Task 3c: Sources of information

Finding the correct and most relevant information is of the utmost importance when trying to build a career. For me, I rely on the correct information to know what to prepare and where to go for auditions and castings and a lot of the time just the odd name that it wouldn't hurt to research. My top five sources of information at this point in time are as follows:

• Web 2.0, The Stage, and Spotlight, online registration for auditions and articles.These are updated everyday with new events and auditions that may be relevant to me. The stage is also a good source of information for whats going on in the industry with all the articles available.
• My phone... 3g allows me to check any website for quick information and email updates, texts and calling means I can be kept constantly in the loop.
• Pineapple dance studios, the notice boards for auditions, up and coming events and related industry contacts.
• Word of mouth, within my current networks, friends and colleagues talk about people and things that I should know, so they inform me.
• Social networking sites, such as facebook and twitter, let me see if someone within my professional network is attending something, for example, a workshop, or audition.

Over time, the top five sources obviously adapt and change due to trend and reliability, for example there would be no point looking on twitter, if it goes horrendously out of fashion because no one would be posting anything useful on it. Friends and colleagues are fairly constant but again, keeping in touch and saving time for them is important so as to keep up a good relationship and back and forth information. I pretty much always have my phone with me, I use it constantly to check updates on facebook, twitter email, and texting seems to be the quickest way for me to keep in touch with people, especially when I am at work and unable to call. With all this information flying about, ensuring that it is all organised efficiently is extremely important because time is precious, especially when you don't often have much spare.  People organise their information in different ways, for me the best way is note-taking online, and my diary. I have two calendar type diaries, one on my phone (for when I don't have a pen to hand, or I need to be reminded nearer the time) and a written calendar diary (where I jot simply times, names, and addresses).  Looking at Melanie Brown's blog, I saw that she has a similar top five to me, with the odd variation, she seems to use very similar sources to me for her information. 
Looking at Chelsea Johnson's blog, again I am seeing a lot of similarities to my own current sources of information, however the one common theme on both hers and Melanie Brown's, is that where, like me they mention the use of web 2.0, both have their CV and head shot available online to send at any point. For me here is a point where I can see and issue and I can learn and remedy it. If I needed to send a CV or head shot, I would need to either send a hard copy, or I would need to be at my computer where I have digital copies saved. I do not however have them saved to the internet, such as Google drive, or saved in a draft email that I could just send via my phone at any point. But this is all easily fixed so I can set that up and consider myself a bit more prepared than I was at the beginning of the task, which is a nice thought.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UBF-vrYGKjqDHIMj2XohL7fGa26y1cyf13sTM8NX-kQ/edit This link has also been posted on my professional facebook page where I can direct anyone  trying to research me.
I love reading other people's blogs from the course because actually, they as people, are great sources of information within my current practice. Perhaps they should be on the list, as we have already seen I have made a self improvement due to their knowledge. The bapp blogs that I read and comment on, are external sources which effect the way I think within the context of the course, however as I integrate their thoughts and opinions, I am forming my own and realising on reflection that actually it effects my professional frame of mind a lot more than I realised. When I saw that the task talks about external sources of information, it got me thinking. Really that could be anything... It could be the ballet show you went to see, 'Wicked' on Westend, or the busker in the tube, who actually, was very talented. I mention these because now I have finished my training, I watch things differently. I still of course watch them in awe and amazement, but I find myself questioning their technique, critiquing their abilities and picking out their pros and cons as a performer, not to be nasty or overly appreciative but to see what is getting people jobs these days. To find similarities and differences between my self and the performer and to learn from what they are doing. TV and radio interviews: how are they talking and thus presenting themselves, newspaper articles, how are these performers being viewed? What are they being praised or criticised for? In the article what club or workshops did they say they went to? These are all aspects of a successful performers career that I can learn from. Whether it gives me clues on where to go to further my contacts or whether it is just what not to do, valuable information is constantly being transmitted and therefore integrated into my own way of thinking and acting as a practitioner. Media aside, at college, I remember teachers and professionals telling horror stories about how an ex pupil behaved once and how badly it had been viewed, so even this has impacted my behaviour and made me much more weary on how I present myself.

Relying on the work of others to know what is going on in the world, is a bit of a down fall, but as John Donne said, "No man is an island". And I think really we do all rely on each other in so many ways.  I love the BBC news arts and entertainment articles, it keeps me up to date with whats going on generally and some times links to much more specific and tailored articles or blogs of the journalists. I rely on that and the stage website for other articles and information to keep me in touch with whats going on.I love the interviews and reviews on 'The Stage' as they act like a tiny insight into the real mind of practise professionals. Also what I've found previously is that when I'm reading one thing, an advert for something else pops up and may be perfect for me. For example, when on the stage website looking at auditions, one of the companies that is sponsoring the event would be perfect for future recording studio use. Perfect! I wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.

As I continually flicked through the many, many blogs, I came across a point on Sarah Johnson's. In her completion of task 3c, she lists books and magazines as one of her top five sources of information and it just occurred to me that actually that is the one thing that has been missing off of a lot of people's lists, including my own. Though, of course, I read books and magazines, they did not pop into my head as one of my top five sources of information. (Concerning!) I think I'm pointing this out solely to reiterate how big web 2.0 has become as a learning and knowledge tool/ source, because the fact is, most of us do turn to the web (even if it is articles and magazines on the internet) before we pick up a book.

please all watch!

I saw this on Sarah Johnson's blog and I just had to re-post it in a bid to get more people in the world to see it. It is so strange to watch but you cannot fault him for anything, he practically floats, its amazing and bizarre to see. I can't imagine how many times he must have listened to the piece. :/  watch, marvel, enjoy.

Task 3b: theories relating to networking

Cooperation

The basic idea of succeeding at the expense of some one else put forward by Robert Axelrod in 1984. At first sight 'cooperation' did not sit well with me. The title of it sounds logical and I am always willing to cooperate as professional, however, the theory that goes into it of using people for maximum benefit for myself just sounded so unpleasant and unlike me. However, after looking into it a bit more, and as I discussed in task 3a, maybe I was wrong. I found that actually I do use cooperation in other networks such as my general work network in order just to get by. I think I would use cooperation to get a larger network and to get ahead in the industry because actually when it comes to it, these people aren't your friends primarily they are colleagues or future employers. I think what I've learnt after really thinking about it, is that I will have to put myself first if I want to get anywhere.

Affiliation

In 2007, Crisp and Turner suggested that affiliation is the formation of close relationships with others, and thus, 'a network of support that will help us when we are in need'. They suggest that as a result of psychological processes in the brain, Crisp and Turner 2007, pp266. Homeostasis is thought to be one stand of affiliation. O' Connor and Rosenblood 1996 pp267, suggest that each person needs a different amount  of affiliation but each will try to balance the interactions, they also link that to the idea that a person may be introvert or extrovert. Affiliation suggests that as humans we have a need for 'all people' and we balance our needs for each depending on our cultural and personal background. I can understand affiliation as a concept and it does make sense, however it seems to be to be very focused on the networking and rather than a professional having talent. Perhaps it is just the harsh truth, but a concept that suggests it really is just who you know rather than what you can do is rather disheartening for the industry. However, clearly there is nothing I can do to change that, so I must focus on become well networked. Recently I have been thinking about how I can change my life for the better and networking is key to doing this. I have started to think about joining the industry in a different capacity in order to learn more about my ideal networks.

