Continually reflecting

Having read Angela's post about Holism it the merit of blogs started to become apparent to me. The session Angela did with the third level students was also of interest to me as I think that in order for the profession to survive and flourish we need to all 'think outside the box'. It is therefore important that there is ongoing discussion within the profession of how this could be done and traditionally this discussion would have taken place either through Therapy Weekly, OT news or the BJOT. But it takes time to write a piece, send it off to the relevant editor, wait for it to be reviewed, have it published etc etc. Blogging on the other hand is almost instant, have a thought, write it down, press send, what could be simpler!..........I think I'm becoming a convert!

Struggling to reflect!

I always visit this site with great intentions to post a blog and then somehow find excuses not to once I'm here. I think overall it's because reflection, and certainly writing reflections, has never come easy to me and I remember vividly as a student having to write a diary during my placements " so I could track my progress and development over the three years of training".

I'm wondering whether one of the issues I have with writing reflections is that there could be a tendancy to think too much about a subject/issue, read too much into it and therefore making more of an issue of something than is really necessary. Now I appreciate that my thoughts on this are probably because I'm more of a pragmatist/activist than reflector which means that I get easily irritated by people who think too much about issues! And I think this is what happens when i visit this blog page. I read the blogs and the comments, think that they are interesting, think that I should post a comment myself, then think about what I want to say, then realise that there are so many things that could be said and then my head starts to hurt! It's at this point that I decide that it's all too hard and tell myself I'll do it another day.

My other concern is that the information posted on a very public site is very much open to interpretation by other people. So having read my blog someone may well post a comment, where I realise that they have misinterpreted what I meant, I then have to post another comment to clarify the situation, they may then post another comment on so it goes on. This has the same effect on me as text messages sometimes do on a mobile phone, often it's much easier to pick up the phone and speak to the person directly.

So it brings me to question who would actually use and benefit from contributing to a blog? The reflectors amongst us? As a pragmatist/activist I will watch carefully how this tool is used by others as I'm still struggling to fully appreciate the benefits in practical terms.

Peaks and Troughs

I am trying to refamiliarise myself with the web 2.0 technologies having just returned from a period of recharging my batteries and I would like to share my reflections on my thoughts to date. Now, I appreciate that there is a level of disclosure that could be classed as "putting one's head above the parapet" (in order to be shot at!) but I hope you will read and comment in the spirit of mutual support and encouragement.
My initial response to discovering that my interest in things technological and interactive had a name (web 2.0 technologies) was one of great enthusiasm and slightly evangelical- preaching to any colleague that would listen politely. I rushed to sign up for sites, comment on other's blogs and voraciously read and experiment with how far the technology could take my own development and that of my colleagues/students etc.

On reflection I believe that there was a naivety to my actions.

Spending more time in this environment it has become clear to me that not everyone shares my enthusiasm. I have become disheartened when I have neither received comments for my blog postings nor recognition of my comments on other's sites. What originally seemed to be a medium that would open up across the world of occupational therapy seems to be dominated by a relatively small group of like-minded professionals.

So, what can I do about this? I intend to use some of the relevant technology within my own educational environment and hope that colleagues can see in action the positive aspects of web 2.0 technology. The experience has given me an insight into how potential learners may feel and therefore identify a strong need to regularly acknowledge and comment on other's submissions. I also intend to continue to develop a presence within the international debates in order to both learn from and hopefully add to the development of the profession as a whole - and maybe to swell the UK involvement.
Thanks for reading this, I would be keen to hear of how other's have coped with the peaks and troughs of web 2.0 technology.