Looking Back and Looking Ahead …

Looking back to e-Learning Experiences I can’t remember much except the basic principles of how to use the technology framework that we set up. Over the past week I have really thought about the new subject (e-Learning Design) and how it affects my life – rather more, how it can improve my studies and help me reach my goals. The educational and organizational benefits of using emerging technologies such as weblogs, wikis, podcasts, e-Portfolios, social networking, mobile phone technologies and so forth are endless as they distribute so much information in a variety of ways that can blend with the way individuals learn best. However for me it can be very overwhelming. Trying to stay organized and to stay on top of things is impossible these days as the rate of change is every increasing. One minute I’ll plan to have one thing done and the next I’ll get an email and will have to have another thing done and the cycle continues. I’m constantly encountering new information and then I’m always left wondering where I will store it or how it is relevant to what I am doing and where I want to go.

And so what I hope to gain from e-Learning Design is perhaps a better understanding of the technologies I use and how best to set them up so as to assist in my daily routine. I am really keen on committing myself to this as a couple of weeks I met amazing role model Mia Freedman who spoke to us at a dinner in which she emphasized the importance of technology and how it has been so crucial to doing more than communicating information. The technologies we use communicate messages, ideas, opinions and so on and articulate in some way what we have to say. It is our own personal vehicle by which we can reach out to others and effect change. Sounding rather philosophical here, I guess what I really am trying to say is that I want to begin milking our technology frameworks for all its educational and self-serving worth.