Objective: A concept that resonated with me when reading Elizabeth Buckley’s writings on promoting synergy between motivation and active learning (Chapter 4) is that she suggests that “tasks must be sufficiently difficult to pose a challenge, but not so difficult as to destroy the willingness to try”.
Reflective: When I reflect on the above statement it makes sense that we not present students with assignments that are beyond their capacity, but also not so simple as to be cast aside as boring or childish. We should present more simple assignments to first year students in order for them to build up their understanding and expertise in the subject matter before we present them with multi-dimensional assignments.
So I relate the aforementioned theory to the “Instructional Strategies Blog” assignment that we are required to complete in this class. The Blog is my challenge. I am not particularly technologically savvy. I can surf the web, text my friends and create documents (Word, Excel, Ppt). I have a Facebook account (which I barely use), and one of my colleagues once taught me how to set up a Twitter account (however I have never found the necessity to tweet to my following (of 2 people)). In PIDP 3100, I created a Blog, it made me nervous but I managed to get through the assignment (thanks to YouTube!). I have not touched my blog since, but now I am revisiting my blog, and again I feel anxious. But, I know that once I get a few postings under my belt, that I will feel relieved and proud of my accomplishments. So I sit in this space, between anxiety and excitement. The space where I know I will need to spend some time watching You Tube tutorial videos before I awkwardly try to build text and image boxes and figure out how to wrap text around images and create hyperlinks to interesting articles.
Interpretive: When I saw the course schedule and the assignments due in this class I sighed. The task of writing blogs for me causes anxiety. As a product of Generation X, computers were just being introduced when I went to University. Term papers were written and submitted in hard paper copies. You bought (real) books (made of real paper) and marked them up with highlighters in wrote notes in the margin. I prefer to read paper books. I buy and read real newspapers (not online versions). My personal preference sits in the material world, not the digital one. Over the past 20 years, I have learnt to effectively use technology in order to work in our increasingly “connected” society – this included writing and creating reports and presentations, and corresponding with colleagues around the world. I have a moderate comfort with the things that I know how to use. But I decidedly feel uncomfortable and a little anxious at the idea of upgrading my (very outdated) Blackberry Bold to the newest iPhone, or upgrading to MS Office 10. I don’t really like change, but I don’t want to get left behind. I want to learn but I don’t want to feel awkward and out-of-date. I don’t want this assignment to “beat me”, I want to show it that I can figure this thing out. And when I do, I’ll be proud that I did.
Decisional: I reflect on how I felt when I saw the list of assignments due for this course. I think of the trepidation with which I have revisited my Blog. I think of how awkward I feel in this medium, and I relate it to how my students feel when I give them an assignment that makes them tremble in their boots. I want to make sure that when I give an assignment to my students on a subject matter that is new to them that I make sure they have the tools that they need to complete it. Much like Doug has provided a section in the Moodle course material where I can go and research “Blogs Explained” and “How to start your blog”, I want to make sure that I provide my students with sufficient tools for them to feel they believe that they are sufficiently challenged, but not overwhelmed.
Reflective: When I reflect on the above statement it makes sense that we not present students with assignments that are beyond their capacity, but also not so simple as to be cast aside as boring or childish. We should present more simple assignments to first year students in order for them to build up their understanding and expertise in the subject matter before we present them with multi-dimensional assignments.
So I relate the aforementioned theory to the “Instructional Strategies Blog” assignment that we are required to complete in this class. The Blog is my challenge. I am not particularly technologically savvy. I can surf the web, text my friends and create documents (Word, Excel, Ppt). I have a Facebook account (which I barely use), and one of my colleagues once taught me how to set up a Twitter account (however I have never found the necessity to tweet to my following (of 2 people)). In PIDP 3100, I created a Blog, it made me nervous but I managed to get through the assignment (thanks to YouTube!). I have not touched my blog since, but now I am revisiting my blog, and again I feel anxious. But, I know that once I get a few postings under my belt, that I will feel relieved and proud of my accomplishments. So I sit in this space, between anxiety and excitement. The space where I know I will need to spend some time watching You Tube tutorial videos before I awkwardly try to build text and image boxes and figure out how to wrap text around images and create hyperlinks to interesting articles.
Interpretive: When I saw the course schedule and the assignments due in this class I sighed. The task of writing blogs for me causes anxiety. As a product of Generation X, computers were just being introduced when I went to University. Term papers were written and submitted in hard paper copies. You bought (real) books (made of real paper) and marked them up with highlighters in wrote notes in the margin. I prefer to read paper books. I buy and read real newspapers (not online versions). My personal preference sits in the material world, not the digital one. Over the past 20 years, I have learnt to effectively use technology in order to work in our increasingly “connected” society – this included writing and creating reports and presentations, and corresponding with colleagues around the world. I have a moderate comfort with the things that I know how to use. But I decidedly feel uncomfortable and a little anxious at the idea of upgrading my (very outdated) Blackberry Bold to the newest iPhone, or upgrading to MS Office 10. I don’t really like change, but I don’t want to get left behind. I want to learn but I don’t want to feel awkward and out-of-date. I don’t want this assignment to “beat me”, I want to show it that I can figure this thing out. And when I do, I’ll be proud that I did.
Decisional: I reflect on how I felt when I saw the list of assignments due for this course. I think of the trepidation with which I have revisited my Blog. I think of how awkward I feel in this medium, and I relate it to how my students feel when I give them an assignment that makes them tremble in their boots. I want to make sure that when I give an assignment to my students on a subject matter that is new to them that I make sure they have the tools that they need to complete it. Much like Doug has provided a section in the Moodle course material where I can go and research “Blogs Explained” and “How to start your blog”, I want to make sure that I provide my students with sufficient tools for them to feel they believe that they are sufficiently challenged, but not overwhelmed.