Reflecting and Technology - What it means to me

As I started this journey, I was expecting to be excited but as I saw what was expected of me I got a little scared and overwhelmed questioning myself, “can I really do this?”, with a little hesitation, I quickly thought and replied to myself, “YES, YOU CAN!’.

When I was first presented with the notion of reflecting, I asked myself “how am I supposed to this, who does that”, sit and think about what they have done. Then it hit me you do, you often think about what you have and what you could have done differently, this made me then realize that all my life I have been reflecting and not knowing that this is what I have been doing. This made it easier for me to put my thoughts on paper.

I am still a bit skeptical about reflecting after completing a course, this is so, as I do not want to be in a position to have to reflect on what I did in a course that I was not successful in, this is me scared of failing and not looking at reflection from the angle of it being there to improve a situation. For me, I think it is quite useful in my day-to-day operations in my organization as when commencing a new “cycle, or year” and looking back at the processes and ways in which things were done, the outcome and come up with new ways to enhance the overall experience going forward. How though will I use technology to do this?

One thing that struck me hard as I reviewed reflection came when one of my colleagues brought to my attention how we could use the Kolb’s learning cycle when building a house, hmmmm, can we build an entire house and then reflect? Suppose in reflecting we recognize that we should have used steel to hold the blocks together, what do you think would be the outcome?

What stood out to me most in my readings this week was how we could use technology to reflect. I must admit I very unsure of if this was possible as I could not think of what type of technology I could use to reflect. I however found that they are many types of technologies that can be used to reflect. But why reflect using technology, here’s why. The past decade has seen the rapid development of technology in education. The learning environments aim at providing a learning process that is more comprehensive than traditional approaches and the environments require communication and technology to help the new generations to learn, especially those who are learner-centered.

Through the use of technology, students can reflect in a more meaningful way where there is collaboration through chats and discussions. For me, I never thought of using the blog to reflect as I always thought that was for those “computer geeks” those similar to youtubers, so I stayed away, but after doing some research I think it would be considered as a good way for students to gain and learn knowledge and experiences through blogging. The Edmodo app is a tool which I truly love and would want to use this with my students to engage in reflecting. Used for conducting informal education, it is considered as education-oriented, supports learning, allows teachers to provide feedback and educational environment accessible to teachers, learners and parents from any place at any time. This look alike to the facebook app is the tool I would want to engage my children with as they reflect on various topics whilst and after completion.

I must make mention though that in Barbados, we are a far away from reflecting through technology. To my surprise, my son is now pursuing the CSEC English and they have been asked to do reflections, nice I said, but sadly these are being done the old fashioned way (writing on paper) and to me, and I might be wrong, does not carry the effect that a reflection is supposed to carry. Maybe I need to enhance my knowledge on reflection before I speak on it, but I still feel that there is much that must be done. Is it a case where we now need to engage our teachers in reflection and the benefits that it would have on the student’s learning? We as teachers need to recognize that students are very comfortable with technology and with the many tools that are available, whether blogs, social networking, WIKIS or my favorite Edmodo, we can encourage students to self-reflect on what they did, how they did it and what they can do to make it better the next time around. After we have done this, do we have the technology within the schools to ensure that reflection is done through technology? As I conclude there are so many unanswered questions which has forced me to continue my quest in gaining more knowledge on reflection and how it can and should be used through technology to enhance collaborative learning.

The below video gives a clear understanding of how self-reflection can be done through technology. What impacted me most in this video is the fact that they understand that integrating technology into schools remains a challenge and thus have demonstrated to us the SELFIE that can be used with the overall view of improving learning and teaching.

My BIG 5 Personality Trait

Personality – What really is It!!!! When I think of personality, I think of characteristics and qualities that determine who a person is. Each person’s personality is quite different, each person is like a stone but what makes us unique is when we are carved into something beautiful whether it is a diamond, a ruby or even a sapphire, we then become our own individual with our own personality.

I identify as having many strengths including being intuitive, focused, compassionate, thorough, dependable, goal-orientated and efficient as well as being a team player.  According to my own theory I believe that my biggest weakness is that I tend to be too accommodating.

 

To take a look at my personality traits I used the Big Five Model, based on a range of factors, to determine my personality. My highest score was that of conscientious which seem to cover many of my behaviors namely: hard working, ambitious and being able to plan and organize effectively. When these results were revealed I smiled to myself and said I wonder if this is something I always had or is it highly demonstrated at this point as a result of me getting old and needing to be more proficient in everything I do by being totally organized or I should say attempting to be totally organized. Subconsciously, I do agree with the results, that this is in fact me.

My second highest score contradicts who I really am as it speaks to one who is low in self-esteem, sad, insecure and unsure of themselves. How could this possibly be my second highest score, hmmm, this surely leaves me to ponder? On the other hand, the agreeableness trait scored the lowest and this was quite shocking to me. How so? This low score highlights negative vibes which I consider to be quite the opposite to my personality. If this is in fact the case, it means I have a lot to do to ensure that I exhibit positive relationships with not only family but peers and all that I may come into contact with. This trait is very important in all aspects of life as we deal with all types of people, whether personally, professionally or academically. I often hear others say to me, “Carol, you are full of life, always willing to help, always cheerful”, but now I know I need to stop and think about how I am currently doing things and if they are being done in the best interest of others or for my own self-achievement.

Colleagues, do your scores truly represent who you are?

My Learning Style - The VARK WAY

The purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning and to ensure that the learners learn effectively.  The learning style is considered as the way a person perceives, processes and retains new information.  The VARK model which was developed by Fleming and Mills provides learners with a profile of their learning styles. I used this, to categorize my learning preference which saw to my dominant style being that of Read/Write.

The read/write learning style is a preferred mode of both teachers and students as it promotes a student who has the ability to read and write well. This preference emphasizes text-based with strategies that include the use of: lists; headings; definitions; glossaries; dictionaries; textbooks; readings; notes; teachers who use words well and have lots of information in sentences and notes; essays and manuals.

This learning style which is truly my style of learning can be applied for learning in an online environment. The notes, handouts, readings, manuals, definitions can all be used in addition to extra readings available through the internet.  These can be converted by using these tools to allow the student to write out the words again; rewrite the ideas and principles into other words, turn reactions, actions, diagrams, charts and flows into words.  An example of how this style can be used is by making a video and having the student write a synopsis of the what the video entailed.  The video then teaches and by rewriting in your own words the student has the ability to grasp the topic. With the use of the video it takes the attention from the Read/Write and focuses on the visual learning style which I also tend to think that I am. Is it possible to have two learning styles? I know for sure that I am Read/Write but the more I study I realize that there is a need to reach out to other ways of learning, sometimes mainly videos, to assist in my learning.

In both my undergraduate and post graduate studies I found it necessary to ensure that I had adequate notes on a topic. After which I would put the notes in an essay form. Graphs and points were drawn from the essays, internalized and then rewritten in my own words. In preparing for the exam I would review exam questions and practice them, write lists in how the layout should appear and then rewrite essays with relevant points which are necessary to complete the exam. The results prove to be me, but is this a true reflection of my learning style?