May 2, 2010

What have I learned?


The "biggest" thing I learned during this class is that the up and coming generations are all essentially "visual learners." You hear about all the different learning styles (kinesthetic, auditory, etc), but with all the video games, DVDs, internet surfing, etc, the world is becoming more visual.

Now, while that was the item that struck me most forcefully, it wasn't the only thing this class has taught me. For one thing, I got over my blogging anxiety. I've tried to start a blog two or three times, but never got past registering - something about opening my inner thoughts to the world for condemnation or praise is pretty scary.

Randy's and my class presentation was thrilling. Not so much the working together part, that was hard, but the subject matter. I am sooo excited about the possibilities for learning that already exist in videogames. Here is just one site that exemplifies my point. I learned so much about educational gaming.

Some of the learning objectives in this class covered things I already new - either because I am a grad student or because of my age. Occasionally I had to remind myself of those things, so even "rehashing" material was helpful.


The last thing I experienced (that I will discuss) is how inter-related all my classes this term were! In addition to this class, I also took Media Planning & Production and Distance Education. All three classes built upon each other - I guess one could say they "scaffolded" (a term I learned in D.E.). That is each class helped me learn parts and supported me with modeling experiences that eventually helped me learn the material for all the classes more thoroughly!

I've enjoyed the class discussions, the students, the instructor, and even the work. I wish I hadn't had as many personal challenges so that the quality of my work would have better reflected the extent of my learning. See you again!