U nit

The Role of Technology in the Reflective Process

Overview
This unit is comprised of three sessions which give you the opportunity to explore technological resources and social media a form of technology. As you interact with the tools and with each other, you will be able to identify your need for further development and should respond as the reflective learner-practitioner should; make the effort to address the needs and remain committed to plans made to meet these needs. As you learn more about yourself as a technology user, remember to record your achievements and share them with others. If there is no one to celebrate your growth, you should take the time to validate your achievement!

Unit Objectives
By the end of this unit you should be able to: 1. Analyse technological resources and social media that support the development of the reflective learner-practitioner
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2. Identify personal need for development from their initial orientation to selected resources/media for supporting reflective practice 3. Demonstrate commitment to personal development as learner-practitioners using the supportive technological resources provided for them 4. Share evidence of improvement in using more fluently, the technological devices provided to support their learning/practice

Readings and Resources

Bolton (2010). Reflective practice: Writing & professional development. Educational Relationships. Chapter 3; p. 49-53. London: SAGE. Information & Social Literacy James, A. & Davison, J. (2003). Active citizenship and the development of social literacy: A case for experiential learning. Retrieved at: v http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:3pbLoCvNxZcJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_ sdt=2000 Retrieved July 31, 2010. Journal & E-Portfolio v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-KyI4jtvWc Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGs_8oR35so&feature=related Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y32NoAgN9Ik&feature=related Retrieved July 31, 2010.

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SESSION 4.1

Personal Development through Technological Resources

Introduction
This session emphasizes the use of relevant technologies for personal development. The identification of personal needs becomes one of your key responsibilities as you are your best critic and you know your situation. This does not mean, however, that others cannot or will not share observations and make suggestions. What it means is that you are required to be reflective in light of your observations and those of your colleagues in helping you to become more competent or comfortable in using technological resources. In addition, it is making a demand of you to work at overcoming your challenge.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to: 1. Analyse technological resources and social media that support the development of the reflective learner-practitioner 2. Identify personal need for development from their initial orientation to selected resources/media for supporting reflective practice

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Exploration time
I cannot write reflectively I do not have the time to reflect Reflection is a mundane chore. I dont know if I am reflective by nature

These are some of the comments that indicate struggles that many learners and practitioners express as they try to develop reflectivity. If they do not find solutions to these concerns, chances are they will eventually give up their plans to become reflective practitioners. Because of past experiences or maybe the taken-for granted disposition, these individuals are unaware of the solution within their grasp. What is that? Technology! Probably this proposed solution raised a personal concern or question: But I cannot use the computer well, if that is what technology is about! If it is not the computer, then what is it? How can it solve these problems? If you reflect on the activities you have done in previous units or sessions, you may begin to get a glimpse of some technologies you used. Here is an activity to provide an answer.
ACTIVITY 4.1 Lets use one of the type of definitions we examined earlier in the course to start on the path to negotiate a working definition of technology. You will then revisit your original answer to the questions posed at the start of the session. 1. Type the word technology 2. Make sure the flashing cursor is on the word, technology 3. Click the right side of your mouse and look for synonym 4. Make a list of the synonyms the computer offers for the word technology

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Lessons from Activity 4.1 As a reflective learner-practitioner you have to check if you had been taking for granted some basic processes and devices you use to achieve the objectives of each session. If this is the case, chances are your response to the questions about technology would be influenced by the taken-for-granted disposition. Do not worry, since part of the learning experience is about changing dispositions while becoming more competent in our use of various resources. So lets learn more about technology from the task. When you look at the list of synonyms for technology, you should have noticed that the computer was not listed among them. Instead, you were given other words that indicate what technology is about and for which the computer would be an example. If you had grouped these words, you would have used what is called high order cognitive skills such as analyzing and forming categories. Maybe your categories would be similar to the ones highlighted in Figure 4.1 below.

