Participation, Learning Blog and Community Involvement - Essay Example

Participation, learning blog and community involvement Participation, learning blog and community involvement Indeed, the university learning process has influenced my life in different ways. When I reflect my education journey right from the time I joined the college until the time I completed, no doubt my life is not the same. As a matter of fact, the experience that I gained from learning in class is unimaginable. The contents of the module consisted of relevant concepts important in community development and involvement. Similarly, I participated in group work which enhanced the manner in which I relate to people from various backgrounds. At the same time, by actively getting involved in group work we were able to do large volumes of tasks as the adage goes many hands are better than one and more heads are better than one. Usually, university is a place where people from different backgrounds meet. It is also paramount to note that these individuals have distinct ways of doing things and in order to operate as a team to accomplish tasks, all the members have to function effectively in a course context. In that regard, the group members ought to attend to both the procedure to accomplish their tasks and climate within the group. Vital to healthy climate and active process is strong communication skills. Personally, I was relatively not interested in group work at first. I used to prefer working as an individual rather than work in a group setting because I thought working as a group is a waste of time (Sweet & Michaelsen, 2012). Working alone was comfortable and convenient since I worked according to my schedule as compared to group work where meeting time had to favor all the members. Little did I know that working as a team is the best technique to learn and acquire more skills essential for life. In essence, learning is a continuous process. The more I interacted with my classmates, the more I learned new things. Thus, I came to realize that working as team can be relatively beneficial. Surprisingly, through the class blogs, I noted that working in a group; you can do less but comprehensive work. This means that one does not have to do multiple tasks at the same time but only a few at a go. Virtually, it gives one the advantage to work carefully and go in detail. In addition, group projects boosted me to develop a host of skills that are increasingly substantial in the professional world as well as in community development. According to Mannix and Neale (2005), experiences of positive groups moreover, contribute to student retention, learning, and general college success (Mannix, Neale & Goncalo, 2009). Therefore, it is evident that group projects can reinforce both individual and group work including the ability to plan and manage time. Furthermore, my participation in AS2 activities boosted me to refine understanding through explanation and understanding. As stated earlier, I enjoyed working individually, but when I started working with various peers in doing tasks I developed stronger communication skills and appreciated the work of other people. Despite the fact that at some point the module seemed complicated and robust, working as a team made it appear simpler as we broke complex tasks into parts and steps. To my surprise, the learning process became easier and enjoyable. Moreover, by participating in various groups, I was able to know all the members of the class. The world we live in is made of different people with different ideologies. It is hence important to learn how to integrate with each one of them. My core focus is community involvement. For this matter, through the learning process and styles of my peers I am confident I have what it takes to fit and participate in community projects. What I liked about the module is that it provided an opportunity for us to give and receive feedback on performance. Additionally, through the module I learned that people have different learning styles. At first, I thought my learning style was the best. Nevertheless, once I interacted with my group members, I realized that it was comparatively substantial to incorporate my techniques with those of others (Stewart, Manz & Sims, 1999). In the context of community involvement, the module has encouraged me to articulate other people’s ideas and question them. In that connection, it will be possible for me to lead a social process of constructing plans as well as developing possible solutions to the community problems. The AS2 activities taught me several lessons. These activities are closely linked to problem-based learning. This is a type of learning which advocates various ideas to tackle and solve a given problem. Consequently, community involvement requires that solutions are provided for particular challenges facing the community. In this case, I plan to use the ideas, learning styles and problem-solving skills I acquired in the module to help the community make viable decisions for community development. Another lesson I learned from the module is that people prefer different learning styles. According to my analysis, I noted that there are independent learners, dependent learners, and collaborative learners (Hansen, Owan, Pan & National Bureau of Economic Research, 2006). The implication is that people who learn through collaborative learning substantially benefit primarily from group work. I was able to appreciate the ideas and views of others since we cannot think or act the same. Therefore, while participating in the community, I will understand that community members have different types of learning. Technically, my experience participating in group broadly taught me substantial techniques. One of the primary techniques gained through team work is to take roles and responsibilities. Since the contents of the module were extensive, we were forced to divide the work among the members. Often, when the volume of work to cover was huge, we divided the tasks. Each part was to be done in pairs. On completion, the entire group received reports from the members and critically analyzed them. This boosted the members to enhance their communication skills as presentations were mandatory. Indeed, I learned to express points effectively, and my communication skills improved. In addition, I developed responsibility skills and determined to take roles (Sessa & London, 2008). In the scenario of community involvement, I am quite sure the aspect of becoming responsible will not be a headache to me. I now know how to be responsible and taking roles will be a simple task. Through writing blogs in the event of commenting on particular issues, I improved my writing skills and expanded my thinking capacity. I was able to interact with different peers by making blogs. Mostly, this will help me in offering and seeking ideas from community members through blogs. The more I participated in blogging and group assignments the more I comprehended how to pool knowledge and skills. I also established a shared identity with my fellow group members. It is depicted that reflective learning is learning gained through practice. I can assert that most of my learning experience was gained through practice. I concur with this saying: experience is the best teacher. Of note, I heard from my mistakes as well as those of others. The mistake that I vividly remember is avoiding group work thinking that it was a waste of time (Avery, Walker & Murphy, 2001). I totally avoided groups for almost the whole of the first session. Lucky, enough a friend, approached me and explained in detail the significance of working as a team. It is relatively important to share diverse perspectives. People perceive various topics differently thus the issue in question can be handled in detail. This was my turning point and since then I understand the importance of getting ideas of different people. Through the module and blogging, I was able to explore my strengths and capabilities (Sweet & Michaelsen, 2012). In essence, I have the ability to work well with people from diverse backgrounds. I am a team player and leader, at some point I was selected as the group leader which is evident that I can organize others accomplish tasks. In community involvement, I will coordinate with other stakeholders and even take leadership roles since I have the experience and ability. In future, I intend to use the experience gained through the module to change the face of my community positively. Similarly, I will use the learning practice to enhance my profession especially at my place of work. I have obtained numerous lessons and experience throughout the module. Therefore, there is no doubt I possess myriad approaches to solving differences and provide solutions. My principal objective is to ensure that I cooperate with all the peers I work within the community or my place of work. In conclusion, learning is a process learned through practice and participation. People have different learning styles, thus for one to attain effective learning style, it will be paramount for them to integrate with other peoples’ styles. Working as a team is more advantageous than working individually. Groups can tackle complex and lots of work within a short time frame because they combine ideas and establish proper decisions. Community involvement calls for members to work together as one to find solutions for issues facing them and uplift developments. The module has molded me to fit into the community and be one of the problem solvers. References Avery, C. M., Walker, M. A., & Murphy, E. O. (2001). Teamwork is an individual skill: Getting your work done when sharing responsibility. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Hansen, Z. K., Owan, H., Pan, J., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2006). The impact of group diversity on performance and knowledge spillover--an experiment in a college classroom. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Mannix, E. A., Neale, M. A., & Goncalo, J. A. (2009). Creativity in groups. Bingley, UK: Emerald. Sessa, V. I., & London, M. (2008). Work group learning: Understanding, improving & assessing how groups learn in organizations. New York: L. Erlbaum Associates. Stewart, G. L., Manz, C. C., & Sims, H. P. (1999). Team work and group dynamics. New York: J. Wiley. Sweet, M., & Michaelsen, L. K. (2012). Team-based learning in the social sciences and humanities: Group work that works to generate critical thinking and engagement. Sterling, VA: Stylus Pub. Read More