Social constructionism

The key thought with this one is that humans construct meanings of the world out of social interaction. So, my ideas of something new will be impressionable to those around me at the time. We are constantly having to make our own decisions about how we perceive things. Social constructionism suggests that meanings are made through interactions and thus within a network of like minded professionals the meanings will be determined in favour of the network and the values of said networks are passed on to new members of the network. Like a group, some networks are more particular about who may join and similar values are usually key. For example, when I began to work part time in hospitality, one vital aspect (or value) that I had to have on my CV was 'good with people'. All members of the hospitality network have the value that you must be a people person to join, or work in the same industry. Merleau-Ponty wrote,"the objects in the world are indeterminate. They may be pregnant with potential meaning, but actual meaning emerges only when consciousness engages with them." Thinkers such as Ponty suggest the question, 'How can there be meaning without a mind'.

M Crotty, 2005 (p42- 44) "it is the view that all knowledge and therefore all meaningful reality as such is contingent upon human practices, being constructed in and out of interactions between human beings and their world.."

I imagine in the future, that my opinions and views on certain things are going to be changed as my networks grow and evolve. I doubt all of the truths that appear will be pleasent and predict that I am going to have to be flexible to accomodate some aspects of the industry but I think I will change as I learn.

Connectivism

So, connectivism doesn't make a massive amount of sense to me. From what I gather, it is against traditional learning of information being transferred from A to B and suggests that we need to connect with the information given and make sense of it for ourselves to learn. It is the explanation of how networks learn and provide the means for individuals to learn and connect.
G Seimens 2004, stated that there are key points to connectivism which are as follows:

• learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of opinions
• learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes or information sources
• learning may reside in non human appliances
• capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
• nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning 
• ability to see connections between fields ideas and concepts is a core skill
• currency (up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

Communities of Practice

Suggests that we learn by involving ourselves in social relationships rather than acquiring knowledge as an individual. However surely this can only be true of certain types of knowledge, introverted personalities can be very clever academically but struggle publicly due to the lack of social interaction. However I am a firm believer that some people are just wired differently and are stronger in some aspects of learning than others, and then weaker at other times.
Lave and Wegner coined the term 'situated learning' to suggest that, like connectivism, learning should not just be information being passed from A to B, but being constructed within the environment for which it is intended. So from this, one can assume that Lave and Wegner would be all for apprenticeships and internships, instead of school based learning as it gives the pupil a chance to learn by working with others in their chosen profession and doing the job. I do like the idea of communities of practice once you have chosen the profession you wish to be in , because I think you would learn quicker and more thoroughly by being within a the community of people doing the same thing. By attending Italia Conti rather than a university, I was submerged in like minded people and professionals. I had an amazing opportunity to learn about the industry whilst perfecting my craft under the supervision of well respected professionals as well as learning about myself along the journey. Vocational study allowed me to 'learn whilst doing' rather than to learn just the theory and I am so grateful I could learn within my own community of practice.

"rather than learning from replicating the performances of other or by acquiring knowledge transmitted by instruction, we suggest that learning occurs through centripetal participation in the learning curriculum of the ambient community", (Lave and Wegner 1991, p98-100)

So it's seems like forever since I posted on here. I'm very disappointed that I couldn't make the last campus session because I know how helpful they are, so I'm relying on your blogs to fill me in on what happened!  I've been working on the tasks, so I'll be popping them on here as soon as possible. Hope everyones well and keep blogging!

Task 3a : current networks

What are the current or different ways (tools) that you have or do engage your professional network?

I would say that my current professional network mostly consists of graduates from my college and teachers that are also working professionals. Of course as I go to more and more auditions and work with different people the network is growing as I realise somehow everyone knows eachother in this industry. The best tool that I have used throughout my time in professional practice so far is 'cooperation'. Axelrod (1984) identified the importance of cooperating with others fully until you have reached the maximum point of benefit. I have always cooperated with others because it is polite and because no one will want to work with some one who is not willing to cooperate and, within a network where, as I said before, everyone knows eachother, word travels fast. However Axelrod suggests that once the maximum benefit has been gathered, the party should then defect to gain the most possible. I hope to gain from my career, but I also want my career to be on going and always evolving, so I think to 'defect' would not necessarily be the right thing to do even at that point. Axelrod suggests cooperation as a strategy, but I am not in the business to use people and throw them away, I would rather keep them close, and work with them again. At the minute I rely on word of mouth, and tools such as Facebook, video clips, to engage with the network, keeping in touch with these people is important and to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing.

What are the established and different ways that others use their networks especially if they are more established or, experienced practitioners that you admire?


People have been using their networks to get work and jobs for ever.  A fantastically well known example of a strong network is the Masons society.The Masons is huge network and hundreds of years ago their influence on wordly decisions was massive. There were masons all over the world and through government and the church and it was well known that they 'looked after' eachother.
              On a much smaller scale, my sister got me the job working at the restaurant where I currently work. My sister was within the restaurant network and therefore they trusted her opinion, because I am in a close nework with my sister, they assumed to a certain extent that I would be fairly similar to her in personality and work ethic. They felt like they new me slightly better than they did someone else who had no link to their network. Within our industry I often saw teachers who work professionally at the same time using their network at the college to hire graduates or put names forward for new shows or to suggest themselves to other teachers who may have been producing something at the time. One teacher told us to follow twitter and keep an eye on all the teachers and casting professionals that had visted the college in order to stay within their network and on their radar. Of course the more well known you become within your network, the bigger you network becomes and the easier it is to use your network as a stepping stone.

Are there methods, approaches and technologies that you use socially that might apply and help you develop your professional networking?

Crisp, J. and Turner, R. (2007) suggets that affiliation is 'a network of support that will help us when we are in need' due to our formation of 'close relationships'. I am more inclined towards affiliation as a means of networking than cooperation. Of course one must cooperate with their affiliations, however you do not have to defect from them after you have benefitted from them. I think professionally speaking, of course it is not a good idea to get too close to anyone within your professional network because with closer relationships, comes more problems, however becoming 'friends' with the people in your network may make them more inclined to help you when you are in need. I use facebook to keep in contact with my old college network, and my friends and family, but I do however have two pages. To ensure that I am seen by professionals as a professional, one of my pages as my full name, head shot, links to videos and photos from previous jobs and I only accept people onto the page who are within the profession. I use technologies now such as this blog to display myself as a professional and keep up with the BAPP network and I keep my mobile up to date with numbers in order to make sure I can contact people within my network if necessary.


When you reflect upon current networks, can you think about the motives of others to be in the network and what values and purpose they have in mind?

When I think about my current networks, I make a list in my head. School, family, college, dancing, work, and other. The main networks of which are family, college, and work. I believe you a re born into family, but that's not to say you won't add to it by letting close friends or boyfriends/ girlfriends into it. With christmas coming up, family is on my mind. As I live away from home, christmas is the one time of year that I make sure I am available to be at home and with my family. Our house is fairly open, and friends and boyfriends have always been welcome and I think thats the nicest thing about this network. Though it comes with its stresses, the family network is kind, rather than brutal and welcoming rather than filled with rejection and I think that is what makes it appealing to people. People crave a friendly and loving atmosphere at times and that can push them to try and join a family network.
         The college network that I am in is bigger thann it may first seem. Of course to me, the primary members are the people in my year and the teachers who taught me but because the college is so old and so famous the network is bigger than you would think. Italia conti has seen thousands of students through the years and of course people want to join and be part of the Italia Conti network, for the name and what it represents. As they would Laines, or Bird College, joining the network as a graduate brings with it a knowledge for employers that the student has been well trained and knows about how the industry works.
         When I think of work, I think of 2 different strands, I have the network of people who cover and swap shifts with me at the place I earn my money, and I think of the industry professionals that I meet at auditions and the fellow graudates I see doing the same thing as me everyday.Unfortunately for me I have to have my rather disheartening and mundane job to pay my bills, and that is the only purpose for which I entered that network and I think that's the same for most others. We bring ourselves and our hardwork to the network in order to keep getting by until we can leave and join the network of professionals that we love. So in a way that is a lot like Axelrod's theory of cooperation, I guess, and I'm not proud to say, I am using my work network to get the maximum benefit , waiting until the job of my dreams comes along..Well, there's a learning curve for you.