Figure 4.1: Perspectives of technology

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 Based on figure 4.1, technology is concerned with intangible and tangible resources. Note that the idea of resource was taken from objective one, which indicates that we have to analyse technological resources and social media. The question now is this: what would you include in each of the categories labeled intangible and tangible resources? Using the list of synonyms, skills, knowledge, expertise and similar words would be included in the intangible category as these are not concrete or physical resources (they cannot be examined by the sense of touch). The other words/terms such as machinery, equipment and tools are placed in the category labeled tangible resources as they are concrete in nature, they can be manipulated by physically touching them. By taking this further, we could say that technology is concerned with intangible and tangible resources. Based on these categories, a tentative working definition of technology can be formulated using one or more of these terms. By including all of them, the definition could be more comprehensive. Here is a tentative definition formulated from the list of synonyms listed. Technology is concerned with intangible and tangible resources or media or means of getting things done. You may ask why the term media or the phrase getting things done is not listed among the set of synonyms but is included in the definition. By using the ideas of earlier sessions on types of definition, previous knowledge of the meaning of each word and by carefully analyzing the list to form categories, relevant labels can be identified. In addition, as indicated earlier, the objective provided clues since resource is mentioned in relation to technology. By using these hints other ideas associated with resources were considered. Note that when a term is comprised of other words with which you are familiar and these are used to decipher the meaning of the term, you are using two cognitive strategies called Key Word Location and Association. These strategies resulted in the selection of other relevant words such as products, devices and processes. When these words were analyzed further, it was evident that they were all concerned with
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getting things done. In light of this observation, the terms resource, media or means were selected although process could also apply for the intangible category. Application of the ideas from the cognitive processes and the meaning of technology, led to the conclusion that technology is also linked to addressing problems or achieving goals, or doing tasks. From your past experience in using the computer for example, these descriptions of technology should not be strange as you have been using it as a form of technology. For example, the processes applied to formulate the working definition of technology that was described earlier, is a form of technology PROCESS TECHNOLOGY. The use of the computer to document the working definition for us to share and discuss indicates the presence/existence of another form of technology, PRODUCT TECHNOLOGY. From our previous experience or knowledge related to the formulating of definitions, you probably came to the conclusion that the definition shared bears features of the circular type. Remember though that this can be limited if we wish to get ideas for applying reflective practice. With this in mind, it becomes necessary to find other perspectives to encourage assessment of the tentative definition of technology presented. This practice is an indication that you are demonstrating a critical thinking quality referred to as intellectual humility. Do you remember what this means from an earlier unit? If no, review the video presentation on critical thinking in Unit 3 (Levels of Reflection). The use of internet sources can provide a wealth of information for us to find credible literature but we have to use other forms of technology to make suitable choices. These include analyzing the quality of the literature in terms of relevance, authenticity, and ethics (referencing sources for example) to name a few. Lets us now find some definitions or perspectives of technology and analyse these in light of our tentative one. We will expand the tentative definition if necessary. You can then propose a working
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definition that we can use as members of this learning environment. Note though that we will have to apply negotiation skills (a form of technology) to decide which to use from amongst the suggestions offered.
ACTIVITY 4.2 1. Visit the websites listed and examine the perspectives of technology presented. 2. Compare with our tentative working definition and discuss your findings 3. Suggest improvement to our working definition or the perspective we should work with as a group.

Post your suggestion in the discussion forum. Lessons from activity 4.2 Did your analysis of the various perspectives of technology reveal any of the following? 1. Technology as products/resources 2. Technology as processes 3. Technology as knowledge application 4. Technology as the means for solving problems

(Add other perspectives if the list above is incomplete)

