Consume, Create, Connect in Retrospect

At the beginning of the term, we were told that the course learning outcomes were the following: consume, create, and connect. 

Consume: Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze literary texts, and to gather, search, filter, sample, bookmark, and research within academic and general sources, selecting materials and media appropriate to the project, the prospective audience, and to their own interests.

•  I feel as if I was able to consume Rainbows End, A Case for Books, and Jane Eyre on a deeper level, through seeing these books in multiple formats and from various perspectives.
• As a class, we were able to read one another's posts, learning more about the educational technological world.
• We learned how to use many different sites like Blogger, Goodreads, Diigo, Twitter, etc. for academic and research purposes.  See my post on how Twitter has changed how I search for information.

Create: Students will create a respectable online presence including an online profile, content outlets, and social networks.  Using these online tools, they will demonstrate competence in creating and following personal learning plans, and in composing texts and media appropriate to their literary studies, to family and professional purposes, and to life-long learning.  This includes active, self-directed learning, documenting learning efforts, creating multimedia compositions, and creating and publishing more formally developed work in public and durable formats.

• We created an eBook in less than a month which followed these guidelines and will help others follow them in the future.
• We created blog posts on almost a daily basis.  This forced each of us to expose our writing constantly.  This was a great, because I know it gave me more confidence as a reader, a writer, and a scholar.
• Through doing the constant creating in this class, each student was able to begin creating a strong online profile.
• I know that through constantly creating, the creator will have more of a chance of creating something that stands out and can make a difference. 

Connect: Students will demonstrate the ability to interact frequently and constructively with others (not just classmates) in their self-directed learning, and to work collaboratively on meaningful subjects and projects.  Student work should connect to their own lives, but must not be isolated.  It should be formatted and rhetorically constructed to connect with the needs and interests of those outside of their immediate social circles.

• I have a better understanding and connection with the wide web of knowledge that is the Internet.
• I know I have developed skills in this class to better prepare me for lifelong learning, and particularly in my case, social online learning.
• I feel as if my fellow classmates and I have connected to so many different people through the experience of this class, including one another.  It has been an unforgettable experience.