Module 1, Campus Session 2, The Reflective Practioner.

Another great campus session, I really recommend to everyone that if at all possible try and make some of the sessions as they are a great help and opportunity to get your ideas into perspective.

We had a look at how we see ourselves and how others perceive us.it was very interesting and a tool that through good reflection we can really get to grips with.

We spent some time going through the different learning cycles and ideas of Kolb, Gardner, Honey and Mumford. For me the main points I focused on at the session were...

• Kolb - That his cycle is a tool to help us unlock our learning experience, allowing us better to reflect on all aspects of our experience.
• Gardner - Showed me that I may have a strength in one specific way of learning but that I also draw on other aspects of the learning genres.
• Honey & Mumford - That there is no right or wrong and that everyone is different.

The concept that the cycles can happen simultaneously and that we can go through them several times in one learning experience was key to me and will certainly have an impact on my thought process when writing my journal.

The session really did help me to see that there is no right or wrong way to go about our journals, just be honest and open and we really will start to see some results :)

The Reflective Practioner/Personal Journal???

Well this has all got me in a bit off a tizzy!!! I didn't realise just quite how much I needed structure to learn!!! this is something I am definitely going to have to reflect on about myself.

The fear I feel about getting this whole journal thing wrong was eye opening to me. I decided to just get on with it and have actually been enjoying the whole process, but still with that nagging thought at the back of my mind that I might not be doing it right!!!

My journal has taken form as a written piece but i have made use of different colours to express my different moods and thoughts. I've noticed a tendency to grab for the red pen alot to express anger and frustration. I'm hoping that over time this whole experience will help me understand myself and maybe give me the tools i need to approach things for a more positive outcome and the red pen can spend a bit more time in the draw. I'll keep you posted on how i get on with this :)

Writing Exercise 23/10/12

At the writing workshop we went through a whole process of writing and re-writing to come up with a final piece, it was a great experience.

Peter asked us to write about a performance that we had seen,

• Firstly we had to brain storm some ideas.
• Then we had to find themes amongst our brainstorming and generate a piece of free writing, this involved just putting pen to paper. no hesitations and no stopping!!! 
• Then we had to read it back and have another go at free writing...
• Only then did we put pen to paper with the intention of someone else reading it as a final draft.

My work changed dramatically over this process. I have to say that the final piece is so much better than my first draft.

I will share with you my first and last draft so you can see the difference the process made and hopefully get some feedback from peter himself, the first draft was meant to be for my eyes only but I'd like to be able to share with you just how much difference the process made :)

1st Draft....

Starting with the positives as i have picked a kids production, the performance certainly had the argh factor, the children certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and at times the visuals were great. on the other hand from the audiences point of view although we all know the plot it was at times hard to follow and to be honest just a tad dated. the story is so overdone and could have benefited from a lot more preparation and attention to detail. The volume issues were typical of any school play but could of easily been addressed.The whole performance was far to long and there was a definite show of conflict which only comes from to many directorial influences. the spacing made it hard to follow. i suggest that next time they pay more attention to the children's strengths and use a bit of innovation.

Final draft...

After yet another evening spent watching a group of primary school children's rendition of Oliver, I have to say...Is it not time that the school play as we all know and love it is dragged kicking and screaming into the modern day. Over the last ten years the importance of the arts in education has most certainly been acknowledged, so why are we not yet doing more to impliment it and reap the benifits that it can provide. With just a little more thought, time and innovation we could certainly make a huge difference to the children's experience and learning. In turn also relieve that element of 'Oh no not again!' that goes hand in hand with the obligatory tear in every parents eye.

Writing Workshop 23/10/2012

I'm a little behind as have has a couple of manic weeks but still wanted to blog about this as I found it a really useful session and it certainly helped put to rest some of the fears I have about academic writing.

Peter Thomas was very easy to talk to and had a great way of explaining to us what was expected, he runs one to one sessions either in person or by phone etc, I'll list below the ways he gave us to contact him for those of you that missed it...

p.thomas@mdx.ac.uk    awl@mdx.ac.uk    http://tiny.cc/ldubooking

Also Paula has put up a video thatwas made on the day which is great http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nweh7Fi4zRI&feature=plcp

Hope this may help some of you :)

Module 1 - Task 1d

Due to the nature of my work as a teacher I am unable to publish photo's of the children in my classes so I thought I would share with you my other work of art my daughter :)

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCqrG1Y

Module 1 - Task 1c

Just awaiting the arrival of my webcam so will get my video up by the end of the weekend :)

Module 1 - Task 1b

Professional Communication Technologies - My thoughts....