Refining our Perspective of Technology

If you look at your initial meaning of technology, chances are you considered some devices especially the computer as a major term to be included. Note that the computer and other similar devices were not among the list of synonyms presented by the computer and that the on-line resources did not confine technology to digital or electronic devices. However, the computer could be categorized as a tangible resource or product when we focus on its physical features. It is often described as modern
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when compared with other technological devices. In using it however, we apply other forms of technology that are non-physical in nature. These are the processes, knowledge, attitudes and skills for getting the tasks done. These non-physical resources imply that the computer on its own does not solve the problems. It requires the expertise, scientific knowledge of the user and affective qualities such as a willingness to inquire or perseverance in using this resource to solve our problems or achieve our goals. What must be stressed here is that these non-physical resources may also be described as modern technologies if they are based on current or new ideas from research. Any decision to use technological products or processes should be examined to determine modernity and the part this plays in ensuring quality processes. This is because quality processes ultimately lead to quality products. Quality also brings to the fore, the idea that the personal (informal) knowledge and the skills, attitudes and expertise are forms of technology. These however, need to be assessed as they indicate our capacity to influence our experience as we try to deal with challenges or problems and the outcome of the experience. It is in light of these understandings that the following considerations are suggested as guides for you to formulate a working definition of technology for our context. If you disagree with any, it is important to voice your stance and help us to understand your position. You can also provide alternatives or add to the list where you see gaps. Considerations for Formulating a Working Definition of Technology Include ideas that relate to tangible and the intangible resources Indicate the nature of the knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with technology Emphasize problem solving or goal achievement or getting work done Indicate the value of attending to the quality of process and products
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Rationale for the Proposed Considerations

Note that by including the tangible and intangible resources you will be working with a broader or more comprehensive perspective of technology. Indicating the nature of knowledge, helps us to understand that we must examine the principles we are to use as technologists and that this form of knowledge, regardless of origin or discipline, should have some theoretical or practical significance. The knowledge that technologists use is specialized and taken from disciplines so that suitable sources of information to achieve the goals, complete tasks or solve problems may be accessed. So, although we have personal knowledge or explanations that are constructed from our experiences, we should examine them in light of the perspectives of other practitioners or professionals such as researchers and indicate the value or worth of the personal in contributing to the problem solving process. As you examine and apply the personal, this can be formalized into knowledge for others to use. You should also remember that attitudes and skills are also forms of content and are based on principles that are derived from research. Finally, technology is used for various purposes, however, if these purposes are examined, we may come to the conclusion that they are primarily associated with problem solving or achieving an objective/goal or doing some kind of task or activity. One of the fundamental principles of reflective practice is to bring about meaningful change or solve problems and technology serves a similar purpose, you can understand why reflective practice requires the use of technology. Based on the key points shared, what is your working definition of technology? Remember to share it and discuss it with others. You should also negotiate as a group to arrive at the version which should become a guide as you interact with and use technologies. For you to be able to use this definition however, you probably should assess yourselves as users of technology. As users, we have to remember that we interact with technology as individuals and as social beings living and working with others. Now for our assessment task.
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ACTIVITY 4.3: SELF-ASSESSMENT TASK

From doing activity 4.2, and from your efforts to use technology, there may be challenges that you have experienced. To help you in examining your profile as a technology user, a list of criteria is provided below. Use each to identify any struggles and competencies you have as a learner-practitioner by placing S for struggles and C for competence in the profile column. You should use your records from the comment column to share examples with your peers in the portfolio later.

Self-Assessment Instrument: profile as a technology user

Assessment Criteria
Knowledge, Skills & Attitudes Attitude towards tangible technologies (electronic & non-electronic tools/media) to support learning/work Knowledge of tangible technologies (electronic & non-electronic tools/media) to support learning/work Skills required to use tangible technologies to support learning/work Awareness of scientific or specialized knowledge for solving problems as learner-practitioner Attitude towards problems experienced as learner- practitioner Skills for solving problems experienced as learner- practitioner Types of Technology Resources (on-line learning) Using mind-mapping tools Designing/using electronic portfolios Accessing credible electronic sources of literature/information (libraries, journals, movies, lessons etc.) Information literacy Social literacy

Profile

Comments/Examples

Social Media for Learning/Work-Related Tasks Social networking Learning communities Collaborative calendaring Collaborative learning groups Collaborative mind mapping Video sharing

