Knowledge Validation
In the beginning of my first year with Gaia University I spent not too much attention on validating knowledge in a conscious way. But at the same time it is my nature to compare knowledge with different sources and do some research about specific topics. This way I gather many different information and can assemble and rearrange the knowledge however I want and think critically by myself. By doing this I need to be careful that I don't use the knowledge for the wrong purpose but so far that only happened very rarely. I really like to look at different sources and analyse the similarity or differences of sources. Nevertheless I know that "knowledge validation" is a field to work on more in the future and expand my skills to think even more critically.
Books: Sometimes I read too many books at the same time and no book in depths which leads to confusion. In the future my plan is to read just one good book at least two times. The first time I want to read through the book and mark important sequences. The second time I know the important pages which I want to analyze in depths. My goal is to compare the knowledge with my own thinking, read for double purpose of sentences and do research somewhere else (internet, people, books).This way I want to find the real value of the content.
Design Processes I used - reflection-
Critical Evaluation
Supportive Material
Documents:
Best practices in project management
Skill-flex tracking and assessment
Final requirements for this ALC
Cummulative feedback on the PoDAPO criteria
Dissemination efforts:
Our blog: einfachfroh.de
Cummulative Annotated Resource Review
Glossary of terms
Brain-based learning: a method developed by Vera von Birkenbiehl which provides content easily accessible for the brain. She provides different courses on how to learn vocabluary and store information in long term by connecting them to numbers and pictures. I read various methods in my Internet research and selected the ones I was the most interested in.
Resistant bee keeping: is a concept developed by two experienced bee-keepers, which gives advise about all necessary steps to make the bee independent from a parasite called Varroa. In the permaculture park the concept became implemented and first steps were done towards “resistant bees”. I documented the process so far with high motivation.
Terra Preta: "Terra Preta do indio" is a dark, fertile, man-made soil and a product of indigenous soil management in the Amazon region. Similar types of dark soil have been discovered on other continents as well. It has its dark color because of the charcoal and humus content. Charcoal is very stable and remains in the soil for thousand of years and the micro-porous structure of charcoal absorbs and releases water and nutrients available for plant roots. Today everybody could produce a black fertile soil substrate inspired by "Terra Preta do indio"
Earth-shelterd greenhouse: are constructed to capture the sun energy and utilize that which is stored in the earth. The gardener designed one to extend the growing season. Being part of the building workshops was very enriching.
Indigenous Microorganisms: positive increasing (aufbauende) microorganisms which can be found everywhere in nature (especially in wood or compost). Reproducing them avoids moldiness and instead turns to fermentation.
Wordcount
Title and Specification: 209 words
Project Design and Reflection: 674 words
Discover: 764 words
Dream: 264 words (+Longterm goal diagram & XMind: Skills I want to gain)
Design: 854 words (+ Tracking and managing pathway 417 words)
Destiny: 1125 Project and OP work and 571 words about future pathway (+XMind Skills I gained & new goals + longterm goal digram)
Process Reflection: 374
Total Wordcount: 5252 words.
The last 250 words are the total amount of all XMindmaps, Flowcharts and tables which are not named with "optional".
Participation Records
Gaia University:
Mid-of-Year-presentation: "Steps towards resistant bees"
Click here to see two feedbacks of my mid-of-Year-presentation
End-of-Year-presentation: "My first year with Gaia University"
Main Advising Sessions:
- In November with Laura Kästele (general)
- In December about the OP5 (LR)
Peer Calls:
I scheduled some peer calls during I did my Learning Review, but for several reasons all of them failed. Here is a reflection about my peer meetings in general.
Calls:
Carbon Farming (content call)
Design Call (content call)
Neofaschism (community call)
PoDAPO series call (community call)
Facilitation styles and forms (community call)
Pathway management (community call)
Digiphon
In this section I am presenting all tools and platforms I used while I worked on my OP.
Tools:
- Libre Office to write texts
- XMind to create Mindmaps
- Excel to create documents
- Photo Camera to take pictures
- Laptop to write on
- Simple Image reducer to reduce the size of pictures
- Image quick to cut pictures
Platforms:
- Mahara to present my OP
- Dropbox to save and upload (additional) material
- Flickr and Picasa to embed pictures into Mahara