What would your ideal network look like and why?

My ideal network would be filled with working professionals, music techies, managers and promoters who were willing to work with me and help me make them money by developing me into what they want to sell. I want them to respect me as a performer. Even knowing people won't help me get a job unless they respect me as a professional.

What realistic things could you to do towards developing your ideal network?
What tools and methods do you need to use?What do you know about your current and intended networks and, importantly, what do you not know?

Developing my ideal network I think is probably one of the hardest things i'll ever have to do. I need to meet people, but in order to meet the right people, I would need to be in the right place at the right time, and obviously not just by chance. I think realistically, the best way I can do that, go to as many auditions as possible and talk to the others who are auditioning, see who they know and what work they have in the pipeline. Also, using social networking sites such as twitter and facebook to see events that may be coming up and if they are open, make sure that I can be there to represent myself and start meeting the people linked with my ideal network. I woud also need to be keeping track of evertything thats going on at the time, so keeping current. I think meeting people and inviting them to other events where I may be working is going to be the best way to start getting into my ideal network. Gradually, I would hope that I learn more about the people and more about who are the main people I need to target to get a step on the ladder. I think at the moment my main weakness is not knowing who I need to be targetting, I know roughly what job they need to have, but not exactly, no names or companies. I need to do a lot more research to get a better idea of who needs to be within the network to make it work.

Lissie, 'Go your own way'

task 2d: Inquiry

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiasitc to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

In my first year of college I really struggled with singing. Not because I couldn't sing, but because all of the teachers at my college taught the same method. A rough classical diaphragm support method where no one actually seems to know the biology behind whats going on. The phrase 'imagine this diamond support working' . No, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to base my entire singing training on something imaginary. I got very frustrated and felt I made absolutely no improvement vocally in my first year. However, the beginning of a new year brought with it, a new teacher. One Mr. Matthew Shaw, an absolute genius, who is one of the most knowledgable teachers of Estill technique in the country. Estill technique explains all the physical vocal movement with fact and biology rather than imagination. It allows you to feel exactly what you larynx and vocal folds are doing as you sing and enables us to use and control the voice correctly and safely. I admire Matt and his knowledge of the technique so much as he finally broke through and made me enjoy singing again and allowed me to genuinely make progress and improve my range and ability. I loved the 3 hour lessons we got with him each week, because even though they were very long, I was engaged the entire time due to the floods of knowledge that he was passing on. In my blogs and my journals I always give a good explanation of things, because I feel if you cant, then you don't really know what your talking about, and I don't like to be confused. I will always admire Matt and the technique itself for explaining singing correctly, consisely and having it all actually make sense! For more information on Estill please see : http://www.estillvoice.com/ and for more info on Matt see :http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/teacher/d2502fe8dc55dc167098 because he is bloody brilliant. I line of enquiry for this is my consideration to do a full course of Estill technique later on in life purely for myself and to help me learn more about technique.

What gets you angry or makes you sad? who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?

Sadness and frustration rather than anger, are common themes that keep reappearing in my journals becasue they appear when I audition for something I really want and don't get it, and when I look around and find that i'm still *just* a waitress. It's really hard because I had such an academic background to have the thought cross your mind that maybe I made a mistake by not going to university and getting a degree in something that would get me a well paid job. But just as that AWFUL thought crosses my mind, I look accross the restaurant and see colleagues and friends who are actually in exactly the same position as myself. My friend and colleague 'Laurie', who is a comedy poet and future radio presenter said to me "sure you could go work in an office and have loads of money, but what are those people going to leave behind, absolutely nothing...I'd just hate to get old and say to someone, yeah I was going to be a radio presenter once, but I just never tried" and it's words like those that remind me that I'd be just as miserable sat behind a desk in a 9-5 job. I admire Laurie's attitude, because though i'm sure she feels sad sometimes, she has the ability to say, no do you know what, I'm going for it and maybe I'll get the chance to do what I love.

What do you love about what you do? who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

I love singing more than anything in the world. I would love to be a recording artist, not just for the life style, but for the thrill of standing on a festival stage on a summers evening infront of hundreds of thousands of people, as myself, singing music that I love. Some one that I quite admire is 'Lissie'. She is just famous enough that she can travel the world doing what she loves to big venues, but not so famous that she can't have a normal life at the same time. Her music is simple fairly simple and stresses the enjoyment in life and a career like hers would be ideal for me. She is just herself, no bright, over the top costumes and her music allows her to actually sing rather than be completely computerised. http://www.lissie.com/video/ follow the link to see Lissie's website and see videos. I think I just really appreciate that artists like her can still do well today.

What do you feel you don't understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you?

For me the biggest frustration is not understanding, I have a need to understand everything that I'm doing whether it be how or why. There's nothing that sticks in my head particularly but I respect any one who can see that I have a need to know. I hate being told just to accept something when some one cant explain something. I guess for me, I don't understand how certain people get jobs and careers when their amount of talent is little a best. But sometimes I have to accept that with the career I've chosen luck is a massive part of it and knowing people and networking is very important. There are others like me who get frustrated and it's usually the trained professionals who are out of work but have just had to accept that sometimes the wrong person does get through, but they have the faith that one day the right job will appear.

Task 2c A critical Reflection

Hello guys, I've split 2c up into 2 parts. So this is a link to the essay (2nd part).

hope you enjoy the read and let me know what you think.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-r0P1YwzIHR1_Fj9ZzsmKrAkEF-S7NiJraupKxBuEXA/edit

Task 2c Reflective theory

I've added to and reposted the blog from just after campus session 2 as it is highly relevant for task 2c:

Looking at the first part of reader 2 we're seeing a lot of talk of 'Turning experience into learning' and the key tool put forward to do this is 'Reflection'. Reflections main 3 practices, is -comparing, -extending, and -new learning.

The suggestion is that learning a new term is different to learning a new idea. Learning a term when you do not know the meaning is pointless. However learning the term and the meaning, is equally as pointless unless you have an understanding of the words used for the definition. To get the 'idea' you need to have a full understanding and experience with the knowledge or lack there of.

For example, Graham McFee explains 'I don't know what bachelors are.If I am not to just take your word for it, I have to check up on whatever you tell me. For you might be mistaken and tell me that bachelors are married men. To know that you are wrong, I must know what bachelors are... One must understand what is being defined in order that one can judge for oneself the accuracy...the definition itself must be understood -- I must know what the words 'unmarried' and 'married' mean, if I am to understand what is being said...' (McFee, 1992: 18)

Using McFees example of the bachelor: It is through the experience of not knowing what a bachelor is that we realise that we have a hole in our knowledge. We have to combine our pre-existing ideas with the new terms to understand andd learn a new idea.

During my time in college, my peers and I had it suggested to us that we would learn far more in our first year of working professionally, than we could ever learn in college itself. Worrying, at first glance, but what they were suggesting is exactly what we are looking at now. That, through experiencing things and then reflecting on them we discover new ideas and learn new things.

'active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends', (Dewey 1933).

What????!!!

Basically, Dewey talked about experience as a tool for learning and explains that there are different levels of experience. Dewey said that the educational process is ‘a continual reorganization, reconstruction and transformation of experience’ (Dewey 1916). As in, to get the most from education you must be fully engaged and aware of the experience. To learn from an experience, you must realise that you are having one!

