The module individual assessment element requires every student to write regular blog posts as a learning journal to provide reflective thoughts and feedback on the learning.
One of the recommendations made by the module instructor was to post throughout the learning period and not leave it as a last minute task, the latter being the typical outcome for most assignments at any higher learning institution. I was initially set to post regularly throughout the learning sessions since my memory would be fresh from the readings.
However, on further introspection I chose to commence writing upon completion of the entire learning sessions offered through Google + community and additional reading materials. The reasons for this are simple and two-fold. Since a learning journal is intended to be reflective thoughts on ones learning, it made sense to write after completing the sessions (and digesting all the material). Additionally, my experience from blogging and interaction on social media is that most people don't reflect much on anything but rather act as conduits for relaying messages that comprise partial bits and pieces of information that are perhaps not fact checked.
In the case of the SMS learning sessions, I started to realise that while my impressions and understanding of a particular session was developed upon completing that session, it did not stay static or remain in a linear fashion. Rather it kept evolving as the next learning session was completed and certain assumptions or opinions on a prior learnt paradigm was changed.
Ill demonstrate what I mean with an example. Assume one is taking a course on Corporate Finance. The course materials and reading is set forth in a linear fashion. One has to grasp the subject on a preceding chapter or session before moving to the subsequent one. Essentially skipping is not possible. It's like building a conventional wood-framed house from the bottom up. Furthermore, assumptions and beliefs on concepts from prior chapters remain static. The understanding of Cournot Oligopoly will remain the same no matter what subsequent theories are learnt. Contrary to this conventional method, social media learning is dynamic. I may have learnt about Linkedin in prior session and understand it to be the MOST effective professional networking platform out there and then totally discard that notion when I later learn that Twitter offers an incredibly fast way to connect with professional cohorts. Thus my earlier paradigm was disrupted. This is the essence of social media. Dynamic, disruptive, and evolving. It is like building a modular house with bits and pieces manufactured in various parts.
Thus my rationale to complete the learning sessions and then be able to reflect back on the impressions developed at this time. And trust me, what I write in my posts for this module will probably be disrupted by new learning by the time the element is evaluated!
-Abi
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