Monday, February 9, 2009

The problem with formalizing reflection

Science of the Invisible: Towards reflective Twitterfolios (because ePortfolios suck and I don't want to be a prison guard): "Towards reflective Twitterfolios (because ePortfolios suck and I don't want to be a prison guard)"

Thought provoking entry from AJ Cann's "Science of the Invisible" blog.

I note it because a) this is a mental note to myself to think about it a little more (see, Alan - sometimes people do reflect when they're sat at a computer!) and b) I have a feeling that somehow wading in and attempting to formalize the outputs of something like Twitter could be seriously counterproductive.

The things I enjoy doing which are connected with my work / education, tend to be driven by me. I take ownership of them and then I enjoy what I'm doing. I like creating my own systems for storing relevant documents etc, but get bored when trying to shoe-horn them into someone else's ePortfolio system. I like thinking and mulling about stuff... but I have to have a hook which has drawn me in and being told what it is that I should look at, tends to turn me off. I like using Twitter to explore ideas with colleagues / see what's going on in the big world outside my office window. I like exploring new technologies with a view to seeing how they'll fit into my own practice / my institution's practice.

But... if someone were to say to me 'you must write a blog', 'you should use Twitter', 'you must evaluate these tools', 'you must reflect on your practice'... well, it takes away some of the essence that makes it real for me and risks turning it into educational artifice.
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