Week 5 - Taking Stock

Week 5 - Taking Stock

I did do some serious reflection this past week. As always, I think of the effort that I am putting into the class and think of ways that I could be more efficient and productive and use my time more wisely. As, I have said before, this class and it's structure are very different than other classes I have taken in my graduate studies so far. I am finding it difficult to shake the precedent that has been set before and the schedule that I had developed in my life for school work. I find that, due to this, I am not experiencing the details of the class as much as I would like. I have decided that I will take the time to look up extra information on topics that I find particularly interesting to expand my knowledge.
I have also been thinking of the quantitative measures as they pertains to this class. Obviously, the first thing that I think about is grading. Honestly, I have never had a problem with grades in courses that I have taken so far. This grading is far different as it is based more on strength of thought and development of ideas. Others were based on how well theory could be repeated back. Again, I find it challenging to switch my thought process and even more challenging to be in depth and thoughtful in this course and have to switch back to regurgitation of theory and fact in the other course that I am currently taking. I have decided that, in conjunction with my scheduling of school work into life, I will be delegating the majority of my time that is dedicated to class work to this class. This makes sense since the other class work is relatively easy and computational. I need the added time in this class to help develop my thoughts and realize what I need to know in order to help others through KM.
Along the lines of quantitative measures, I have begun my audit of Linked In in order to better assess my future business model and the resources that I have at my disposal that can help with that model. I have a few hundred connections, so it is a slow assessment right now. What I am finding in general is that I need more development of my executive network. I have a few network connections in the executive function and I am hoping that through those connections I will be able to get some referrals to other connections. Most of my connections are not the target audience that I would like to poll. I will keep working on this.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 1, 2019 at 1:44 PM

    Truly excellent and insightful post, Apryl. Thank you!

    a) You're certainly noticing the central pedagogical premise of the course: adult learners should architect their own learning inside a broad "sandbox." This way the learning is "real" -- it provides just enough cognitive dissonance to induce a slight but hopefully manageable stress about what you really want in life. It's not enough to study KM, it must mean something to your goals. To get there, we have to look in the mirror A LOT, which is not "easy." The class is not "hard" per se, but it does require a lot of patience and strength of mind and spirit to get the most out of it.

    b) Grading...just like KPIs and metrics in organizational life are problematic, so is "grading" adult learners. How can I really know that you're learning in the sense expressed below? I have to do my best to gauge it off of the interaction. While the numbers in your sheet express a flavor of that, the arc you're on -- bottom line -- is most certainly an "A." Keep it up. : D

    c) The LinkedIn audit we've discussed is huge I for you I think. In your network lies most of what you're after I'd argue. We won't nail the model and total of Apryl, LLC in this ever-too-short class, but we should get a great start.

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