I posted my Profile on the Wiki over a week ago and am only just getting around to blogging about it.
This isn't because I haven't been doing any work on my ICTs, quite the opposite in fact. This course is so involved, it is easy to get carried away with one element and forget to go back and do the basics.
So back to reflecting on my profile wiki...
At the time of writing my profile wiki, I was aware that it would be read by other people, this is the nature of the online environment, what I didn't realise was that it was being used so people could judge me and choose not to pick me for an upcoming activity. After being judged on my responses no-one picked me. Was it because I mentioned on my profile I work full-time and had to squeeze in study around sleeping and eating, was it because I tried to be funny and made a bad joke about having pet plants, or was it because I made a spelling error in the first line of my profile?
Putting information out there in this context is a little daunting. My Facebook profile is set to the highest privacy settings and I don't let the people at my work know about my private life so why would I want to put it on record for my study colleagues?
I have since learnt that there are good reasons for all of the above. I should know by now that teachers don't make you do things unless they have a desired outcome in mind.
According to Engagement Theory - A Framework for Technology Based Teaching and Learning (Kearsley et al., 1999) in order for effective learning to occur, students must be engaged. To achieve engagement the theory focuses on three things, working in a team, doing project-based assignments and having a non-academic focus. It is now clear why we had to fill in our profiles. The easiest way to get to know everybody quickly and form a team is to create bios in an online directory.
Then it is the fun part, where our peers get to make judgment and choices based on what we said was our learning style, our work commitments and our personalities. If only I had of clued on sooner I could have made myself look very appealing to a potential study partner.
I think creating our profiles was a very beneficial activity. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I should answer the questions and I have had fun spending little breaks away from study looking at other peoples profiles and learning a bit about their lives.
References:
Kearsley, G., Shneiderman, B. (1999) Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-Based Teaching and Learning. Retrieved March 5, 2011, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
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