trees are people too

I’m back. So soon. I know you missed me.

Again, we are talking about participation. It’s getting a little bit more serious now. As Adrian has mentioned, participation is now more than just turning up and doing the set tasks. As a student, to get the most out of the course, we need to be proactive in our learning… this means addressing a few :ahem: issues with our participation.

Adrian brought up the following aspects of participation as of primary importance:

Creativity
Exploration
Discovery
Risk taking

Here’s how I am going to endeavour to address these aspects:

Creativity – This, to me, means actually pushing myself to create, to make things. Being somewhat of a slug, I will have to push myself creatively to develop during the course. I’d say try and create at least two ‘pieces’ (outside of course tasks) – be it written, visual or audio – that gets my brain working creatively.

Another way to develop my creativity is by trying different methods of achieving the same outcomes, thus hopefully learning new (more efficient?) skills, creating new trains of thought and new problem solving skills.

Exploration – This is a little more interesting and easy. There is no end of resources out there. In addition to class readings/suggested texts, I would like to read at least 1-2 additional resources each week in an effort to develop my skills in exploration and my confidence, as well as new ideas (complementing all other aims). Research research research. This also involves exploring new software, mucking around with it and experimenting… I’ll aim to have familiarised myself with at least 3-4 applications or programs that I have never used before before the course ends…

Discovery – Ties into exploration – One would hope by exploring I might actually discover something ha. But being open to ideas, keeping a constant eye out for relevant information and additional stimulus, should hopefully lead to thrilling discoveries. Be it a blog, a new website or a new type of media, I will endeavour to comment on at least one rivetting discovery per week. This will also mean discovering my own strengths and weaknesses. If by the end of the course I am more aware of where my strengths and weaknesses are integrated media, this will be invaluable!! I’ll have to do this by reflecting on tasks and assessments throughout the semester.

Risk taking – This we be the most challenging for me, as I love my comfy comfy comfort zone.. Pushing myself to try new things, not fear failures, involve my self and speak out – this are all important elements of how I will take risks and how I want my ‘experimentation’ in the course to be… I guess a little more gung ho is what I am aiming for. Ask lots of questions, discuss with classmates, friends and (of course) with Adrian, and actively seek out feedback.

All this comes down to proactive learning, which I (ashamedly) have just discovered is quite different to just active participation. This is about going further than the course demands of you, looking for help when you need it, exploring further than what is given to us, hopefully leading to discovery, hopefully aided by taking risks and pushing myself to be creative. Sounds quite intimidating, actually… Mostly, all this will involve constant documentation of what I am finding out, which will be done via this blog, and allow me to reflect over whether I have achieved these aims by the end of the course…