 For example, if I do a brilliant tripple pirouette without thinking about it, we would call it a 'fluke', because I have done the pirouette on a whim, and wasn't aware that I was about to have an 'experience'. I couldn't do the same thing again. I have not learnt how to do a tripple pirouette flawlessly, it was luck. I have not learnt from the experience. If I tried to assess and analyse what I had just done, I wouldn't get very far because I hadn't put any thought into it. It was sheerly surface value. (It would go under 'see' if we put it on the graffiti wall)

If, I realising the hole in my knowledge, I went back and tried again, 'noticing' what I'm doing and 'thinking' about my technique and actions, and then reflected on the outcome, employing a conscious 'trial and error' technique, each time I would be learning from the experience.

"Kurt Lewin divided 'experience' into a circle of idea, fact finding planning (research) action, evaluation, planning, action",Kurt Lewin, Bapp (Arts) Reader 2, The reflective Practitioner WBS 3730

The following is a diagram of 'A learning cycle' put together by David Kolb (with Roger Fry)

I volunteered to write a blog about Kolb's learning cycle so I will just pop it in here to explain it a bit further. Over the years, my studies in communication showed me that theorists put things in cycles when there is no clear beginning or end, or rather when they occasional adapt. Cycles allow them to show that the theory is constant and never ending.

Different people enter the cycle at different points. The point at which you enter the cycle is usually referred to as your learning style.

I chose to see where I entered the cycle by looking at the newest skills I've learnt. When I started this course I had noooooo idea what I was doing and that stressed me out. In reflection, I found that I entered the cycle at 'abstract conseptualisation'. I got off to a slow-ish start on the course because I dont function properly when I'm confused. I needed to understand and work out exactly what I needed to do and how I was going to enable msyelf to do it before I could start. I had to 'get my head around it'. I then found my self moving onto the the 'active experimentation' where I took what I had learnt (how to start a blog and upload things onto internet platforms) and tried it out. I did make mistakes, and I had to try again. For exaple organising the layout of my blog so It was reflective of myself as a professional, clear and easy to navigate and uploading photos and creating a slide show. I after a few trial and errors I now have 'concrete experience' with creating a blog, uploading photos and using these platforms (minor experience as it may be) and I am now able to use 'reflective observation' to review what I have done and compare it fairly to others' work. The cycle helped me to see clearly what I have learnt from it so I will be able to keep building on the knowledge and skills learnt. I'm quite glad that I entered the course with such little knowledge of Web 2.0 and enter that I entered the cycle where I did because I can see a much bigger learning curve.

Now that I have some concrete experience with using the tools, I am able to use reflective observation much more, to ensure that I am on track and to keep in touch with new ideas and thoughts from others on the course before I make any decisions and continue to move through the cycle. So here I can see that through experience I am entering the cycle at different points in different circumstances.

Honey and Mumford (Honey, 1982) and (Honey and Mumford, 1983) expand and adapt Kolbs idea into the 'Four Stages': Having an experience, reviewing an ecperience, concluding from the experience, planning the next steps.

Howard Gardner :

Gardner suggests that people can be intelligent in a number of ways : spatial, verbal inguistic, Logical- mathematical, Bodily- Kinetic, Musical, Interpersonal (understanding people and relationships), Intrapersonal (relates to ones emotional life as a means to understand onself and others) and naturalistic (relatees to nature and the natural world to find meaning).

I think straight away we can all slot ourselves in (at face value) to one of these, but when I really started to think about it, I found that though I fit strongly into Inter and intrapersonal I also fit into a few others aswell. Perhaps rather than looking at the list and finding an intelligence we have strongest, I suggest we use it to see that maybe there is just one that perhaps we are not so strong at. Make the glass half full rather than half empty. I know I am musical and spacial due to my background in dance and music, and though I think in an extremely logical way, I have never quite got my head around maths much past GCSE. In reflection, I have always been good at giving advice to people with problems in there life whether it be inter or intrapersonal for them and it is through that, I am able to see I have intelligence in that area. I'd just never categorised it before.

Gardner also discusses VAC: Visual, auditory and Kinaesthetic learners and later in 2005 'Multiple lenses' (multiple ways of looking at things). (Gardner 2005) He suggests that 'multiple lenses' are a way of looking through a key hole at different ways of learning and being a learner. It allows us to pin point our own and others strengths and weaknesses by breaking it down into these categories, though obviously there will be overlapping areas. Gardner's main objective is to help us understand about how we learn.

My relationship with reflective practice has always been strong, it’s just not always been conscious. Throughout my education at Italia Conti, at the end of each term we had to fill in evaluation forms, and of course being vocational students, we hated this. We just did not see the point in writing down what we’d gained from the term! Of course now it’s all clicked into place. Continual evaluation of the skills we were learning through the forms and the journal we had to keep throughout first and second year enabled me to reflect on the individual days experience and pick out key points or skills that had helped me to learn something new whether that be about myself or about the profession. I used my college journal to note when I was struggling with something in a class, and try to work out why that was, and what I could do to combat it. I considered different teaching styles as inevitably some teachers at the college did not work as well for me as others and I also found ways in which I could learn more from those that did work well for me. This was all through using reflection as a tool and now I realise just how useful that reflection was at the time. By Dewey’s standards the reflection must be conscious, but that is not to say that it has to be instant. I was lucky enough to have the sort of educational background which enabled me to realise the purpose of the journals and the evaluation forms at the time, however I have spoken to peers who now (having graduated and joined a world in which you must constantly be evaluating yourself) have realised why they were being made to do all that written work and the relevance of it. Their learning process was slow in reaction but occurred none the less due to their reflection on the completion of the 3 year course and all it entailed.

From this I suggest that using reflection as a tool for learning does not always have to be instant, it may come with further reflection upon the original reflection itself rather than the actual experience.

Another tool for reflection that I have noticed within the profession is note taking. Since I began auditioning whether it was for performing arts colleges or for jobs such as cruises or adverts, I’ve noticed that the audition panel use note taking to evaluate the candidates and keep a record of who and what they are seeing before them. On popular TV reality shows such as ‘Britain’s next top model’ and ‘X factor’, they take photos of each candidate and later use their notes and the photos to reflect on what each candidate did and could bring to the contest. I have also seen in auditions, candidates coming out who have been asked to change something and return whether it be the next day or in a couple of hours. This relates strongly to Dewey’s theory as these candidates need to have been fully aware of the experience that they were having at the time so that they can go away evaluate it and change the necessary in order to change what was asked of them. In this instance they must use Kolb’s learning cycle very rapidly in and enter probably at ‘Concrete experience’ in order to go on and review, conclude and try again  in not a lot of time. Kolb's learning cycle is particularly useful in the performing arts profession as we, as perfomers, must be constantly evaluating ourselves and are actions in order to improve. Espeially as it is a career that is becoming more and more accessible to different people and the jobs are becoming fewer and fewer. It is the case that every single audition I attend must either be successful or part of the learning process, if it is neither of the two then really it was a waste of time.  Some times I find myself going to smaller less important auditions just in 'active experimentation' preperation for a more important and relevant audition.

Task 2b: the follow up

The styles that I mentioned in my previous post really helped me to reflect as much as possible on my day. They worked great for me to summarise, pick out highs and lows, and evaluate the day as concisely as possible. I found a few reoccurring themes that I hadn't noticed before about myself and I think that's really an important thing to take away from the task.
I found that more often than not my lists and thoughts always stemmed back to not feeling fulfilled and always wanting something more. I knew that obviously I don't want to be working as a waitress for ever, but I hadn'nt ever really noticed that actually that is alllllllllllllll I think about. Or rather everything that I do think about and do on a daily basis is with the aim or hope of doing something more, getting something better, being something better. And really how depressing that when you look at that from another perspective.... there must be a serious dent in my self esteem to have such loathing for my current lifestyle and its attributes. And for that matter, it highlights to me now as I type that perhaps that is why I've mentioned on several occasions that I like to pick up on the pros and highlights of the day, even if it is a split second that makes me smile.
If I take anything from this experience, that last paragraph was the turning point. That is the point in which keeping a journal for the task has become a true point of reflection on my life at this moment. A moment of self realisation. Good and bad.

