Wrap-up Reflection

As per final post requirements, here are links to my completed play/ reflect activities:

Week 1:
General thoughts
Play/Reflect

Week 2:
Play/ Reflect

Week 3:
Play/ Reflect

Week 4:
Play
Reflect

Week 7:
Play
Reflect

Week 8:
Play
Reflect

Week 9:
Play

Week 11:
Play
Reflect

Week 12:
Reflect

Thinking back to week one I didn't really know what to expect of this unit. I was initially looking forward to blogging, hoping there would be an element of informality and reflection. In the end, as my task management isn't the greatest at the best of times, I found the exercise timely particularly as it seemed that we had to explicitly reference ideas rather than canvas themes. Maybe that was down to my interpretation of the task? In any case, the reflection that I conducted through blog posts allowed me to look beyond my own experiences and critically consider learning objectives.

The creation of Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) is a task that I'd already started carrying out in Semester One through being an active participant of uni orientated facebook pages and designated hashtags on twitter. I've also added several members of my cohort and lecturers to my LinkedIn profile. As I was already signed up to Facebook and Twitter I didn't really have an issue with being signed up to these platforms for class. However, if I wasn't already signed up I'd be resistant to the idea of the uni telling me that it was compulsory, even if this course is about information technology and information programs. Like some other students have chosen to do, I'd likely keep my identity secure through using a different name and no image. The challenge with this would be that exposure to future employers would be limited and classmates wouldn't always know who their classmates are. This could possibly affect the success of PLNs being developed. On the other hand, using your real name and image may not work in your favour if your posts are controversial or irrelevant; considering my online persona and etiquette was important. Despite these concerns, I thought the learning environment operated in a fairly functional manner.

I'm usually a fan of the dual learning mode because I'm based on the Gold Coast. However, I don't think I took advantage of this in INN333 as much as I have in the past. From memory I attended one blackboard collaborate session, no in-class sessions and didn't listen to any recordings. I'm not sure if this is because:
a) there were so few "physical" classes that I'd forget and become complacent or
b) whether it was because I was more concerned with other classes or
c) whether I was happy enough conducting my own learning through the extensive resources provided. I liked the convenience of watching the videos provided in the learning resources and the clear instructions outlined in the play tasks.

I don't want to go into too much of a deep analysis of the collaborate session I participated in but there were technological issues I found frustrating and I wondered if the content discussed was relevant to other students outside the library major. I also think that had the guest speakers been better prepared in regards to the collaborate technology, they would've been made more comfortable addressing the class and as a student, I would've felt more connected to the discussion. In saying this, I thought the content was interesting and offered food for thought in relation to identifying possible service gaps and how information programs could possibly be incorporated to meet user needs and expectations - ideal for assignment two.

Incorporating social media into the learning environment had both pros and cons. These are outlined below:

Pros:
- quick and supportive responses from the cohort
- the sharing of interesting and informative ideas
- got to clarify ideas

Cons:
- sometimes delayed responses from people (although I had high expectations regarding response times because of the precedence set by other classes)
- bombardment of information - it was sometimes a challenge to stay on top of it all
- sometimes challenging to discern what information was highly important and not so important. I think this could've been managed through "pinning" posts on Facebook, emailing important messages to students and encouraging students to use the search capabilities on the group page to identify topics or posts by particular people
- interaction with others on Twitter were limited. I found managing contact on Facebook and blogger took up most of my time and people got in touch with me most on those platforms.

Overall, I found the weekly activities to be enjoyable and I was excited to be introduced to technologies and concepts I'd never heard of or tried before. Many of the new ideas I was introduced to will be revisited throughout my studies and beyond, including: the free screencasting software, Google forms, online curation tools and mashups. I found most technologies easy to grasp (although the screencast software I selected - CamStudio - required some trial-and-error testing) and in hindsight probably I should've selected the more challenging of the play activities to expand my skill set further.

If time permits, I will revisit some activities and concepts because while we were encouraged to look at all topics, you definitely direct your own learning in this unit and I found that I steered away from unfamiliar areas. It's because of this that I would like to get a better understanding of gamification, app construction and open data.

The key learning outcomes I believe I achieved from this unit include:
- the importance of being aware of new technologies, their functionalities and their potential particularly in an information organisation (I believe this knowledge would make me an integral member of an information organisation)
- the cost effectiveness of using these technologies to minimise service gaps and maximise user satisfaction (to encourage service adapatability and highlight user experience mindfulness)
- the scope of information available and the potential for that information to be transformed into new services or technologies (this was highlighted to me in the mashup analysis in week 11)
- that it is important to be aware of other peoples limitations in terms of technology accessibility

I look forward to incorporating these ideas into my studies and future workplaces.