#4Life

As an open course participant I design my own customized learning plan. Does this mean I create all the assignment requirements and criteria and go willy nilly into learning. NO! What it entails is me reflecting on my strengths and weaknesses and the guidance and framework of the course and community to decide what I need as a learner to advance. The open course (and even the facilitated course #noir106) offer guidance and successful building blocks as a framework for learning practices in new skills in alignment with a final standard or outcome.

My process;

1. Self reflection and looking at earlier feedback and/or assessment data  on work completed. Self assessment of skills for suggested growth and development to identify needs or wants. I can do this independently or through question and inquiry of community members, facilitators or people who offer to mentor.
2. Reviewing framework of Headless ds106 and #noir106 facilitated group assignments and goals. How do they align or begin to add a thread or shape to my own personal goals (in this instance – how do I develop skills for being able to use the boxes of photos and artifacts (content) from family to create digital stories of our history as a family that someone might actually view and enjoy as well as not lose what makes us special – This goal is almost a tangent from a post by Alan Levine about old technology access – “It’s 2015. I’m Going to Make a HyperCard Stack.” How do we make sure others know how we got to the present to continue towards a future?
3. Goal Setting – create my goals for a specified time. In this case Units 6-7 (and a week of spring break)
4. Put into written form the customized path of tasks and learning practice to meet the goal(s) set.
5. Use the ds106 Assignment Bank and #noir106 Wk 6-7 requirements for constructed guidance and ideas for learning and creations. (side note – in a K12 classroom this could be the lesson plan data base for students – everyone does not need to do water studies or biographies at the same time. My view of personalized learning as teachers helping students learn how to learn and become their own lesson planners using the resources and guidance of an expert. If K12 gets this right – think of all the adults who will naturally fall into being independent learners instead of UNlearning so much or doing things as they have always been done because they know nothing else. How creative would the be and what would the world look like? Maybe more caring and responsible? I can only hope that we might find out some day)
6. Customize assignments to fit within my context – such as – I will not create a noir radio bumper, but an intro and ending bumper related to my family member character for use in audio and future video. Another example: not a Noir poster, but a poster/logo for my family member for a specific time in life or in general that will become their visuals out all the stories created.
7. Document,reflectby posting to this blog as my evidence of learning and process.
   1. Post iterations, task completions, reflections and the final outcomes. It is important for sharing and feedback to post the steps as well as stay on track in my customized path. Otherwise project creep will easily set in. Each learning practice is a piece of a greater whole at this point.
   2. it help others who create their own paths by example and ideas
   3. Sharing thru social networks (ie. Twitter) will give feedback and engagement to push my work farther and greater outcomes.
8. Share final creations with others outside of “working network” for feedback or examples for others to use in their own learning. (could be as a model or as a what NOT to do. Doesn’t matter for my learning if others can use it in some way to advance on their own in their way. Either way the work makes a difference somehow to someone.)

Struggles:

I am still struggling with the template of my customized learning plan. Academically I know it needs certain sections so that this all holds together. Traditional templates have strong points and value, but also seem to constrain me and send me back to traditional system assumptions and criteria. I am also not far enough along to analyze what is working and what is not as effective. I am leaving open that the learning plan format or frame changes each unit at this point and will summarize and decide later within the ds106 structure what was most helpful and kept me tracked as an independent learner on the learning continuum.

While the #noir106 cohort is busy in group collaboration creating their radio shows and then taking a spring break, I will be busy creating my audio products and pulling them together for my character/family. My group collaboration will be in dropping in on the #noir`106 creations as fresh ears and eyes for critical friend feedback if asked (or not), while learning from the groups design, audio and storytelling techniques.

I have pondered most of my week away along with other life activities – time to get this down on paper and move forward!

 Learning Plan Unit 6-7