return too as there are so many ethical considerations and I definitely think the Web literate culture have and continue to shape the ‘culture’ and progression of the Web which further excludes those who currently have no access to this ‘basic human right’.

3.MOOC’s- Now I haven’t fully looked into this but this looks like a really great resource both in general life but also in aiding this course. I signed up to audit a “Leaders of Learning” course as I think a huge part of this course is understanding the concept of learning…. Again this is definitely another example of the earlier mentioned ‘active experimental’ starting point in the learning cycle as realistically I have very little idea of what I’ve signed up to!

4. David Kolb’s Cycle of learning- I’d never considered learning to be a cycle but when you consider it, it seems obvious that it must be as you ‘never stop learning’… or do you- Alzheimer’s and regressive disease? – but then to consider where you yourself naturally start that cycle is really interesting. Although this course is obviously not related to Alzheimer’s/other such illness or research I really wonder if they have considered this ‘learning cycle’ in their research towards it and if there’s a way to apply it to the development of such disease, or even if it holds some kind of answer to/in preventing the regression.

So I’m going to conclude with the concept that I treat my brain a bit like a Web browser, I open endless numbers of Tabs, in a whole range of topics…and then leave those tabs running until I eventually get time to go back and devote some time to fully understanding them!

It’s a bit of a jumbled mess, much like this blog, my approach thus far to the Module, and probably a few blogs to come!

But ‘Understanding what you don’t know is important because it is the first stage of learning’…

And on that note if anyone wants to explain the actual process of ‘Citing a theory/page’ to me it would be very much appreciated as I’m sure I should have Cited much of this blog…..

Thanks,

Lorien