I have really appreciated that our final project for this course required collaboration with other students. When my group met for the first time we all enjoyed being able to share personal stories and get to know each other better before talking about our project. Meeting face-to-face allowed us to read facial expressions and have an informal exchange of ideas which set up a level of trust that I do not have with online discussions. I know my level of trust was higher since nothing was written down and therefore is not easily accessible to other people. When I respond to questions and discussions for online courses by writing I am careful to write clearly to minimize misinterpretation of my thoughts. I find I am also doing the same with this posting, rereading, editing and clarifying my ideas. On the other hand I also enjoy online learning since I can do it when I want and I can focus on ideas that are relevant to my level of understanding.
In contrast to my lower comfort level with online learning, I found it interesting that I choose articles for this course that were about using the social network to engage students. This is considered a less edited way of sharing online. I think today’s students share many personal details in online social forums. I think they may inappropriately write their thoughts without editing, contrary to my feelings about written words. I see my interest in the use of social networks as part of my first steps in the CBAM Level of change toward mastering an online forum for sharing ideas.
I find it is easy to manage an online presence for library information and book reviews. But on reflecting on what I like about learning online and face-to-face I realize I should consciously review my library webpage to ensure it creates a personal feeling by sharing my excitement about library resources. Like this course, the website could encourages responses both online and in person about library programs. To carry this idea into collaboration with teachers to encourage them to use library resources, I realize I will also be using both online and face to face meetings. I see my next challenge is to figure out how to master the skills to develop a meaningful online forum.
