#INF530 Blog Post 1 – Introduction

What is the context of your learning?

I work in the public service but come from a background of web design. These two jobs are often diametrically opposed in their approach to technology.

The public service (at least in my department) has a very limited number of options to create digital learning and does not invest in helping people to learn how to use these tools in a creative way.

They do have a large amount of people with subject matter expertise but without instruction on how to convey this information it often means that when they are teaching others it is in the form of dense PowerPoint and the amount of information retained by the students is minimal.

This approach is very different to my last job where it didn’t matter what learning tool you were using, as long as it was free and it got results. When thinking about the “ten skills for the future workforce”, it is very easy to understand why people with these skills would not want to come in to the public service as our learning culture does not nurture those skills.

What are your personal aims in this subject?

My aims for this subject are to acquire an understanding of the principles of digital learning. Partly so that I can make digital learning packages that help people to learn and engage with the topic but also so I have the skills to explain to my bosses what good digital learning can be and how we can improve what we currently do.

What challenges are your hoping to meet for yourself?

I hope to have a “Beautiful Mind” moment! Credit: Giphy

I am hoping to challenge myself to get back in to an academic state of mind and become more comfortable with less certainty. I have not done any academic learning for a number of years and have become very comfortable with the certainties of work.

I am hoping to push my boundaries and make myself feel like I do not understand what is going on and then (hopefully) have the ah-ha moment!

Referencing correctly is going to be another big challenge 😉