Web 2.0???????? I add so many question marks because before enrolling on the course it was a completely alien term to me, and if I'm honest one I think that I may of actually never heard before!!

After studying The Reader for this part of the module and several other related texts I can't believe that I was so blissfully unaware of something that plays a huge part in today's social and economic structure. I mean sure I have a facebook account (who doesn't?) but I never really thought about what it really does and more importantly what it and other web 2.0 platforms enables us to do.

I've realised that web 2.0 is not just a medium but a huge platform. A world where the reader becomes the creator, and as someone with a lot to say I cant believe I've not been making the most of this amazing technology.

Tim O'Reilly the originator of what defines web 2.0 states that 'Web 2.0 is changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators' and i couldn't agree more. The whole platform is so changed from the technological world I grew up in and I can now see just what an effect it has had on day to day life without us even realising it.

Web 2.0 for me is a great symbol of democracy, where the users contribution is key 'The Wisdom of the Crowd' where collective intelligence is the key to market domination and rightly so :)

A new world has been created where we the audience can decide what is important, with access to the Internet and these platforms now being so much more accessible it means that traditional barriers have been dropped. We have moved from a world where designated people get to share and dictate there opinions. To one where many people can share, discuss and develop ideas and opinions together on a huge scale that would never before have been possible.

With key features such as perpetual beta we as consumers are never left behind, in fact the Bruns idea of 'Produsage' for me is key, Everyone gets to produce the knowledge and we all get to consume it. This collaboration and continuous building of existing content is a great pursuit for further improvement.

The 'Innovation of Assembly' where information that is already there and available is collated and used in novel and effective ways opens up the accessibility even more and makes for a lot more informative and interesting pursuits.

The whole time is was kicking my self for socially and professionally not embracing this technological revolution already a few alarm bells were starting to signal...is it all the go to be true???

In my capacity as a teacher I can see several drawbacks. 'Contructivism' where the emphasis on learning shifts from the teacher to the student although has many advantages I don't think we are anywhere near ready to give up the roles of teachers, where students are drawing many advantages from the self learning that web 2.0 opens up to them the teachers role as moderator is one that becomes more important than ever.

The drawback for produsage is that it is more that easy to sow the seed of mis and disinformation. One persons or group of peoples thoughts may be misinterpreted or misunderstood by others.

The vast range of literacies used on the web now mean that it is not only a matter of knowing how to read and write but applying the knowledge needed to understand the new literacies for specific purposes in specific contexts of use.

I have read briefly on Grubers theory of 'Collective Knowledge' where the social web meets the semantic web. to me this sounds like a perfect step forward where we all still get the great advantages brought to us from web 2.0 applications but the semantic webs steps into to somewhat structure and organise what we have put there...roll on the production of web 3.0!!!! I'll certainly be reading more into this.

I would like to end with a little bit of thought to Bruns term 'Generation C' I'm not anti web 2.0 by any means but the new relatively found love and use of communication technologies has led to a strong following and a new way in which we live our daily lives and perform our interaction could he be right in saying that 'As Generation C, whose creative engagement in context development will lead to a casual collapse , the on going demise of many beliefs, rituals, formal requirements and laws modern societies have held dear.'

Module 1 - Task 1a...

Right...the dreaded C.V, after much deliberation, idea stealing (checking out everyone else's efforts) and re-writing of my formal C.V I have decided that that an informal approach is best suited to this forum at this time :)

So please check out my About Me section for the low down.

I can see why this is a work in progress, I am already on this course not only acquiring skills to add to my C.V but my ideas of what makes me a professional and how to practice this and put myself across especially in this communication technology age are certainly developing.

I'm pleased to say the technophobe in my is slowly dying :)

Web 2.0???

Hey all,

Had a great time in Milan :)

Am spending my day learning my way around web 2.0 today so i can crack on with the tasks set in module 1.

Am also teaching a new musical theatre class today, bit scared as it turns out there are 50 children wanting to come and give it a go!!!!!! and im sure most of them could teach me a thing or two about social networking!

Wish me luck, i think i'll need it ;)