This course requires a significant amount of engagement with social technologies. Indeed, this site is a good example of social software in action. This component of the course is intended to make sure you have set things up correctly, to give you practice in using the main technologies on which the course is based as well as helping to link the ideas that we will be exploring with your interests, experience and aspirations. This is a vital component of the course - don't skimp here.
Note that this sounds like a lot but is actually not that onerous! It is, however, very important that you do these things.
This course requires you to engage at several levels - personal, group, network and collective (more on that in the theory section). Most significantly, it requires you to reveal things about yourself not only within the group but also (sometimes) to a far more public audience, beyond the confines of the closed university space. Wherever possible we will try to reduce the dangers of doing this but, and we must emphasise this, you will be working and interacting with people and locations that are not under our control and there are inherent dangers here. We offer some guidelines below, but mostly this is just common sense - be wary at all times!
You are required to reflect on the work you have performed in your blog each week. There are many ways to reflect and you are welcome to explore a variety of approaches and adapt them to the task at hand. A reflective blog entry is not about simply describing what you have done: although that is probably an essential element, keep descriptive blog entries as short as possible to convey the task. The main thing we are interested in is your thoughts, feelings and (above all) learning that resulted. If you are stuck for ideas then these leading questions may help you to find aspects of the experience to reflect upon:
By and large, particularly as you start to contribute your own resources, you will find that there is far too much reading specified here to keep up with. Don't panic! You do not have to read everything, and many things can be skip-read. Read what interests you and what helps with the task in hand. Use the notes and descriptions provided to decide how useful a particular resource might be. Listen to what others in the course have to say too and follow the buzz - find out what is being talked about most and read about it.
When reading, try to have some means of note-taking at your side. Paper works well, but you may prefer an electronic note taker (I like EndNote, because it lets me store and re-use references, though Zotero is a good free alternative. I also like Evernote, which comes in free and premium versions, and which lets you index words in images and other non-text formats)
The Landing is a social site for Athabasca University staff, students and invited guests. It is a space where they can share, communicate and connect with anyone or everyone.
Unless you are logged in, you will only be able to see the fraction of posts on the site that have been made public. Right now you are not logged in.
If you have an Athabasca University login ID, use your standard username and password to access this site.
We welcome comments on public posts from members of the public. Please note, however, that all comments made on public posts must be moderated by their owners before they become visible on the site. The owner of the post (and no one else) has to do that.
If you want the full range of features and you have a login ID, log in using the links at the top of the page or at https://landing.athabascau.ca/login (logins are secure and encrypted)
Posts made here are the responsibility of their owners and may not reflect the views of Athabasca University.