Task 2b: Journal writing experience

So can I firstly start by saying how much I love that I started the 9 days on the beginning of the month. It's irrelevant to the task but it's soooo much easier to keep track of!! And we know that I love to be organised and tidy with these things.
Anyway, back to the important stuff!.
After completing the 9 days of different journal writing I chose a couple and decided to explore them a bit further and develop them to suit me. J. Moon said that 'Journals come in any shape, size and form', (Moon 2006) So for the past two days my journals have culminated of the following in order to create my own style of journal:

• description
• initial
• reflection
• list
• what if 

I started off with a basic list of what I did that day, a few jotted notes ( If we were to put it on the graffiti wall from the campus session , all of these notes would slip under the 'see' collumn). I then started to 'think' about what I had actually done that day and these sprouted off like a spider diagram and gave a bit more depth.  Using 'Initial' and 'reflection' I started to write and really consider how I felt about the things that I'd done, what had happened, and things that had been said. As I came to my conclusion of this I began the 'what if' development and it enabled me to suggest what I could perhaps do differently next time and what I would like the next day to hold. So a little bit of preparation and planning ahead.
It worked out to be a really interesting exercise and I've now found myself with a good sort of basis to build my everyday journals on.
For anyone else writing their journal I'd really encourage trying out a few and finding the style that suits you, your lifestyle and the way brain works best.



References:

Moon, J. 2006, A Handbook for reflective practice and professional development, Taylor and Francis

Task 2b: the 9 day challenge!

For the few weeks I've been keeping my journal, but for task 2b lets pay particular interest to the 9 day challenge as I've named it. lol. So, I chose November 1st - 9th. 9 easy to keep track of days conveniently coinciding with the dates of the month. I went through the 9 ways of enhancing the journals and had a go at each one. And some I felt rather silly doing, (seeing my day through the eyes of a pencil case I'm afraid is just not for me) and some that I felt captured my journal writing style and could help me to develop it further to get better reflection on the days. I'm going to pick out a few that I liked and used and developed and briefly mention the few that I felt didn't work quite so well.

So start at the top shall we!

• Description: description suited me completely,infact it is pretty much what i'd been doing all along. Keeping a basic list of what happened, where and when with the odd bit of extra. I'm glad that it was on the list because it put my mind at ease that I hadn't been doing it wrong, but at the same time I don't think that it really pushed me to develop the idea and think outside the box.

• Initial: this was a good one, I like to think of it really as the next step on from description. It just goes into slightly more depth and gets a bit more opinion based writing in there. I think writing using the 'initial' form can often be a lot more revealing about the day than the description itself by mentioning what it made me think, and how it made me feel so I found this helpful and an easy step on from the first.

• Reflection: again this seemed to be the next logical jump, by just revealing slightly more again about the day itself. Reflection is great because it encourages you to look at the pros and cons of what you did that day and combines it with your mood. Combining these three views I think gives a good basic start to journal writing and by noting down anything unexpected that it reminds us that not everything goes to plan, or has to be as mundane as it may first seem.

• List: I liked using listing because it's so simple and relative to what your thinking about. It worked for me a little like a brain storm where the list had strands coming off of it on things that i'd like to look into further or reasons why I enjoyed activities. My brain is constantly jumping onto the next thing, with my form of dyslexia my mind thinks faster than I can write or sometimes speak so with the list having the option in front of me to branch off into another area was great and really helpful as I could come back to what I was thinking afterwards.

• Evaluation: I liked evaluating, it's very basic but again it allows you to pick out the pros and cons of your day. I found I was noticing a lot more in general, things that I may have overlooked previously. By evaluating I could summarise and forget the bits I know I didn't need to stress myself over and therefore things to avoid worrying about in the future.

• Graphs/diagrams/charts: before i'd even started this one I had a feeling it might not be for me, just comes accross a bit toooooo mathematical, but I tried to be open minded and gave it a go. Unfortunately I was right, there is just something about dividing my day up into sections and graphs that makes it far to clinical for me. I'm human, and my day is my life, not a test result or colour coded chart to be inspected. I use charts for the aspects of my life that they can be of help for, such as training at the gym for my half marathon. Using a chart or graph here is good to show how much or how little progresss is being made, but for the everyday it's not for me. However, I colour coordinated the diagrams apprpriately, and it showed I spent far to much time at work than working on my career. The reason I've found that a bit irrelevant at the moment is because I have to work to pay the bills, so seeing it in bright red just didn't help.

• What if?- now then, 'what if' was an interesting one, I do quite like the 'what if.' At first I didn't think that I'd like this one, but actually as I was I writing I found I could explore it more and more. It makes sense to consider what could have happened, and if it didn't go to plan, then why not? What could I have done differently, or could I do differently next time to change the outcome. I combined this with Kolb's learning cycle and found that by using the conditional i'd slot into the cycle at  'Reflective observation'. Working out what I need to do differently first, and then going from there. Considering what I would love to happen and what I would hate to happen gave me a bit of motivation to work harder to find an agent and work oustide the restaurant, it helped to remind me what was important and to let go of the things that didn't matter that day.

• Another view: well.... this was interesting. I struggled I have to say, to think outside the box on this one. I think I'm a funny one, because I am very creative but my mind is logical and for some reason I couldn't get my head around the logic of thinking of my day from the perspective of an object. However, I started to push my thinking, and thought of times when it could be relevant such as, If I was choreographing or directing a piece around an object, seeing the day from the point of view of that object actually could be quite interesting. Seeing my day from the point of view of another person however was great, a real insight into what others might be thinking. We get some very difficult people in my work place and sometimes it's hard to stop your face reacting naturally to something absolutely ridiculous that they may have said, before of course you realise and behave as an employee should. But seeing those ridiculous conversations which unfortunately can shape my day from their side was very entertaining. I think for audition purposes this could be interesting, to see the audition from the view of the panel rather than myself, so I think I'll try to employ it, just out of curiosity after my next audition.

I really enjoyed this task as I've been able to reflect upon my days and then reflect upon my own reflection to pick out the most rewarding and affective ways to do it. It's been really interesting and now I think i'll employ a number of the techniques combined and developed into one to continue my journal from here.

Task 2a: 03/10/12

Bonfire night! Remember remember the 5th ( ok well, 3rd for us who find the weekends are just more convenient to the masses) of november.
I just wanted to write this blog in appreciation of the task. I love events like christmas and bonfire night, etc. Yes of course I agree they've all become massively commercialised but I still love the atmosphere that comes with them, and if that's what it takes to get people, who dont normally make time for themselves or to get back in touch with friends and family (though that's a shame) then how can it be bad. I was really looking forward to adding bonfire night to my journal, I got the night of work by accident, went home to Bucks, and spent the evening at the gliding centre with friends and family watching the bonfire, fireworks and just having a laugh in general and mundane as an entry that may seem to some, relecting upon it in my journal was great and a nice change from the everyday. I learnt a lot that day gliding, getting information from 3 different instructors all about different points, and found that meeting new people, I am constantly learning how to adapt to them and trying to make a good impression to them which will come in handy whilst networking in the performing industry.
It was just nice to look back on the day and pick out some real positives to put a bit of faith back and I don't think I would have reflected upon it as much had I not been writing the journal for the task. It's just good, that's all :)

Task 2a: 01/11/12

Ahhh today I had a really interesting journal entry, because I finally went on my flight simulator. As I've told you all before, in my spare time I fly glider planes.  (and yes, that means not very often at the minute as spare time doesn't seem to exist anymore) So for my birthday this summer, I was brought a flight simulation in a Boeing 737 from UFLY737. It was great fun but I have to say I crashed a couple of times. The idea is to give people an opportunity to fly a massive plane in and out of different airports. I flew into Hong Kong, Oxford and Austria. Though I fly gliders, it is completely different to flying a such a massive powered plane, and though I had to keep referring to my gliding training to keep the wings level etc, I had to pay so much attention to all the new information being given to me. It was here I realised that I was learning at the same time as reflecting and combining the information together. It's funny that keeping a journal can make you realise the things that you're already doing unconsciously. I also later linked it with Howard Garner, and found that I was learning through a number of different ways such as, spatial, verbal and logical.

