These systems have been put in place with good intentions, hopefully starting with the question “what should person Z graduating with X degree from university Y know?” However, there are often way too many assumptions made about person Z and there is very little flexibility when person A comes along.

Which… in a round-about way brings me back to the central thesis of this post: Don’t design systems (whether they be technological, administrative or otherwise) for the masses, design them instead for individuals, with the flexibility that the diverse complexity of humanity requires.

I also agree that the most important thing that a learner can do is focus on is reflection over their learning. I learned that the hard way after writing “Get Teched Up” for LEAP. In my second year I focused on the tools and the results were not as good as I had hoped. These days I do it as you suggest, figure out what I want to learn, then how best to do it, then finally I find a tool. I’m still not good at continually reassessing my tools to ensure that they still meet my goals, but that is my priority going forward in my learning.

Nicely articulated! I have some questions for you though. You said:

“What students really need are small, lightweight tools to help them learn.”

While I agree that tools can be very useful to support learning – I don’t think this is the place to start. I still think the most valuable thing a learner can do is take some time to reflect on our own learning goals – not the goals of the course or the institution. Sometimes these will be in sync with our personal goals – sometimes not. My point is that until we know what we want to learn – it will be difficult to make good choices about the tools that might be useful to us supporting that learning. For example, if I want to learn how to collaborate more effectively, I need to think about what that means to me, who can help, what I need to do and (finally) what tools and approaches might support those activities. And, I agree, those of us who support students, need to be continuously reflecting on our own learning, our own goals and sharing what we’ve learned about the tools and approaches we’ve found useful along the way.

Thanks for your contribution to my personal learning environment!