As we approach the end of June, we reach Thing 5, slightly later than planned, but glad that I’ve been able to complete the journey. The CILN framework describes Thing 5 as “Learners should see themselves as being information creators as well as information users. Information creation, such as presentations, data visualization, writing, maths models etc, is a process which embraces review and change, reusing and re-purposing discovered content in different formats or for future study. Learners will understand the processes by which scholarly material in their discipline is produced, reproduced and disseminated. Learners consider how they contribute to the body of knowledge through original research work (projects and dissertations) and by joining the scholarly conversation within their discipline specific community of practice.”
For me, Creating and Communicating is the process of producing and disseminating information, either informally or formally. This includes acknowledging the context in which the information is created and received, and how it could be reused or repurposed.
Case Studies
With this particular competency the lines are far more blurred between the personal and professional context. In either sphere creating and communicating information is something I never find easy and the process in either context is very much the same. Using this post as an example, creating this post involved
- Finding the information needed / Reading around the topic to make sure I know what is needed
- Thinking about what to write
- Thinking about what not to write (I probably spend most of my time taking things out)
- Considering the audience and how they will perceive what I’ve written
- Writing, re-writing, re-writing and start the loop again
- Then the heart-stopping moment when I press publish.
This process is not unusual for me, whether it’s a blog post, an email to colleagues, a text to a friend, or a presentation or training session, creating a poster, taking a photo (how many of us have multiple photo’s of the same thing). It’s a process that takes time and one that I know I won’t feel comfortable with. I think some of this uncomfortable feeling is associated with how public creating and communicating are, even when creating a knitted hat or crocheted frog, the end product makes your work visible to more than just you.
With time I have developed shortcuts to make the process easier, e.g. following the format of similar messages or documents, or I’ll find doing an activity at a certain time of day or place can help e.g. an early morning Hot Numbers visit can help with a writing or creative task. With writing and creating work materials, sometimes I don’t need a shortcut as I am lucky enough to lead a brilliant team of people who are great at creating and communicating. So sometimes, the best approach for me, is to ask the experts I work with.
For some things I just need to “Eat the Frog” (sit down and do it) however uncomfortable I am with the process – tight deadlines can help with this. Thankfully Libby and the Framework Five team arranged a few times for us to meet, exchange ideas and get writing on our Framework Five posts. I found these hugely useful and a much more comfortable process (no frogs were consumed). I hope we can use a similar approach with our students next year (as Wolfson have done with their virtual shut up and write sessions).
Musings from the library 