Learning Plan 1.0

I was reading the Digital Civilization class blog (which I now get to contribute to--watch for links to my posts!) and Dr. Burton, my professor, was talking about reinventing the syllabus. He mentioned a girl named Janelle who

1. found out what she needed to learn;
2. created a schedule and a plan for learning it; and
3. adapted her plan as she moved forward.

So I decided to make a plan of my own.

This semester I'm taking a print publishing class, an editing class, and a women's literature class (woo hoo!) in addition to being a TA for Digital Civilization, and even though we're only two days into the semester, I've noticed a few ways that I might integrate and synthesize the knowledge I'm learning in these different areas. 

For my print publishing class, I have to have at least 10 single-spaced pages of text to format, design, and make into a book.

For my editing class (substantive and genre editing, magazine emphasis) we have to write several short articles for potential publication in a magazine.

For my women's lit class (which I'm STOKED for, if you couldn't tell) we're delving into some really fascinating issues concerning what it means to be a woman today.

For Digital Civilization, we are going to talk about digital literacy, remix culture, self-directed learning, and being part of the larger global conversation.

So I was thinking I would create my book using elements of all these things, probably with a focus on digital literacy and its importance in education and/or for the LDS people, a topic I've been ruminating on for a month or so now. I could use

• A research paper on blogging in the undergraduate classroom that I wrote last semester
• Blog posts (both my own and my professors') that have already been written
• Blog posts that I have yet to write but have been meaning to for awhile (one centered around the presentation called "Killing Us Softly--click here for the video on YouTube. Caution: Graphic images. Let the viewer beware.)
• The articles I write for my editing class about principled use of media and why the LDS people must be digitally literate
• Creative Commons and other open-source images that I can reuse and remix (all the images on this blog come from Creative Commons)

I would also really love to create an e-book version of this that would be made publicly available. I don't know how I would do that, but I'm sure I can learn.

By organizing my learning with this end in mind, I can meet all the requirements of my classes, feed my own interests, and create a product that I can share and take pride in. Beautiful. I love the idea of integrating our knowledge and making different iterations or remixes of what we already know. I'm kind of excited about this idea--aren't you?? :) I feel that we learn the most and find the most meaning from what we are learning when we synthesize and share that knowledge and understanding intelligently. I wish more students and teachers understood, embraced, and encouraged this concept; we would find that our knowledge has value in ways that we might not think of at first glance.


Photo credit: sarah_browning on Flickr.com