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Making sense of the experience of doing self-assessment Probably you were focusing on the outcome of the self assessment task more than the process. As a reflective learner-practitioner, you should remember that the process is important. This provides experiences for you, which are either favourable or unfavourable. Any perturbations you encounter or experience is a source of knowledge and should be explored further. Lets probe more deeply into this inference to better understand its implication. If you were aware of the technologies included above, probably you did not encounter any difficulty in self assessing. However, if you were not familiar with the technologies, this might have posed a challenge. Note though that lack of knowledge or doubts are considered as criteria for self assessing. Reflective practitioners acknowledge their need to know and their doubts and work to reduce or erode them. Review your prescribed text: Bolton (2010). Reflective practice: Writing & professional development. Educational relationships Chapter 3; P. 49-53. London: SAGE. Additionally, if you look carefully at the criteria for you to self-assess, you should notice that you were required to check your knowledge but you may have missed this criterion completely because a quick glance may have indicated that you were being asked to self assess in terms of competence with unfamiliar technologies and by using unfamiliar criteria that were discussed earlier. If this was the case and it caused you to be perturbed somewhat, it is indicating one or more of the following: (a) You have not fully embraced or do not fully understand reflective practice (b) You did not reflect before taking action (c) Your beliefs about learning have not changed (d) Your role as learner-practitioner is still fuzzy (e) You are still being guided by traditional principles for practice
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Applying reflective practice In Unit 3, you learned about the nature of reflection prior to, during and on action. If you had transferred this knowledge, you would have applied technology in one form or another and should have had fewer difficulties since your lack of knowledge would have served as an indicator for action. Having noticed this gap, you could have used technology to solve the problem as you reflect prior to doing the task? One strategic action you could have taken is an information search. This means you could have accessed information from other colleagues or used other available sources of information such as on-line literature. This is why you need technology related skills referred to as social literacy and information literacy. To learn more about social and information literacy, you may interact with these resources: 1. James, A. & Davison, J. (2003). Active citizenship and the development of social literacy: A case for experiential learning. Retrieved at: v http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:3pbLoCvNxZcJ:scholar.google.co m/&hl=en&as_sdt=2000 Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.bestlibrary.org/digital/files/bruce.pdf Retrieved July 31, 2010.

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 Figure 4.2 Technical behaviours associated with information literacy as a skill If you were not challenged while doing the self-assessment, you should have completed the task and could modify your profile based on what your overall assessment revealed. Despite the ease with which you may have worked however, you too would have used process and product technologies. Some of these technological resources that require integration of process and product include mind-mapping, visual displays, textual presentations, e-journals and e-portfolios to name a few. Since you have started this course, you have had to use a number of these resources which you probably did not regard as technology at the time you were using them. In addition, we may not have considered them as resources that support reflective practice.

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Having provided a chance for you to make meaning from your experience in doing the self assessment task, let us now share some possible lessons. Lessons from the Self Assessment Task (a) From doing the task you should have learned that: (b) The resources we use to strategically solve problems as learners/practitioners are forms of technology (c) Technological resources include strategies and devices that are integrated as means of solving problems (d) Strategies or processes include mental (cognitive/thinking), psychological and technical. (e) Technology is not limited to electronic resources (f) Resources (products and processes) that allow us to interact with others are forms of technology referred to as Social Media (g) Social literacy and information literacy skills are fundamental resources for solving problems. (h) How social media and other forms of technology are used have implications for quality outcome and experience. (i) The learner-practitioner profile may include a technological dimension and that competence in using technology contributes to readiness for reflective practice and development as a person and professional. Having shared some key ideas on technology resources, let us now explore some of the technologies. We will focus on e-journals and e-portfolios which allow us to develop intellectual independence and on the social media included in the self- assessment task as these contribute to our emotional and social development. Take some time now to explore e-journals and e-portfolios.
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E-journal and E-portfolio: Technology Resources for Reflective Practice

