Reflective, Intuitive, Visual, Global; Networking knowledge and my own learning curve....

The piece on learning styles was very helpful in that it reinforced my feeling that I really need to slow down and reflect more deeply. I am worried about my grade, (I'm realizing I have a sort of ego/vanity thing about being a straight A student so far at SIRLS) but this is knowledge that I desparately need now and in the future and ironically I've had to let go of the need to get everthing turned in on time, i.e., the grade, in order to focus in on comprehension.....

My lack of networking know-how has been a weakness that has plaugued me in many ways. Being a more or less "accidental" librarian has meant a sharp learning curve in many, many areas, but the IT realm has been the area that I've had the most difficulty with. I think my learning style according to the Felder and Soloman article, has made learning systems admin knowledge especially difficult for me to gain in the field. By that I mean; I was able to pick up a lot of knowledge pertinent to librarainship on the job, and in the field, bit by bit, but systems admin knowledge and knowledge of networking always seemed beyond my reach.

Maybe this was because I could only pick up tidbits at best and I tended to disreguard those tidbits as too piecemeal to really help me. Since I didn't understand the big picture of how the internet works and how the local network fits in, I tended to feel that all IT stuff was beyond my scope....As a result my learning curve regarding networks and IT issues has remained rather flat these past 5 years running a public library.

I think my need to understand connections and relationships (intuitive) as well as the big picture (global)--has also made me a bit impatient with the details of Linux and thus its been harder to really absorb the nuts and bolts lessons we've had up until this unit. The networking overview of unit 5 has been very helpful for me. Yet, I've really had to read and re-read in order to pursue something like real comprehension....I also found myself engaging with the material more deeply during this unit and following up on non-required links and questions of my own. I think a course that explores the overall historical and cultural development of the internet and the digital era would be a great class for me ---at least I'd really enjoy it!---(I wonder if there is one like this at SIRLS?), and I've found myself increasingly drawn to the irony of this amazing informational tool---the internet---developing from DARPA/ARPANET research. Is this an incredible example of Yin/Yang interconnection in real life?

I have friends who went to jail for a time over 10 years ago for intentionally breaking in and destroying a "clean-room" in a military R&D facility used to construct GPS satellites. GPS satellites were at least in part funded and built to guide submarine launched nuclear weapons to hard targets; giving commanders the means to start a "limited nuclear war." At the time GPS was not a household word and we thought the idea that the GPS satellites would be used for civilian purposes was just a bunch of PR hogwash, but now of course GPS is pivotal in all kinds of civilian information infrastructure and navigation systems, search and rescue operations etc. etc... AND trident II nuclear missiles are still out there floating around on submarines. I hate to think what would happen in the event of some mistaken command on that network...

Overall this is the first unit in the course that I've felt I've really understood---at great cost, as I am now so far behind. I also see how much there is still to learn. I hope I can get caught up to the class again as I see the importance of asking questions in a timely way. I am also starting to wonder about the DigIn certificate and if it might be for me. I can't quite believe I am thinking in this way, since I've always felt I was not smart enough to understand and unravel IT stuff, but maybe I'm starting to see that if I approach it in the right way---so that I can stay engaged and interested and fit the small pieces into the big picture---I CAN actually learn this stuff.

Interestingly, I now think I've gained just enough understanding to see how woefully ignorant I've been in this realm, and just how much it is costing me.