Web 2.0 Challenge:Thing 2-3: The 7.5 Habits of Highly Successful Life Long Learners
As part of the Web 2.0 challenge that I'm entered in (see my very first, "Introduction" post), participants were required to view and comment on the web cast: 7.5 Habits of Highly Successful Life Long Learners. Those habits are: 1: Begin with the end in mind; 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning; 3: View problems as challenges; 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner; 5: Create your own learning toolbox; 6: Use technology to your advantage; 7: Teach/mentor others; and 7 ½: Play.
For me, the hardest of these habits to acquire is viewing obstacles as mere challenges instead of something that brings about total defeat. Sometimes I give up on projects way too easily at the first sign of adversity or stress. In instances where I have failed to accomplish a goal, this step was always my stumbling block. It's also hard to separate the ability to view problems as challenges from self confidence. These two traits work together. The easiest habit is playing. Right now, I'm having great fun with my blog, increasing my knowledge of web site building, and writing about things that I like. Sometimes this can be a downfall as well if I use playing to procrastinate from a task that isn't fun for me.
It really does help to have an approach formalized that many of us follow naturally. Although we aren't required to use it in completing the challenge, I can see where using the "My Learning Contract" can be useful in a variety of situations. For example, one of my goals is to learn more about creating websites. When I set up my blog slightly before finding out about the challenge, I had set out to create a multi page website. However, I lacked sufficient knowledge of HTML and code to create what I visualized. Eventually, I plan to return to this goal. For now, a blog site is sufficient but I have almost no creative control which frustrates me a great deal. I have sort of adapted the learning contract to this learning situation.
Posted in: lifelong learner, Web 2.0 on Monday, March 10, 2008 at at 10:02:00 AM
Allie OOps you're the cutest- love all the details on your blog- Didn't Alice have a cat though?