EDLD 5366 Week 5 Reflection

 

For this assignment we have been asked to reflect upon what we have learned.  Specifically we have been asked to self assess with regard to this course, to consider what learning is like from the learner’s perspective, to reflect upon the importance of being a  lifelong learner. 

 Self- Assessment

I found the course content very interesting.  The lesson that I particulary enjoyed and found both interesting, and eye opening, was the discussion of personal branding.  I had never considered this subject before.  What I learned made me realize how important it is to begin teaching students as early as possible about responsible and safe internet use.  In the article “Authentic Personal Branding” by Marchall Goldsmith, Goldsmith asks Hubert Rampersad, an expert on personal branding, to explain his definition for personal branding.  Rampersad’s response was that “The image of your brand is a perception held in someone else’s mind.  Personal branding entails managing this perception effectively and influencing how others perceive you and what they think of you.”  It is the management of this perception that we have to teach our students about.  In this day and age of cyber bullying and internet pedofilia, it is imperative that students become familiar with the how to use the internet both safely and wisely.  While I have always believed that our student’s safety on the internet is paramount, I guess I have never considered the teacher’s role in helping them to become responsible internet citizens.  It is my intention to keep this in mind as student’s begin to use technology to complete the lessons in my classroom. 

 Learn as a Learner

Having been in the online graduate program with Lamar University for some time now, I have experienced discussion groups and collaborative projects.  These courses, this one in particular, have allowed me to experience the new teaching methods being implemented as best practice in classrooms today.  Many years ago, when I was a student, our learning was much more of what is referred to as the “sit and get” method.  Researchers had not yet discovered the value of collaborative work or of reflective practice in learning.  With EDLD 5366, I had to be a student learning in a digital environment.  I learned the advantage of collaborating with a group to create a project that demonstrated understanding of the concepts that we were learning.  I understood the advantage of having to create only one part of the project, and experienced the ability to lean on others for their knowledge and expertise in completing the assignment.  Having a successful experience with a collaborative group has led me to believe that incorportating processes such as these into my lesson plans would not be difficult. 

 

 Lifelong Learning Skills

I have always felt that it was important to think about the decisions that I make and to evaluate the result and consequence of those decisions.  I know that in doing this, I will learn from both my success and failure.  Reflection gives me the opportunity to see how I might do something a little differently in order to improve the result or change the consequence.  As I teach, I believe it is important to teach my students the act of reflecting.  According to researcher John Dewey, “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”  Researcher James Zull points out that “reflection is a search for connections.”  As educators we know that students must access and imprint their long term memory in order to retain information.  Dewey and Zull’s research supports the theory that the practice of reflecting will go beyond a student’s surface memory to the long term memory that is so important to true learning. 

 

Works Cited

 

Goldsmith, M. (August 2007). Authentic personal branding. Retrieved from

     http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/sep2009/ca20090929_228578.htm

 

Barrett, Helen C. PhD. (2005). The Reflect Initiative: White Paper Researching Electronic

     Portfolios and Learner Engagement.