I have now concluded 23 Things.
My perceptions:
1 Beneficial as it increased communication amongst staff through blogging, especially for those working at remote campuses. It also opened up areas of common interest, and developed new competencies.
2 Creating and managing a blog was a good experience, though the blogs are compromised through being a combination of 23 Things comments and more serious contributions. It leads me to the idea of creating a blog on design related issues for the Faculty of Design.
3 The progress chart is inappropriate and created the impression of a competition, rather than a self regulated learning programme.
4 There was a lack of expertise in offering assistance with some of the tasks, as some of the team leaders are inexperienced in these tasks themselves and are doing them for the first time. This cheap type of "you can work it out for yourself" training has its limitations.
5 Given that in the times in which we find ourselves, we work in a highly structured, authoritarian bureaucracy where communication is strictly monitored to conform to the institution’s ethos, how does the relative freedom and creativity of blogging within an organization fit in? Are blogs going to be monitored or censored, and if they are, how effective can they be?
6 Some of the exercises highlight just how inane and worthless some of the new innovations are. Facebook stands out as one such shallow, vain and inappropriate development. As educators with a social responsibility we should not be endorsing technologies like this just because they are popular with young people.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hi Gordon,
Congratulations on completing the 23 Things! Thanks for your honest feedback on the 23 Things activities. I am glad to know that the blogging experience in particular was worthwhile and beneficial to you. I hope your idea of creating a blog on design related issues for the Faculty of Design will be equally beneficial. All the best with this endeavour!
There are certainly advantages and disadvantages of using a progress chart. Thanks for expressing your views regarding this.
Due to the novelty of the 23 Things activities, some of the tasks were challenging at first, even for some team leaders, but, I discovered that in time through repetition and familiarity with these tasks, they became more proficient in providing assistance to those in need.
Your question regarding how relative freedom and creativity of blogging within an organization fit in to conform to the institution’s ethos is a good one. I would love to know the answer myself.
It is interesting to read the contrasting views people express regarding the value and worth of particular Social Software such a Facebook and MySpace. It was good to get your perspective on this issue.
Thanks for participating in this exercise Gordon. All the best with the prize drawing!
Regards
Cleve
Post a Comment