The English Miscellany

A quick-reference list of the qualities and actions of a connected learner : Mindful of others’ beliefs and interests Able to step back from conflict and reposition debate Share what you find useful Adopts essential technical and hardware skills for interactivity and participation Updates knowledge of appropriate software and other interfaces Distinguishes between more and less relevant or reliable sources Builds networks Increases valued connections Foster community development Joins and connects in order to make meaning Filters and selects information Asks difficult questions Explores the opportunity to rethink Pushes solutions beyond initial proposal Fosters appreciative inquiry Open to new ideas rather than aloof and disengaged Takes delight in having a responsibility for the direction of your learning ...

Because there are now millions of free blogs we have the opportunity to dip into lots of different kinds of writing and to sample quite different approaches to recurring topics or themes. Doing this kind of reading randomly can have wonderful results. It's called serendipity which involves surprise discoveries and unexpected connections. Serendipity is, of course, an eighteenth century word (1754). While we may consider that the period of the Enlightenment was obsessed with reason, system, order and process, the variety of different kinds of topical, fictional and journalistic writing offered many opportunities for fluid expression by creative people and mercurial personalities. Serendipity is also a useful strategy for broadening your interests and for avoiding the so-called writer's block. I believe that all great writers are also intelligent critical readers. I despair when I hear people saying that they want to write, but then proceed to say that they are not...