Thing 5: Reflective Practice

Writing reflectively I find very difficult.  I have been working towards chartership for (mumble) a couple of years (mumble...and some) but one thing I struggle to do is write reflectively.  For some reason it has been easier in some of these blogs posts but can still see the strong thread of descriptive narrative coming through.

Reflecting on the CPD 23 Things I feel that I may not have learnt many news 'things' or tools but having that time out of the day or working week to explore my own CPD has been useful.  I've looked at my working practice as well as my approach to chartership in a whole new light.  Although I might not always necessarily have the time I find that I make time, even if its only 5 minutes to draft a blog post to go back to later on.  

For work I am often asked to write a blog post on a subject of event I have attended and have been finding it difficult to do, and often difficult to get started.  This blog as well as the 'things' so far have helped me to develop my writing skills and I feel more comfortable writing posts.

I've discovered my second wind regarding my chartership too and have more of a focus on how I want it to look.  I've been struggling with the reflective writing piece as part of the portfolio and have decided to look at it in sections, take a section and write it as I would one of these posts.

So reflecting on the CPD 23 Things, so far I feel I have developed already in some areas...wonder how I will feel by the 23rd Thing!

Thing 4: Current Awareness - RSS, Twitter, Pushnote

This week (thing!?) I have been looking at using different media for current awareness.  I use both RSS feeds and Twitter regularly for work, professional development and my own personal life.  I follow many blogs/news feeds/etc using the RSS feeds through either Outlook or Google reader.  I find them a useful way to keep up to date with what's going on in the world but also what other peoples opinions are about different topics.

I started using Twitter a few years ago and loved it, then hated it, then loved it again...I'm still in the love it phase!  I've set up two separate accounts, one for work  and one for my personal use.  I also Tweet on behalf of JISC RSC Wales (so have three accounts running on Tweetdeck).  I found Twitter useful for current awareness but also use hash tags to follow events such as conferences and general chat around subjects.

Pushnote I have never heard of and consequently have never used!  So I have signed up and had a play around.  I've visited a few websites but no comments have come up so I'm not entirely sure it is relevant for me.  Also I tend to go on my own judgement of whether a website is useful or not so I'm not sure on Pushnote.

One issue I have is sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed trying to keep up to date with everything that is happening.  I read through my RSS feeds, I check Twitter several times a day, I also subscribe to a vast amount of email discussion lists and use various other social media.  Linking accounts has helped so that if I update Twitter for example it updates my LinkedIn profile, but often feel I could do with hiring someone to sift through all this news and give me the gems!