Trial and Error

I'm completely new to blogging and have to say that I'm enjoying it. Blogging as a part of my academic/learning experience has given me an opportunity to reflect on topics and relate them to my life experiences. It's interesting to read the perspective of my peers and how they interpret questions and the learning material. The connection between blogging and learning has also helped me work on my analytical thinking skills.

One thing that I really enjoy about blogging is that it feels inclusive. I don't feel pressured to use language that not everyone would understand even though it's part of my academic experience. I can relate the topics and blog posts to my everyday life and just make it plain.

I have always been of the mindset that when things are challenging and require my effort, the reward and impact are greater (not to the mention my increased appreciation in the outcome). I've always pushed myself to improve in all aspects of my life but now I'm also embracing a "let go, and let learn" attitude. I'm trying new things, giving myself grace, and don't care if I'm the oldest one in the room and know the least. 

A recent example of good ole trial and error aka generative learning that I experienced was trying to use Adobe Captivate for the first time to create an e-learning project. I got the 30-day free trial and just went for it. I had never even heard of it before the day I attempted to use it. It took me about 5 hours to create a few slides that would probably take an experienced person about 15 minutes but I had fun trying to figure it all out. In retrospective, a lot of my creative projects are accomplished via generative learning. I think I take that approach with creative projects because there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to do it. It's interpretative and often just personal preferences that end up being key drivers to the result.

And now as I wrap this up I'm thinking, "Did I even recall during that 5 hours that that was generative learning?" I sure didn't!! But, writing this post and reflecting on it triggered that recall. Woot woot!!