Journals and portfolios are reflective tools that store real/authentic evidence of our learning or development. Some journals and portfolios are electronic and serve the same purpose as non-electronic ones. In terms of journaling, care has to be taken to ensure that the process of reflecting and acting is documented and the resource is not used as a diary of events for which there is no deep thinking. This means your journal should not be a composition of experiential moments or thinking. Journals may contain reflections in the form of texts or images. However, what these represent has to be clarified so that their analysis can provide useful data for mapping growth/development or change. These data may also provide information about the quality of the reflective moments in which you engage. Journal entries may be analyzed to identify themes, to tell stories, to develop designs for products and procedures. To support your learning, entries may be guided by all or some of the learning objectives. Still pictures, drawings and/or motion images may be included in your journal. Portfolios are technological tools that store authentic evidence of growth, learning/development, change or achievement. They may be electronic or non- electronic. In using portfolios, the purpose has to be clear and they should be designed to convey a picture of who you are in terms of the purpose intended. Your use of a portfolio in this course for example, is to provide data that support, personal history as learner-practitioner, your present status as learner-practitioner, and your progress and/or future directions. Care has to be taken to ensure that portfolios are not used to merely store the evidence of your claims. They should also be used to document your thoughts, feelings and overt actions as well as the outcomes of these behaviours. This means they provide the evidence of products and processes that result from:
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THINKING + ACTING.

To learn more about learning journals and E-portfolios, you may interact with the resources listed for the unit. The links are included below. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-KyI4jtvWc Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGs_8oR35so&feature=related Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQhigdJ-xEk&feature=related Retrieved July 31, 2010. v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y32NoAgN9Ik&feature=related Retrieved July 31, 2010. Note that in terms of your development, actually using technological resources; require you to apply your skills. As you persevere in using these resources to solve problems or accomplish your work, you are getting the chance to improve your capacity to physically manipulate these resources. Social Media Note: The readings on social literacy may be useful in helping you to understand the role of technology resources such as e-portfolios, journals and social media in reflective practice. Some of the factors you need to consider when using social media as resources will be explored in Session 2. For now, it is important for you to be familiar with the types and some of their benefits for the reflective practitioner. Before we proceed however, here is an activity.
ACTIVITY 4.5

You are responsible for the staging of the final match in the On-line Checker Tournament for members of your community.

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Use relevant social media to collaboratively plan the tournament. Maintain a log of events and personal artifacts of your development in using selected technology resources more fluently as you participate in this activity. You can take pictures of yourself at work or use digital recording of the activities you engage in. These can be used as authentic evidence of the part you played in the process. They may also be useful when you are designing your professional portfolio.

Reflection before Action: Preparing In helping you to prepare for the activity to remind you to think seriously about the pieces of information you will need to do the task, here is a summary of the characteristics of some of the social media available to you. Try to record the examples you use as you do the activity. You may use text or pictures or motion images or a combination of these. Do not forget to accompany pictorial and motion images with reflective comments since they can be interpreted in a variety of ways. For all texts, try to add a reflective dimension. The suggestion to ensure there is a reflective dimension to your recordings is because reflective practitioners need evidence to support their claim to professional development. In addition, your recordings become sources of data for further analysis and for the co-construction of knowledge.

Characteristics of Selected Social Media

The term social media refers to the wide range of intangible resources that allow persons to interact with each other by (a) sharing ideas or news (b) sharing leisure time or activities (c) working and/or learning together or from each other and to do so in a manner that is acceptable by the members concerned. They include a

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combination of texts, still images, videos, message boards or discussion forums. Some of their characteristics include: Possible Social Media for Completing Activity 4.5 The list of social media included in the self assessment instrument may be integrated to accomplish activity 4.4. How these are used will be dependent on the plans that are made, how responsibilities are allocated and the composite knowledge, skills, attitudes relative to the task and the technological resources available to the group. These resources contribute to reflective practice as members can engage in collaborative reflections. This allows the reflective learner-practitioners to (a) engage in collaborative inquiry as a way of responding to problems defined by the members (b) compare personal knowledge with communal understandings (c) engage in peer assessment activities (d) build knowledge as teams (e) assume collective responsibility for process and outcome of problem solving or goal directed efforts/behaviours (f) develop commitment to professional development due to collective responsibility and accountability (g) examine personal scope of thinking or level of reflectivity by moving from an emphasis on the technical and the socio-cultural/dialogical to the ethical (h) identify learning needs and capacities relative to all domains of development (confluence). These elements of collaborative reflections are implied by perspectives of reflection by Brookfield (1995) and John (1995) Table 4.2 provides additional information on various social media.
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Encouraging shared knowledge Providing opportunity for negotiating meaning Encouraging social equality or classlessness Negotiating the value of knowledge Encouraging democracy or audibility of individual perspective Facilitating a community spirit Conversational in tone regardless of topic Broadening the scope of communication by reducing geographical boundaries Inspiring feelings of belonging

