DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Digication E-Portfolio: Applying my fascination for process to college

 

                From Fall I through Fall II, I have allowed school to consume my life instead of allowing it to be part of my life. I turned myself into a machine that merely cranked out assignments, and never connected myself to the work. Once I produced a paper, for example, I erased the topic from my mind. Rarely do I intentionally reflect on how my work contributes to my personal growth or how it connects to who I am as a person. Reflection should never be viewed as work. Rather, reflection should be about examining oneself through a mirror and stretching one's mind.

                With my fascination for process, whether or not I am talking about art or life, Digication offers an excellent platform to both store and reflect upon my academic and personal progress. The e-Portfolio platform provides an area to display “how I arrived here,” which is much more interesting than merely showing the final products. The reflective nature of e-Portfolio provides me with a professional website to showcase who I am as a person and displays how I became who I am. Digication acts almost as an academic Facebook. The e-Portfolio essentially profiles me as a student and presents my narrative.

                Reflection should not be an academic overbearing process. So why do we find reflection so hard and when it comes down to expressing it on paper? We must knock down our personal barriers! That is, reflection presents a daunting obstacle more than a challenging obstacle. For example, reflection dares one to express the thoughts (i.e. the mental process) that brought him/her to begin and complete a paper. Usually the final product of a paper presents highly censored thoughts. Reflecting upon a paper liberates one to unearth or expose the scary and joicy thoughts that lead him/her to finish the paper.

                Digication encourages numerous types of reflection including intergration, inquiry, meta-cognition (i.e. thinking about why I am thinking the way I am thinking), self-expression, and self-examination. The e-Portfolio platform helps a student to connect their courses to interests, career plans, work, and daily life. Probably one of the most exciting aspects of Digication is that one has the ability to pose a challenging question (e.g. Does my interest for astronomy connect to this sociology course?) and to see the answer evolve over time. Also, Digication acts like a mirror in that my e-Portfolio reflects both me and the external things in my life. In addition, e-Portfolio can be utilized for non-verbal reflection (artwork) by its ability to add media and gallery modules.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.