Assignment for School
Posted on: September 28, 2010
How has your digital literacy assisted your self-directed learning in the subject areas of this course?
Thankfully, though I joined this course late, I felt somewhat digitally competent before I joined. I was already using some online tools before this class and have started using many others. My husband is auditing the course and we share notes via dropbox and then talk about the class over dinner. I started using dropbox at his suggestion at the beginning of the semester and now I’ve got a handle on it and use it to store a lot of my documents in the cloud. At Sarah Wills suggestion I started using quizlet.com to study the major concepts for the exam; I shared my flashcards for the computing concepts section on my twitter account. I’ve also used google blog search to research topics that will be discussed in the next class. That’s how I found material to prepare for today’s class on emerging markets.
How has your creation of blog posts and digital media impacted your learning?
Creating blog posts within the parameters of the class has really forced me to be creative in how I present what I’m learning. Because I kept a blog before, I am used to writing what I’m thinking with the aim of keeping my readers’ attention. The class requires me to stick within a subject (though it is a broad one) and to post more frequently. It has been a challenge to synthesize what I’m learning in a way that will be interesting to those I know keep up with my blog. One of the posts I believe did this especially well was about the shift from scrolls to books to online books. I’ve also started a Twitter account. I can share what I’m learning in mini form and send questions out hoping for feedback
How have you connected with other class members and with the general public in these areas?
I’ve enjoyed being able to see how other classmates are thinking about the class and adding my thoughts to theirs by commenting on their blogs and diigo bookmarks. My husband and I talk about the class all the time and often get into conversations with other’s about things we’ve talked about in class. Because he is more immersed in the digital world with his job, he has explained several of the computing concepts to me. In turn, I share my knowledge of the texts we read with him, since I’ve read some of them previously in literature classes.
Last Sunday we were invited to dinner and had a long discussion with friends about open software and Apple versus PC. It was an impassioned debate and fun to see how important the issues are that we’re learning about. I find this class creeping up often in my conversations with others and even on my facebook status.
Bri Colorful 