EDLD 5364 Web Conference Reflection

I can tell school has started up again. I'm feeling a little pressured. I realized this during the web conference on Saturday, August 21, 2013.

I've never been a teacher who pulls that August file out with the daily lesson plans, gives my kids the get-to-know-you worksheet and "sushes" them until they're done. I've always approached a new school year with a new plan. It seems I always find something I want to try over the summer. This summer was no exception. I won't give you the details of my plan here. You can read about it in a post entitled The Entrepreneurial Classroom on my other blog. Needless to say, the start of a new school year, along with a new plan of operation, has cashed a few checks from the patience bank.

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So when Saturday's web conference turned to grades and discussion posts, I should have probably just excused myself and went to the Arkansas Razorback football game with my 83-year-old dad. (I did that anyway, just after the conference.) 


Maybe it's my age, maybe it's my mindset, maybe I just don't get it. But I'm not concerned about grades as long as I pass. It's not that I'm lazy. I don't mind doing the work. In fact, I like doing the work because I love learning. I usually have my twitter feed open when I'm writing or attending web conferences just so I don't miss some valuable learning from my PLN. I may drop it into evernote and read it later, but I like to stay on top of things. So when the discussion turns to how many points will be deducted, or will I loose points for, or what do I need to do for this many points, I kind of zone out. I know it should be important to me, but honestly, it's not. Learning is. I'm way more concerned with learning and implementing what I've learned than whether I get maximum points on the assignment.

I've taken a number of on-line classes. One of the benefits of the web, as we learned this week, is the ability to connect with people and sources of knowledge with a few taps or clicks. George Seimens is correct when he says the nature of learning is changing. So is the nature of what it means to be a learner. Learners share information on the web mostly through informal discussion, not lecture followed by Q & A. Which brings me to my point about discussion posts. Since we are all connecting at a distance, I believe the discussion post is meant to serve as a virtual face-to-face discussion. Since we can't meet face to face, it gives us an opportunity to just talk, like real people do, in our own informal voices. I would hope the discussion board doesn't get too formal. I like hearing other people's voices.