Having created a blog when I was in high school and having studied computing from years 9-12 at high school, my background knowledge of blogs is quite extensive. I did however enjoy reading the different levels of definitions of a blog asit allowed me insight into other people’s opinions on what they are used for. I liked reading that the general consensus is that we should not define blogs and that it is not about what is being written but about why it is being written in the first place. This allowed me to feel some creative energy and excitement towards creating my own PLN and possibly starting another personal blog!

Similarly as with Salmon’s stages of online learning, I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed reading about Personal Learning Networks. Following this reading, I continued some of my own research into various PLNs that may be able to assist me in teaching! I found this text useful and will reflect on what I have learnt throughout the unit in hope of some guidance.

As with many required university readings, I was apprehensive to begin this one. I was surprised however when I began reading and was presented with an educated and informative text that managed to pinpoint the way I was feeling about beginning this unit. As it is my first online unit, I had and continue to have concerns but began to feel at ease about these concerns as I began and continued reading the text by Gilly Salmon. I enjoyed reading the text as a whole because it put this online learning experience into perspective for me and allowed me to begin to consider the idea that I may not be the only student completing this learning that has concerns.

I was challenged when trying to grasp a concrete idea of the e-moderators role in online learning and found that by the end of the reading, I had read some parts multiple times in order to gain a clearer understanding of their role.

I am wondering if I will continue to identify with the stages as described in this text as my experience with online learning continues. I am looking forward to finding out!