Table 4. 2. Examples of Types of Social Media and their Characteristics/Nature

Social Media Social Networking Examples/Contribution to Reflective Practice FaceBook Peer Critique Empowerment by validation Learning Communities A group of individuals or learning organizations working as a cohesive Teamwork Models entity to address the learning needs of the members. The members Peer Critique pool resources (intellectual, economic, technological, social etc.) to Support shared values for internal meet these needs. May be face-to-face or on-line. Ethical principles consistency and collective responsibility are important to members Empowerment by validation Collaborative Calendaring Teams work to prepare schedules of activities for various events in Windows Calendar which members will participate. The individual situation of members is (set calendars can be emailed) considered and negotiation skills are used to arrive at consensus in Develop reflective skills & dispositions: terms of time and relevant resources. May also be described as a work o Collegial support plan. o Negotiation Time management Collaborative Learning Social learning structure in which members apply the principles of Skype Groups collaboration to support the development of the members. Peer Critique Collaboration is a way of life for members Support shared values for internal consistency Empowerment by validation Confluence by supporting total development Merging the personal and professional Collaborative Mind- Teams of individuals negotiate meaning and represent perspectives in Scriblink Mapping visualized form to represent a cohesive whole. Intelligent Collaborative Learning System Shared definition of issues/problems Shared perspectives Co-construction of knowledge Video Sharing Social interaction through the communication of ideas, feelings, YouTube stories etc. in digitized form. These include slide shows, motion Observation of actual practice graphics, movies etc. Peer critiques Contributing new ides/knowledge
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Nature/Function Groups of individuals or organisation interacting in an interdependent way to achieve goals. May be face to face or on-line.

Note: The social media included in Table 4. 2 are free on-line resources. There are numerous ones available some are at a cost. You can develop fluency as you interact with them to address your problems and to collaborate in doing assessment tasks and learning activities for this and other courses. As you use them to assist you in solving problems or to achieve learning goals, you will learn about them. This implies that you do not need to spend time trying to learn about them first. If you choose this approach, try to practice with the tasks you are given. Remember too, that in this course, emphasis is not being placed on studying these resources but on your use of them to become more reflective as learners and/or practitioners. As the session closes, let us remember that technology is not limited to the physical devices we use but encompasses all the resources available to us whether human or non-human, tangible or intangible. Important forms of technology we often ignore because of our tendency to focus on modern tools are the scientific knowledge, the expertise and dispositions we possess and which interplay in the problem solving process. A fundamental purpose of technology is to solve problems or achieve goals. By integrating technological products and processes we are better able to solve problems. Information and social literacy are important skills for the learner-practitioner. These contribute to the quality of our solutions as they influence the tools and social media we choose.

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SESSION 4.2

Social Media and Evidence of Developed Competencies as Technology Users

Introduction
This session will place greater demand on you than previously expected. This is because you will have to provide evidence of strategic actions you have taken to improve yourself as a technology user. These strategic actions should have been identified as a result of reflecting before, during and after addressing recognized needs as a reflective learner-practitioner

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to: 1. Analyse considerations, Merits and Potential Challenges in using Social Media for Reflective Purpose 2. Share evidence of improvement in using more fluently, the technological devices provided to support your learning/practice

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Exploration Time

Activity 4.5

1. Implement your collaborative plan for the checker tournament. 2. Use any selected technological resource and social media to recognise the competitors and to report or communicate the outcome of the match.

