From Good Will Hunting

I’ve been thinking about this scene as I’ve been reading the discussion board posts over the last week. There has been a lot of talk about feeling overwhelmed by the amount of posts on the forums and how best to navigate these. Do I read everything the community has posted? If that is not possible, how do I choose what to read? How do I prioritise?

There has, of course, always been a wealth of information available to students. I still remember my first visit to the Library at George Square. My provincial upbringing had meant I had never seen such a collection of knowledge in one place before. But this is where reading lists came in. Someone else did the prioritising for you. Matt Damon’s character is of course mocking this kind of learning in this scene. When someone else does the prioritising for you, it’s all so predictable. How can you possibly have anything new to say?

And what now for students who have access not just to their local lending library, but to the internet? Surely, the role of curating  information is more important than ever? But how do we guide our students through a sea of information (the drowning metaphor is frequently employed) without stifling their curiosity and creativity? I want to think on this some more. I also think there is a link here between the tutor’s role in curating, and the student’s. And it is here that I think technology can add real value. A technology that can facilitate making connections between online resources (whether they be a journal, a blog post, a video etc) is surely essential to the contemporary student. I want to research what is currently available, and how technology can be used to help students make sense of their learning, and in so doing help build their own unique voice.

How do you like them apples? / Reflections From A Digital Education Student by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0