ELRC 7501: Module 1 Reflection

New Knowledge in ELRC 7501

Hello all!  What is ELRC 7501?   It’s a graduate level course in LSU’s Master’s of Education program.  The class is called Educational Technology Evaluation and Assessment.  My academic and professional background are a cluster of elements, and I am still unsure of where my professional career will take me.  I may continue to teach English language learning and upon completion of the degree pursue a different audience at the university level or I may return to healthcare in nursing as a clinical educator or adjunct professor for a nursing program.  Nonetheless, either option requires apt skills in utilizing education technology and performing evaluations and assessments, so I hope I gain the skills to learn how to be an effective, efficient, and impactful to complete these tasks. 

Learning Style

There are currently seven different learning styles as defined by Time4Learning listed below:

l  Visual (spatial) Learner

l  Aural (auditory) Learner

l  Verbal (Linguistic) Learner

l  Physical (Kinesthetic) learner

l  Logical (Mathematical) Learner

l  Social (Interpersonal) Learner

l  Solitary (Intrapersonal) Learner

This is actually new information to me as well as I only thought there were auditory, visual, and tactile learning types.  I initially believed that I was an auditory learner.  However—after reading more about what each category pertains to—I actually find that I am a combination of being a Social (Interpersonal) Learner and a Solitary (Intrapersonal) Learner. The former category is defined by Thinking4Lears as persons that are good listeners who are thoughtful and understanding.  The latter category is defined as persons that prefer being away from crowds and learn best in a quiet place where they can focus on the task at hand.

Patterns of Personal Challenges

My upbringing has given me the opportunity to learn more than one language, and that has transcended into what I feel today—I am fascinated with language.  All of the varying sounds and noises produced by different cultures have greatly influenced the way I communicate.  I often say that I’m an excellent listener and I have great confidence in this skill.  However, I am not confident whatsoever in being a leader; so much so that I stray away from roles where I have to do such tasks.  I constantly rely on a psychological crutch that “I am not the best candidate”; which then further exacerbates my struggles to actively participate in conversation.  My comfort zone has deceived me believe that I am not the best speaker and that being a shadow suits me.

Change in Practice

As I go through this master’s program and learn a variety of skills to be an excellent leader, I can honestly say that I am excited to learn content and connect with so many different people through the courses, however putting it into practice is where the real challenge will appear for me.  Luckily, I have a supportive personal learning network and environment to relay these concerns to and slowly adapt and implement what I have learned in class to put in practice.  Working at a private educational instruction is beneficial because the culture of my work environment is very open where there are many opportunities for professional development, so I am very fortunate that my colleagues are able hold me accountable in an approachable and meaningful way.    

Moving Forward with New Knowledge

During the learning process, I gain a lot by listening to what others have to say, and I truly try and understand through their perspective.  The way I absorb information by these learning styles are through three phases.  I absorb information presented and rather than immediately providing feedback, I like to digest the information.  After rationalizing the topics presented and connecting it to something of relevance to make it real, I actually go through a third phase of the information presented and decipher meanings above and beyond what was originally presented.  The seven-week course creates a different dynamic and expectations because of the accelerated route and graduate level difficulty.  Yet, I am very drawn to how this class provides different options to submit work.  As long as we answer the questions, we are able to submit work in a written post, a blog post, a short video, or a slide presentation.  It’s a completely different experience to what I am used to and I absolutely appreciate this process as it can accommodate many different learner types.