Conclusions:
No matter what, I had a hard time separating the various topics I was considering; I tend to be a big picture person who likes to see how things are connected — and they were all connected.
Finding articles online on any of my given issues was not very difficult: it was more a matter of isolating out the ones that are most useful to me. Unfortunately, relevance and usefulness can only be established by skim reading an awful lot of things.
The various "isms" I was researching had oodles of information available. I liked the notion of constructivism including creating tangible learning products, a "look, I made this to show what I know" approach (and arguably digital products are tangible in this sense). I liked that connectivism appreciates the importance of being able to use technology to find up-to-the-minute information; also, that it acknowledges the need to be interconnected with many people or sources of information to be effective.
Self-regulation information was easy to come by, though not always in connection with Art; more often, it was connected to emotions. Place-based education information was also relatively easy to come by, but usually had a focus on environmentalism, or going outside into nature, instead of focusing on place as local history.
Generally, I was quite happy with the amount of multi-media resources I could come across on the various topics—especially in terms of short videos regarding multimodal/multiliteracy approaches to learning using technology tools; and, I was pleased to see resources that acknowledged the importance of creativity, design, and artistic sensibilities in learning.
I think my main take away from this research process is that I could've done more of the synthesizing in my own head or on paper rather than thinking it through in my blog...because the blogs became rather cumbersome. It might also be better to narrow focus to one specific topic, but I'm sure I will still struggle with isolating things that are interrelated. Another, better, take away from this process is that I now have a really clear vision of where I'm going and what I want to accomplish with some of the classes I'm teaching this term. I'm very interested in seeing how things will turn out.
Works Cited link:
Works Cited "hard copy":
Heart-Mind Online,. 'The Creativity Edge'. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (RSA),. Changing Education Paradigms. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Siemens, George. 'Elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory For The Digital Age'. Elearnspace.org. N.p., 2004. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Susan, Baum, Stephen Owen, and Barry Oreck. 'Transferring Individual Self-Regulation Processes From Arts To Academics'. Arts Education Policy Review 98.4 (2010): 32-39. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Victorian Department of Education,. Considering Multiliteracies, Parts 1.1รข€”1.5. 2003. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Great reflective post! I think you have clearly demonstrated the dynamic and wild element of searching online for resources related to your topic, you never really know what you are going to get. I'm glad you are sharing on your blog, even if it is cumbersome, it allows others in our class to learn from your experiences and share in the resources you've collected from your topic. Its something that can live on long after you are done this class and diploma. You've assembled a useful collection of resources to buttress and support your thinking and exploring over the next part of the course!
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