Lessons from Activity 4.5 If you had reflected on your experience from hosting or from participating in the tournament, you probably had to deal with various factors you did not consider before you started. In addition, you may have experienced some of the merits and challenges of using social media to get the task done. But what were these considerations, benefits, and challenges? Check your learning using the ideas presented below. Factors to consider when using Social Media When using social media you should consider the following: (a) The problem to be addressed or the goals to be achieved (b) The strategies to be used (c) The relevance and or feasibility of the strategies chosen (d) The nature of the types of media available (e) The skills of those with whom you have to work (f) How you will support each other (g) How you will respond to each other (h) Making decisions regarding the quality of the contributions that each person is expected to make based on role assigned or selected (i) Sharing power (j) How any observed need for change will be handled (k) Focus on learning and/or development
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You may add other factors to complete the list.

Benefits/merits and Challenges of using Social Media

Think about your experience as a member of the team of checker planners and players. What were some of the benefits you derived from interacting with other members to achieve a common goal? As a learner-practitioner, you can benefit from the use of social media providing you are committed to observing the core values of reflective practice and are committed to the achievement of learning goals. If you review the example column of Table 4.2 you should be able to determine some of the benefits of using social media. Other benefits include:

Developing interpersonal skills Learning how to be democratic Learning to problem-solve as part of a team Developing negotiation skills Enhancing creativity Building communities Developing communication skills Developing research skills Increasing knowledge of self as person and professional

Many times, social media are used for entertainment and for profiling personal qualities. However, as a critical thinker you have to be careful that what you communicate will enhance your profile since you have a future that you do not wish to jeopardize by being inconsiderate. Think about some of the images and conversations that have been shared on-line. What could they be conveying about the individual? Although your perspective may not be shared by others, you should still consider the impact of what you communicate on other members of your community.
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Potential challenges when using social media Social media has made it so much easier for meet other learner-practitioners or professions from various disciplines. As you interact, you can learn how to be a better communicator and researcher. Despite these benefits however, there are potential challenges to consider. Some of these are: Personal challenges o The difficulty of balancing time for interacting on-line with that required for other activities o Beliefs about others o Talents/gifts, skills set o Negative perception of self o Fear of being wrong o Information overload Team-related challenges o Reliance on antagonistic behaviours to achieve goals o Low level of collaboration o Members seeking to gain individual goals at the expense of group goals o Low distribution of power o Valuing products over persons and process o Low level of respect for diversity o Absence of standards negotiated by members Technical challenges o Complexity of the media o Limitations (simplicity of the media in terms of available tools) o Absence of technical support Now that you have examined some of the benefits and challenges the learner-practitioner is likely to face, it is important to think about ways of minimizing the challenges and expanding the benefits. As you explore further by using these media to share your thoughts and experience you will develop greater fluency of their use. In terms of your development, actually
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using technological resources require you to apply your skills. As you persevere in using these resources to solve problems or accomplish goals, you will get the chance to improve your capacity to physically manipulate these resources. As you reflect before, during and after taking action, you should learn more about these resources. This is because the use of technology in our context is to support learning, change or development. Note that emphasis is not on trying to learn to use the tools beforehand. It is about how you can make use of their features to support your practice. With this understanding, lets see whether your profile has expanded. Activity 4.6 will help you.
ACTIVITY 4.6

