Reflections on Knowledge Sharing/Tracking

I am writing this blog post as a follow-up to my post last week. After many trials and errors (and some good friends helping me learn along the way), I learned the YouTube playlist I had crafted was not tracking the data I thought it was going to (I will elaborate a little more on what this looks like and YouTube Studio in my VoiceThread). I was really discouraged and started a third platform (one of our tools from last week: Padlet) and ran into some more roadblocks there with their statistics tracking being minimally operating with COVID-19 staffing and not getting the robust tracking data I had hoped to. After emailing and processing with Dr. Dennen, I wanted to offer some of my reflections that I may not be able to elaborate on as much in my VoiceThread from this assignment:

1. Lean into uncertainty and learning. I ended up using and trying 3 platforms for this assignment and I am going to include them all in my VoiceThread. Why? Because they each taught me something about knowledge tracking and sharing and they also taught me to learn to lean into new, uncertain mediums. I learned a ton from this assignment and learned to be comfortable with figuring new platforms and technology out on my own. Continue to be open to learning. 

2. If a platform isn't doing what you hoped it would, PIVOT! There are so many platforms that exist now and many of them operationally do similar functions. If the one you are using isn't providing the knowledge/tracking data you had hoped, pivot to a new one. I created my Padlet board rather quickly as my third tried medium because I was pulling content I had already crafted from my Spotify list and YouTube playlist into this new medium. While it can feel like starting from scratch (I promise it did for me all three times), it really isn't once you get going and you will be much happier once you know what you want and have a fully functioning piece. 

3. Be okay with low views. I watched one of the example presentations and they had thousands of views, clicks, demographic information, etc. On my YouTube channel, I had 8 views when I created my Powerpoint. I felt like I was doing the whole assignment wrong. What I had to ask myself is why did I feel like that and who was this work meant to serve? Well, my audience is my Fall 2020 students. Therefore, its encouraging that I even got 8 views on that platform in the first place considering those students have not started class and don't even know the list exists yet! Dr. Dennen gracefully reminded me it isn't about the tracking numbers but rather learning what we can track and how we can use it moving forward in our relationships with these platforms. 

As I am wrapping up my PowerPoint slides and about to record my VoiceThread, I wanted to take a moment to pause and write. I have found great value and learning in using this blog space to pause, write, and process. Cheers to everyone else wrapping up this assignment!