Week 10 – Know Thyself | An end but also a beginning

Thank you, Professor Green and all those at UVa who worked so hard to produce this superb MOOC!

This is my final post for this course, but just the beginning of the newest “me” …

After the last 10 weeks of meditation, listening to lectures, perusing the readings, and  much introspection, I think that I do know myself better and I am able to plot a course for a future in which I “do  more good things” and become better as a result.

My most exciting identity over the last 15 years has been that of Webmaster, but in tracing my history I have decided that what most attracted me to that position was the fact that in 1995 there were very few Webmasters in the world (and even fewer who were middle-aged women living in rural Alabama).  I will remember forever the excitement in February 1996 when my first webpage was “live,” but that was then, and now is now.  In planning for the future, I have decided to finally drop the  Webmaster title once and for all, and focus on my own website/blog (this one!) rather than posting for multiple clients.

Now – what to do with all the time saved?  I am going to continue  as a JABA FISH volunteer Tutor/Mentor for elementary school ELL (English Language Learner) students and I will begin training as a Literacy Volunteer helping adults in Charlottesville become proficient in English.  Part of my fascination with the web was in learning coding and programming languages to be able to communicate with computers, but I have always known that people are so much more important than computers.

The professors in the eLearning and Digital Cultures Coursera Course from the University of Edinburgh urged students to use their own blogs and other social media tools as well as the course discussion forums to communicate with other students. This storytelling approach has added a new dimension to the MOOC concept that I like because it provides a “keepsake” after the course is closed.

My next Coursera course is Social Psychology.  Hope to see you there!

This is my tenth and final weekly reflection on Coursera / Know Thyself by UVa Professor Mitch Green.