Week 1 Assignment

10 September 2008
Matt Robinson

Community Development 2.0 -- Assignment #1


Habits I predict to be easy…

Accepting responsibility for my own learning – I understand and agree with the idea that I am responsible for my own learning, and likewise see in my day-to-day interaction with others that being personally responsible can make a big difference in forward progress. Personal and work experiences have proven the value of this, so I believe it will be an easy habit.

Have confidence in myself as a learner – Throughout my formal education I faced many obstacles, and through hard work my workmanship naturally increased. Seeing this steady rise and recognizing my successes has allowed me to have confident in my work.

Create my own learning toolbox – Although it may not be easy to physically acquire everything, I think stepping away from a learning challenge and predicting what I’ll need to succeed will be easy. Personal experience as well as dialogue with peers will hopefully able me to create a strong and diversified toolbox.

Use technology to my advantage – Through personal interest I feel I’m ‘up to date’ with technology, and already incorporate many aspects of it into daily life. The transition to using this for learning is a natural one, and I can’t foresee difficulties.

Teach and mentor others – I’m lucky enough to have a teaching role in day-to-day life, so I see the value in this.


Habits I predict to be challenging…

Begin with the end in mind – When undertaking learning projects in the past, I’ve always broken up the task into smaller subprojects, and approached each of those independently. If I look at the end goal, all the work needed to get to the end can seem too daunting. By taking smaller steps I can stay focused and motivated.

View problems as challenges – I think in principle this idea is very solid, but I have trouble with it in practice. A glitch in the plan or a slight diversion can be a welcome challenge, but often problems can be compounding and to erase them the learning has to go off course.

Play – In the past, ‘play’ has been the alternative, or the reward for learning. If homework is done, ‘play’ is the reward. Switching mindsets to merge the two will be a challenge to get used to.