Week 10 – Weekly Synthesis

It was good to catch up with the group during this week’s Google Hangout. I always really enjoy discussing recent tasks and themes with my peers as I always find a new and interesting points to consider as a result.

One example of such points would be considering the difference between text based communications on Twitter in comparison to those within a MOOC. My hand-drawn diagram within the ‘#mscedc Digital Cacophony – Tweetorial vs MOOC’ post suggests that despite not being purposefully built for education, I found Twitter to be a more suitable forum for group discussion.

Following the Tweetorial I further investigated the need for analytics and big data within education. In the post entitled ‘Big Data, the Science of Learning, Analytics, and Transformation of Education’, Candace Thille noted that online environments encourage students to collaboratively move towards set goals whilst being able to synthesise knowledge to apply in new contexts. It is that ability that held my interest throughout the week and became a consideration that I took into my critical analysis of the Tweetorial.

For my critical analysis I examined the analytical data from the Tweetorial. I found myself comparing my performance to that of my fellow students and documenting my thoughts from both an individual and a collaborative perspective. The data would indicate that I made a lower than average contribution which on initial observation could be interpreted negatively. However I felt that I both contributed and received useful information throughout the activity and constructed new knowledge as a result.

I felt that this week afforded me the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of the topics and themes that I have been studying.