1. What are the psycho-motor skills you have developed since using the technological resources provided for you in this session? To answer this question, consider the following: a) Your perceptual ability in terms of the ease or speed with which you can: i. Retrieve information or the tools you have used ii. Recognise details or unique features of the tangible resources and processes iii. Decipher information using your senses (texture, sound, sight) b) Your capacity to independently use the tools and processes c) Your capacity to be creative (innovative) in using these tools and processes d) Improvements in the quality of your contribution to learning due to your use of available technology tools/processes available to you. This includes: i. Response rate during discussions ii. Response rate in sharing products of the various activities done in the session iii. Observing criteria or standards agreed on for producing work iv. Clarity of products and/or processes created 2. Use your answers to the question one (1) to revise your profile. You will then use tools available in the E-portfolio to share your revised profile. Make sure to provide evidence that supports the content of your profile.
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Reflection for Action In preparing for this task, you need to engage in the behaviours that will help you to be successful and minimize difficulties. By reflecting too, you should learn more about yourself and should recognize that this activity is focusing on an aspect of your profile that we have not emphasized earlier in the course. What aspect is this? I imagine you thought of the psychomotor domain which we addressed in a previous unit. If you had difficulties remembering look back at the session. Until then lets move on to another level of reflection. Reflection in and on Action Since starting the course or this unit, you may have had difficulties progressing at a rate you would have liked, if you were more competent in using the technological tools and social media available. Since reflective practice is about development, this situation provided for you the opportunity to grow in your use of these resources. This growth could have included all the domains of development if you had applied reflective practice by dealing with the problems that confronted you. If you responded favourably (as a problem solver) to the challenges, then you would have influenced your social, emotional, spiritual and the physical development. The physical challenges of manipulating the technological tools provided the chance for you to work on your psychomotor domain. Your commitment to keep trying may have been evident in: (a) The questions you asked others (what should I do? How can I) (b) Your search for answers using on-line resources such as glossaries, articles, tutorials (c) The quick experiments, the trial and error or trouble shooting sessions you held for yourself You may add others. In terms of the other domains of development, you could have used the challenge to mature:
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 Socially by: o acknowledging your limitations (self awareness) o taking responsibility for learning o using your interpersonal skills to solicit the assistance of others in the learning environment Emotionally by: o Acknowledging your feelings o Monitoring your feelings o Using your feelings to check your beliefs about learning and your attitude towards technology o Using your feelings to check your values in light of your understanding of reflective practice Spiritually by: o Encouraging consistency between your overt actions and the principles you embrace as guides for conduct or life o Addressing any negative effects that your response had on yourself and others o Analyzing the contents of your thoughts to determine if your internal conversations were in any way debasing or demotivating Cognitively by: o Journaling your learning in terms of the nature of technology o Analyzing your use of the processes and features of each tool o Examining the ideas or principles for practice you were using o Identifying the problem solving skills you had to use. As we close session 4.2, the challenges, perturbations, doubts or uncertainties were indicating an area of development you needed to work on. An important lesson then is: Use these experiences as signs of development needs. When you have identified the needs, you will then have to take the necessary steps to work at reducing them. This requires personal commitment! Once this intangible resource is available, your use of
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social media can provide the support you desire. So have you made any improvement in your use of technology? Maybe you have. You can know by analyzing your profile in light of the domains of development we have addressed.

Unit summary
Below are some important points that were addressed in this unit: 1. The reflective learner-practitioner can access a variety of technological tools and social media to support social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical development. How these are used and the ones that are accessed depend on the quality of reflections in identifying challenges or problems and in making choices to address these challenges. 2. If challenges and doubts are seen as opportunities for development or as indicators of development need, these indicate readiness for change. 3. A key resource that contributes to development is commitment. When this is integrated with technological tools and processes or with social media, the chances of success as problem solvers heightened. 4. Reflecting for, in and on action should be applied to encourage professional and personal development. E-Portfolios and journals are suitable resources for recording evidence of development or improvement in practice where technology is concerned.

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References
1. Bolton, G. (2010). Reflective practice: Writing & professional development. London: SAGE. 2. Davison, J. & Arthur, J (2000). Active Citizenship and the Development of Social Literacy: a case for experiential learning. Retrieved from http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:3pbLoCvNxZcJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_ sdt=2000. July 28, 2010 3. Johns, C. (1994). Nuances of reflection. Journal of Clinical Nursing 3, 71-75 4. Johns, C. (1995) Framing learning through reflection within Carpers fundamental ways of knowing in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing 22 226-23. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ImQA6CS4sHQJ:www.commu nityhealthcarebolton.co.uk/SHA/LLL/resources/reflective/Framework%2520for%2520Re flection.doc+Reflection+by+John+1994&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=jm July 31, 2010

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