Task 2a: 31/09/12

So today I went to an audition for a girl band and I thought, 'perfect!!' a good experience and also something relevant to write about in my journal!

I just had to write a blog about this though because it wasnt until jotting down my experience for that day that I realised that I entered Kolb's learning cycle on a much larger scale.  In summary of my journal and reflecting upon it I can see that I entered the learning cycle at 'Reflective observation'. I've gathered this from thinking on a much grander scheme... there is a sort of 'protocall' for musical theatre auditions that we're all aware of but for girl band auditions??? who knows. Well , I do, but thats on;y from reflective observation of previous auditions at my college and from reality programmes such as pop idol, popstars, fame academy and x-factor. These programmes have been going longer than we realise and actually, when us musical theatre folk get thrown into a pop audition, where do we turn for help, whether consciously or not! We know what NOT to do from all the horrendous youtube videos of auditions gone wrong, and we pick up on the good bits from the reality success stories. And yes I hate to admit this revelation. :/
I followed the cycle to abstract conseptualisation by playing through a couple of scenarios in my head first such as 'what if they want to hear a different song', 'what would this band dress like', these sort of ideas that I have to work out before attending. Active experimentation of going to the audition and just giving it a go! (based of course on my previous planning) and finally concrete experience. I have been to a pop audition before and now I have more concrete experience to start the next cycle when it comes about.
It just shows that this cycle isn't only small and compact in terms of thought process, it can go back to things you didn't even realise that you were referencing... like X-factor..

Back in the loop!

Unfortunately this week i've not been very well and work has been eating up all my time. However, i've been keeping my journal, and keeping track of everyone else and I hope you'll forgive me for somewhat backdating my blogs. I've been writing them by hand waiting for a computer opportunity. :/ not ideal, but at least I'l be back where I need to be.

Task 2A: Reflective Practice

The first task is to keep a private journal which will enable us to reflect on our lives and look inwardly at what we are learning on an everyday basis. I want to start by considering different ways in which to keep the journal because that will be key to how successful it is. If I choose a medium that I can't keep up due to lack of time, the journal will suffer.
D. Boud (2001) suggests that 'writing is a means of puzzling through what is happening in our work and our personal lives". 

• Keeping a written diary- would be one way of using writing to 'puzzle through', however, the written word can only describe, it cannot always really capture a moment.
• Audio clips- keeping a dictaphone to hand and verbalising the journal would be quick and easy to do on the go and would also be able to capture you emotions in another dimension as you would be able to judge pace, intonation and volume as well as the words used.
• Video- I really like the idea of keeping a video diary, because again it allows you to use more than one dimension. I would be able to look back and really see how i felt on that day without even using words if I chose. The only thing with this is that it could be time consuming if not used efficiently.
• Bullet point lists- whenever I have to much in my head I jot it down into a list, it takes it out of my head and safely onto paper so I know it won't be forgotten and I can stop thinking about it. When its finished I can tick it off and feel some sense of achievement. I could keep a journal by bullet pointing what I hope to achieve in the day or bullet pointing what I did actually achieve. This would be to the point and quick but I fear not truly capturing the moments or the experiences, just the facts.
• Colours- at the campus session, Bobbie suggested using coloured pens or highlighters to enhance the emotion of a written text (particularly if it was bullet pointing), perhaps red to mean anger, blue to mean calm etc.
• Photos or drawing- I like the idea of taking one photo a day, quickly sketching a small scene, or just finding an image from elsewhere that depicts either a high light or perhaps a low in the day. I think being able to keep a record of one pleasant thing that stands out in the day would encourage a positive note to end each day on.
• Blog- everyone does it! I could possibly keep a seperate blog about the everyday things as my journal. I would get input from others which could promote either a positive or negative end note to each day. 

Knowing what I'm like, I do enjoy writing when I know what I want to say, however in my everyday life sometimes I struggle to find the right words to describe what I'm feeling and thinking especially when it comes to more abstract topics which appear each day. I think the best way for me to 'Puzzle through' would be to use a combination.
I will probably keep a written journal of the main daily activities I do and then use a picture or video clip just to go into one area of it, if necessay, a bit closer to ensure that I can capture the moment as best possible. I find London (especially at this time of year, and when there are so few professional performing jobs available) quite depressing, and therefore I think picking out as many highlights as I can and capturing them would be a really good way in which to reflect on all the positive things that I am learning along the way. 

Campus session 2, Reflective Practitioner: theories

Looking at the first part of reader 2 we're seeing a lot of talk of 'Turning experience into learning' and the key tool put forward to do this is 'Reflection'. Reflections main 3 practices, is -comparing, -extending, and -new learning.

The suggestion is that learning a new term is different to learning a new idea. Learning a term when you do not know the meaning is pointless. However learning the term and the meaning, is equally as pointless unless you have an understanding of the words used for the definition. To get the 'idea' you need to have a full understanding and experience with the knowledge or lack there of.

For example, Graham McFee explains 'I don't know what bachelors are.If I am not to just take your word for it, I have to check up on whatever you tell me. For you might be mistaken and tell me that bachelors are married men. To know that you are wrong, I must know what bachelors are... One must understand what is being defined in order that one can judge for oneself the accuracy...the definition itself must be understood -- I must know what the words 'unmarried' and 'married' mean, if I am to understand what is being said...' (McFee, 1992: 18)

Using McFees example of the bachelor: It is through the experience of not knowing what a bachelor is that we realise that we have a hole in our knowledge. We have to combine our pre-existing ideas with the new terms to understand andd learn a new idea.

During my time in college, my peers and I had it suggested to us that we would learn far more in our first year of working professionally, than we could ever learn in college itself. Worrying, at first glance, but what they were suggesting is exactly what we are looking at now. That, through experiencing things and then reflecting on them we discover new ideas and learn new things.

'active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends', (Dewey 1933).

What????!!!

Basically, what I think he's getting at here is that to learn from an experience, you must realise that you are having one. For example, if I do a brilliant tripple pirouette without thinking about it, we would call it a 'fluke', because I have done the pirouette on a whim, and wasn't aware that I was about to have an 'experience'. I couldn't do the same thing again. I have not learnt how to do a tripple pirouette flawlessly, it was luck. I have not learnt from the experience. If I tried to assess and analyse what I had just done, I wouldn't get very far because I hadn't put any thought into it. It was sheerly surface value. (It would go under 'see' if we put it on the graffiti wall)
If, I realising the hole in my knowledge, I went back and tried again, 'noticing' what I'm doing and 'thinking' about my technique and actions, and then reflected on the outcome, employing a conscious 'trial and error' technique, each time I would be learning from the experience.

"Kurt Lewin divided 'experience' into a circle of idea, fact finding planning (research) action, evaluation, planning, action",Kurt Lewin, Bapp (Arts) Reader 2, The reflective Practitioner WBS 3730

The following is a diagram of 'A learning cycle' put together by David Kolb (with Roger Fry)

I volunteered to write a blog about Kolb's learning cycle so I will just pop it in here to explain it a bit further. Over the years, my studies in communication showed me that theorists put things in cycles when there is no clear beginning or end, or rather when they occasional adapt. Cycles allow them to show that the theory is constant and never ending.

