Tomorrow begins the second year of this blog. What originally started out as a place to share my visual reflections on learning has evolved though I have tried to keep a visual aspect running through all my posts. It only seemed fitting to create a anniversary blog post sharing some previously unshared visual notes taken over the last year. As I began going through my sketchbook, I saw a theme of signposts running through it.

Sketchnote excerpt from Kyle Pace’s Keynote at Chico #GAFE Summit

Sketch for LEC Online Blended Teacher Portfolio

I created this sketch, when I began Leading Edge Certification for Online/Blended Teacher in February. At the time, I found myself positioned at an academic and professional crossroads with many paths available but not knowing which one to take. Now I know this is the wrong question. It’s not about taking one path. It’s more about which path to explore first. Learners are not confined to a single path but rather there are multiple paths for learning. A more appropriate question illustrated during Kyle Pace’s keynote at Chico GAFE Summit in September is “What Can’t You Learn?”

That is the beauty of personalized learning and what is possible with technology. Learning needs to be a crossroads with different signposts that are navigated by the learner with the assistance of a guide. This experience done well should not promote a feeling of confusion or bewilderment but rather excitement and exhilaration.

Sketchnote excerpt from Jennie Magiera’s Keynote #CUE15

Sketchnote excerpt from Jeff Downing’s talk at #CSEd15

There are cautionary signs that accompany these multiple paths of learning. This was illustrated by both Jennie Magiera’s Keynote from #CUE15 and Jeff Downing at a Common Sense Media Teacher Event in September. In both cases, focusing on the technology or the tool without asking the hard questions will not create the desired change. Technology, effectively applied, has the power to transform teaching and learning. But there is a need to be critical consumers and ask the hard questions. “Is it better?” “What is your ultimate objective?” If the answers aren’t about teaching and learning but rather the tool than our signposts have led us astray.  There is a need to regroup and make it better. We need to be aware of the signposts along the way because they may be telling us to slow down, retrace our steps, and/or take a different path.  All actions taken in the name of learning and making it better.

Sketchnote excerpt from Lisa Highfill’s Keynote @ Solano GAFE Summit Feb 2015

These sketchnote excerpts, pieced together from five different learning experiences over the past year illustrate much of my own journey of multiple paths, cautionary tales, and restarts which have all led me here which is exactly where I need to be. I am ready to begin a new year of learning that will surely be messy and have many iterations. No longer is there confusion but rather joy and delight in the process.

“We are our experiences.” Whatever paths we inevitably take become our journey. There may be real or metaphorical signposts along the way that will guide our journey but only if we have the courage to make choices, ask the hard questions, and start again.