Sharing

This week Keith introduced the idea "Produsing", yes with a 's' instead of 'c'. The idea comes from the notion that we 'producing' and 'using' resource's for teaching and coaching.

Before this course the idea of sharing my work and ideas was extremely daunting, however over the past 10 weeks of this course I have been taught the benefits and positives gains that are achievable when we not only access someone else's work but also share our own.

I now no longer see people viewing my work as 'copying', I see it as a way of communicating my experiences and enriching the knowledge of others for the benefit of my chosen sport. I'm not trying to say I am Australia's next head coach, but for those just beginning their journey into the world of swimming, my resources may provide them with the kick start that they need. I see that making my work publicly viewable is contributing, even though only minutely, to the world of swimming, something that I have become passionate about after learning Swimming Australia was in debt after their major sponsor Telstra pulled the pin, leaving Thorpe's return to the pool  Swimming's only hope of getting back into the black.

The Sports Coaching Pedagogy unit has also developed my appreciation for social media networks and online sharing mediums such as Blogger, Facebook, Slideshare and the list goes on. Before the unit, I saw social network websites as purely a recreational application to communicate with my friends. But now exploring the concept of communicating further, I now see that I can join groups such as "Swimming Memes" where people from the swimming community post funny captions on pictures and "Swimming Australia" where again people from the swimming community share experiences and ideas related to their sport, ideally giving them the chance to produce and use resources. Again, before the unit, sites such as Slideshare and Blogger to be were places that old people went to rant on about useless boring things. SCP has taught me that this is a place we can go to share, develop and create ideas to expand our knowledge as a coach of teach.

SCP has opened my eyes to the fact that coaching and teaching is not a solo profession. I can not expand to achieve my full potential by keeping my thoughts and ideas to myself and not asking others for theirs. I need to step out of my shell and explore all the wonderful resources that are available to me. Produsing.