Different people enter the cycle at different points. The point at which you enter the cycle is usually referred to as your learning style.

I chose to see where I entered the cycle by looking at the newest skills I've learnt. When I started this course I had noooooo idea what I was doing and that stressed me out. In reflection, I found that I entered  the cycle at 'abstract conseptualisation'. I got off to a slow-ish start on the course because I dont function properly when I'm confused. I needed to understand and work out exactly what I needed to do and how I was going to enable msyelf to do it before I could start. I had to 'get my head around it'.  I then found my self moving onto the the 'active experimentation' where I took what I had learnt (how to start a blog and upload things onto internet platforms) and tried it out. I did make mistakes, and I had to try again. For exaple organising the layout of my blog so It was reflective of myself as a professional, clear and easy to navigate and uploading photos and creating a slide show. I after a few trial and errors I now have 'concrete experience' with creating a blog, uploading photos and using these platforms (minor experience as it may be) and I am now able to use 'reflective observation' to review what I have done and compare it fairly to others' work. The cycle helped me to see clearly what I have learnt from it so I will be able to keep building on the knowledge and skills learnt. I'm quite glad that I entered the course with such little knowledge of Web 2.0 and enter that I entered the cycle where I did because I can see a much bigger learning curve.

Now that I have some concrete experience with using the tools, I am able to use reflective observation much more, to ensure that I am on track and to keep in touch with new ideas and thoughts from others on the course before I make any decisions and continue to move through the cycle. So here I can see that through experience I am entering the cycle at different points in different circumstances.

Honey and Mumford (Honey, 1982) and (Honey and Mumford, 1983) expand and adapt Kolbs idea into the 'Four Stages': Having an experience, reviewing an ecperience, concluding from the experience, planning the next steps.


Howard Gardner :

Gardner suggests that people can be intelligent in a number of ways : spatial, verbal inguistic, Logical- mathematical, Bodily- Kinetic, Musical, Interpersonal (understanding people and relationships), Intrapersonal (relates to ones emotional life as a means to understand onself and others) and naturalistic (relatees to nature and the natural world to find meaning).

I think, straight away, we can all slot ourselves in (at face value) to one of these, but when I really started to think about it, I found that though I fit strongly into Inter and intrapersonal I also fit into a few others aswell. Perhaps rather than looking at the list and finding an intelligence we have strongest, I suggest we use it to see that maybe there is just one that perhaps we are not so strong at. Make the glass half full rather than half empty. I know I am musical and spacial due to my background in dance and music, and though I think in an extremely logical way, I have never quite got my head around maths much past GCSE. In reflection, I have always been good at giving advice to people with problems in there life whether it be inter or intrapersonal for them and it is through that, I am able to see I have intelligence in that area. I'd just never categorised it before.

Gardner also discusses VAC: Visual, auditory and Kinaesthetic learners and later in 2005 'Multiple lenses' (multiple ways of looking at things). (Gardner 2005) He suggests that 'multiple lenses' are a way of looking through a key hole at different ways of learning and being a learner. It allows us to pin point our own and others strengths and weaknesses by breaking it down into these categories, though obviously there will be overlapping areas. Gardner's main objective is to help us understand about how we learn.


In terms of theorists this is pretty much what got covered at the second campus session. I just sort of, clarified it all for myself and for any one else who would like to have a read.
Enjoy x

Campus session 2, Reflective Practitioner

Campus Session 2

First and foremost, I think It was great to see some new faces and meet more people on the course. It's so interesting to see people from different walks of life and get there view on the course and the tasks. Lovely to finally meet Adesola who ran the session and is advisor to me and Melanie. :)
So, we did a little get to know you task at the beginning where we all introduced ourselves and said a little about who we are. We then got into pairs with someone who we didnt know and were asked to write one word to describe who we our i.e  teacher, performer etc.

I teamed up with Katie, I wrote 'singer' and Katie wrote 'Performer'. We swapped papers and had to write down everything that we think that word entails. For Katie and 'Perforner' I wrote things like, bright lights. used to dissappointment, thrill of being on stage etc. For me and my word 'singer', Katie wrote, trained all her life, natural talent, expesive singing lessons, expressive, active. I found it interesting that Katie and I have pratically the same training and Laine and Italia Conti and yet she has classed herself as an all round performer and I have pigeonholed myself somewhat as a singer. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but or whether I just picked my dream job. Obviously I am a performer, but my heart has always lied in singing. But it was really intersting to see what other people view your life as and how I view hers just off of one word.

The Graffiti Wall

In the session Adesola first reaarranged the room to create a better space. We moved the tables out of the way and ended up with this table acting as a notice board. I think the key idea here was to not accept everything as it comes. Once we began, Adesola divided the board up into three columns, 'See', 'Notice' and 'Think' and we were then asked to add to it as the session continued. The importance of this task was that it made us aware that though we 'See' things at face value, and we occasionally 'Notice' we do not always 'Think' into what is behind what we are seeing. Though it is fine to just 'see' things and not 'think' about them, the task allowed us to reflect and show us that we do it more than perhaps we thought we did. It made us aware of something we do subconsciously.

The Canes

No we haven't jumped back to the 1950's. In the session we got into partners between who, we had 2 canes. The idea of the exercise was to hold the canes by each of us having just one finger on each end and then to move around, and if we dropped the cane, we needed to cheer and clap.

Reflection of the exercise showed that some were much  more adventurous with the movement of the cane, some didnt seem worried if it dropped, others were much more concentrated on not letting it drop, and others showed to either lead or be happy just to carefully follow.

I think I was very adventurous with the cane, I wanted to see how big a range of movement we could get with the canes however I was very careful not to let it drop. After working with 2 different partners we then all got into one big group to do the task. The cane dropped quite quickly but it was good fun.

Postcard tours

 The next exercise was really intereseting. Adesola scattered lots of different postcoards over a table and we each had to pick three that stood out to us for whatever reason. In groups of three, we took it in turns to put the postcards around the room, anywhere we liked, and then take the rest of the group silently on a tour of the postcards. Once we had all finished our tours we gave eachother feedback on what the tour had meant to us. I chose three pictures, that in a way I feel represent certain aspects of my life or feelings I've had often. For example, I love the solitude that comes with each one that I chose, a calm and peaceful feeling with in each but still, you do not expect others to pick up on why you've chosen your post cards.

Everyone had different choices, I looked at Katie and Hannahs. Katie's was very colour co-ordinated with where she placed it around the room and Hannah's was all to do with animals. I wonder if Katie chose the places intentionally (where she had placed her postcards) because they were quite representative of the pictures themselves. For example the picture she chose of the Farmer and his work horse was at the back of the room where we had to sort of climb to get to it. I think the making it hard work to get to the picture represented the tired look of the farmer and his horse. However, this may be completely unintentional!

Katies feedback of my 3 postcards:

- 2 dramatic photos (emphasis on the main focus)
- Old portaits, old fashioned
- No obvious colour co-ordination with the background of the room
- Creative
- No relationships between the photos, variety

In a way I think Katie is not far off. The images are creative and old fashioned, and I like that she has picked up on that. I would say that the relationaship between the photos is that they are all so different. They each have a different viewpointn of the world. One of my hobbies is flying, and I was reminded of how different the world looks from thousands of feet up in the air by the picture of the workmen, and what they must be seeing, and how far away from the rest of the world they all are.

Linking back to the graffiti wall, this execise showed us that images that at first we just 'See' and accept can have a meaning and alot more to them if we take the time to 'Notice' and to 'Think' about them.

