Semester End Reflections

I started this course with a tentative mission statement, outlining my purposes for maintaining an edublog. Over the semester, I worked on drafting ideas that reflected my way-making (surfing explorations) and explored the use of discussion memes.

A major task that contributed to my successful use of the blog involved exploring a lot of external blogs. I used the edu-blog for private thoughts, and even deleted a couple of the posts I was not entirely comfortable with. I gained greater confidence in my skill as a a communicator of ideas.

One significant learning event occurred when I was frequently encouraged by Terry to widen access of most of my posts to the public, and when he invited me to comment on his Virtual Canuck blog. It gave me a deeper insight at the potential use of using edublogs as “incubators” that prepared students for public discourse
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Over the semester, I worked to come up with a series of examples of edu-blogging activities based on a number of metaphors: sandbox, incubator, sharing space, sharing circle, walled garden, etc. A lot of the work from MDDE 612 about experiential and transformative learning cross-pollinated my ideas for this course. Although it is a lot of work, I think there might be some potential for students to enroll in complementary double-courses that combine independent study elements with more structured activities.

I think that I would have enjoyed interacting with a couple expert “guest” edu-bloggers.

I think that Edu-blogging is about extended conversations that mix private, educational and public spheres, and in the case of edu-blogging, this technology is subservient to emergent needs for connection.Edu-Blogging requires a respect for and protection of individual agency, of learner autonomy.