The campus session was really helpful to encourage us to reflect and open our eyes a bit more and I hope that my brief summary here has helped anyone who missed it. I will be adding a little bit more regarding theorists that were covered briefly during the session as soon as possible. :)

 

Net Savvy?..Ref: Lorenzo, Oblinger, and Dziuban

This article seemed ever so relevant to me when I embarked on this course and first looked at the tasks, (hopefully im not the only one) and that's why I've decided to just have a quick closer look at what it is saying.

As a 21st century student I've found, along the way, that is expected of me to have a certain amount knowledge about the internet and computers. If I didn't understand something, many have told me to 'google it!'  Half my homework throughout my school life relied on having a computer and internet access, and to be fair, when you have homework due in the very next day after its been assigned, it is IMPRACTICAL to assume that any one could make it to the library, do their research and have it ready by 9am the next morning. So yes, a certain amount of computer knowledge was needed. Everyone had to take I.T until year 11 at my school. However, what how many people can really say that they are 'Net savvy'. To be honest... I can't!

When I started this course, I had to set up a 'blog', never done that before. I had to put a video on youtube and upload it to said blog... never done that before! I had to load photos onto 'Flickr'... and yes, you guessed it I'd never done that before either. Even now, writing this post, there are 2 options: compose...(or) :HTML. What on earttttttttttthhhhh is an HTML and how would anyone possibly know how to write in this code!

Lorenzo starts by pointing out that there is a difference between being 'Net savvy' and being basically 'Information literate'. (Having basic I.T skills, information resource skills, and critical thinking skills)

He points out that now that anyone can add information to the internet, the nature of the information has changed. And questions, do we really know enough about the internet to weed out the rubbish and get to the real stuff. I may not be 'Net savvy' but I'm not lazy, and to ensure that I have the correct information, I always cross reference lots of different sources. However many have said that a lot of people really do just take what wikipedia says as gospel. I mean really... how dim do you have to be!

"The OCLC concluded that library resources, services and information experts "appear to be increasingly less visible in a universe of abundant information", How choice, culture and co-creation are changing what it means to be 'Net Savvy',  DeRosa, C., Cantrell, J., Hawk, J., & Wislon, A. (2006). College students perceptions of libraries and information resources. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. Retrieved September 26, 2006, from http://www.oclc.org/reports/perceptionscollege.htm

Early on in my blog I questioned whether or not we were promoting social innequality by putting such heavy emphasis on being either 'Net savvy' or atleast extremely 'Information literate' and I'm very pleased to see that it is a topic which arises in this article. W. Thomas suggests that not all students of this net generation are 'net savvy' and therefore it should not be assumed that they are.
 "It is wrongheaded to think that undergraduates—because they have grown up in a digital age—are better at understanding the technology they use as it relates to researching information. They are at sea, drowning in a pool of information, looking for life preservers. Libraries have taken on the task for years of educating our undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors about where information resides, how to access it, and what can be done with it. This is the vestal flame of libraries, and it is really an important task that can’t be surrendered under the assumption that undergraduates know about this because they have grown up with technology." Thomas, W. (2006, August). Personal communication. 


Lorenzo continues the point in 'Not all fit the net generation profile'.(How choice, co-creation and culture are changing what it means to be Net Savvy' By George Lorenzo, Diana Oblinger, and Charles Dziuban) I feel that the points he raises are very similar to those that I raised in 'Task 1b:the readers and my ideas..' I'm glad that i'm not the only one who thinks that there are pro's and cons to the net generation.

1b: ULLRICH ET AL.

What is Web 2.0?

 For those who still aren’t quite sure, I will just clear up exactly what Web 2.0 is because I think really we should all know by now. Web 2.0 allows and encourages active participation from each user of the platform. Because the creators want to encourage customers to use it, each Web 2.0 application is kept as easy to use and to the point as possible, concentrating, for the most part, on the function of the page. Web 2.0 stores and publishes information in many forms, such as blogs, audio clips, videos and wikis etc. It is the active participation part that sets web 2.0 apart from web 1.0.

Downes refers to web 2.0 from the constructivist perspective and says “the Web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along." S. Downes. E-learning 2.0.eLearn, 2005(10):1, 2005.

Downes' theory suggests that "Web 2.0 is characterized by social learning and active participation, as advocated by constructivism",Ullrich et al 2.9 Summary, S. Downes. E-learning 2.0.eLearn, 2005(10):1, 2005.


Constructivism:

Ullrich’s article presents the idea of ‘Constructivism’. And briefly translated, constructivism is the idea that knowledge cannot be taught... Knowledge, to be learnt, must be constructed by the individual, making the learning process active through combining what we already know with the new information. It’s not so complicated however, because now constructivism is used in classrooms on a daily basis. All it is, is that annoying method where teachers make you actually think for yourself. And to be fair, it does work. Everyone had a teacher who was about 100years old and never stopped talking... and was it not that class that you never seemed to be able to remember anything from afterwards? That is because information is just being handed to you, information passing from A (the teacher) to B (the student) and going no further. Constructivism suggests purely that it takes a bit more participation for knowledge to be learnt. Once the information has been passed from A to B, B must then connect it with already existing knowledge to actually learn. The pupil must decode the information and language given to them and construct the knowledge in their own head. They’re mind must be actively working and participating to construct knowledge.

This links to web 2.0 in that information is no longer just passed from author to reader on the internet. The reader, using Web 2.0 tools, now has the ability to construct their own opinion and give their own thoughts.

 
PLE: personal learning environments:

This is where the learner is able to create their own learning environment using web 2.0 tools, such as blogs and wikis and pulling information from various sources such as social networks. This in theory is good from a constructivist point of view, as the learner is taking it into their own hands. However, someone who is not as concentrated and is perhaps not as strong a learner may procrastinate using a PLE as they may not use the tools efficiently. I think that this is one of the reasons that constructivism is combined with other types of learning in schools. Not every pupil is as applied as the last and may require a lot more guidance. You will see that students with learning difficulties often learn in a different way entirely so left alone with web 2.0 tools may be the completely wrong approach. As a student with learning difficulties myself, I can say from firsthand experience that had it been left entirely up to me to create my own PLE, I personally would have spent more time worrying and stressing over how to put it together than the use of it as a tool, making it an inefficient method of learning for me innitially. I think perhaps a middle ground, where there is an adaptable template for your PLE could be much more useful, because people who get side lined easily have less reason to waste time editing the space.


Independent access to data:

Independent access to data is all about reaching further than the standard PC ever could, through devices such as mobiles, game consoles and ipads. The theory is that the more easier it is to access learning, the more likely it is that the consumer will participate. It is another way that web 2.0 ‘encourages’use. It is taking computer learning away from the computer and making it hand held and portable, with the aim of making the learning less artificial and more about real life scenarios. I can see that it is more likely that someone who may have no spare time at home to sit in front of the computer may get involved if it is quick and easy to do so, however my fear lies in everything becoming online. If you tweet a feeling quicker than you voice it, what does that say about live face to face conversation. In a class room, a class could know your feeling towards a subject via their mobile devices before you have even voiced it in the room. Do we risk becoming the silent masses that are brave enough only to voice our opinions online?

 What is long tail? :  Where there is nearly no limit to space hindering the growth of the product or service (like there would be in the real world)

What is the perpetual beta? : Where platforms are constantly changing and developing.
Pros: for further paltform development, discussion boards can be created and the user can have more input.
Cons: Continual development can be distracting for the learner as the platform can change just as they get the hang of it, keeping them from the task at hand

 

Article Ref: Why Web 2.0 isgood for learning and for Research, Principles and Prototypes, by  Ullrich et al.