The process of working through the 8W’s has definitely bee beneficial. It made my stretch out my information inquiry process and really think about what I am doing. In addition, I now have a greater understanding of the model and its benefits that I can use in the future. When I am designing a class, I will know how to use this model so the students will benefit from the instruction. Most importantly for this model, I believe, is the watching step. It would be very difficult in yoga to jump into the practice without having already observed and formed some sort of interest in it. By creating and assessing, students can prove and cement the knowledge that they have learned.
THE BLOG
Sharing my experiences with yoga on a blog has been a new experience for me, but I believe it has been a beneficial one. Blogging about a process allows you to work out your thoughts, refine them, and make new connections. You can go back and read about your progress and remember connections that you made. I believe the blogging process would be most beneficial for a more long-term process. For example, I could continue to blog about my feelings throughout my entire yoga practice and then assess the entire process at the end. I could then continue to reflect on the changes I’ve made or will make. It is also helpful to upload videos and other resources so that they can be located again in the future.
The last step in the 8W Model is Wishing, or assessing. This step includes “assessing, evaluating, and reflecting on the process and product” (Lamb, 2015). Ideally, I would reflect on the end product, completing the practice schedule, but for now I will reflect on the process through the creation of the schedule.
Overall, I feel confident now that I understand where to begin in my yoga journey. I have several resources to help me that work well with my learning abilities. I believe that the 8W’s model was helpful for this particular topic and my learning style because it focused on watching and wondering about a topic, locating and evaluation sources, using those sources to create a product (the schedule or the actual process of practicing yoga), and then sharing that product (the schedule or this blog).
As a form of assessment, I did locate a video on the benefits of yoga. The video involves a quick yoga exercise and then evaluating how that exercise makes you feel.
The video asks the following questions as a means of assessment. I have included my own answers as well.
How did you feel before your yoga practice? Rather cramped, tense, sore shoulders. I have been on the computer a lot today.
What worries were you focusing on that day? Trying to get homework and chores done before I have to go to work. Also worried about another homework assignment due in a few days.
How did you feel during the exercise? I could feel my muscles stretching, My shoulders popped several times! I made sure to focus on breathing deeper.
After? My muscles definitely feel looser and more relaxed. My shoulders are not quite as sore.
How does your breathe feel now? I’m definitely breathing easier
Can you notice a difference in your posture? Yes. I am sitting straighter which is helping with my breathing and sore shoulders.
Do you notice any changes in mood? I believe I do feel better. Since my shoulders feel better I am not so grumpy about that!
This would be a good evaluation resource to use again after a few days or weeks of practicing yoga. Depending on my answers, I will know if I am doing things right or if I need to reevaluate my practice schedule.
Resources:
Lamb, A. (2015). Information inquiry and instructional analysis. Eduscapes.com.
watchwellcast. (24 November 2012). What are the benefits of yoga? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU3HuPNsyG4.
After searching, evaluating, and synthesizing resources, the next step is Weaving and Wrapping, or creating and communicating.
Using the various resources I had found and the information I had learned, I created a schedule to start practicing yoga. I would practice for approximately 40 minutes a day, first using one particular video until I grew more flexible and was able to proceed. Starting in March I would start the 30 Day Yoga videos with a new practice every day. On Saturdays, when I had more time to practice, I would work on specific poses.
The next few steps in my yoga journey were Webbing, Wiggling, and Weaving. In other words, I needed to locate, evaluate and synthesize a variety of resources. From the Watching stage, I learned that I needed to locate some helpful video resource. To cover all of my bases, though, I should look for other resources as well.
WEBBING
I was sure that there were organizations that published resources on yoga online, so I first conducted a simple Google search. Out of the many resources I found, I located a few reliable sources including:
YogaJournal.com – This site has many articles on yoga and meditation, instructions for different poses, videos, and even a “Yoga 101” page.
Yoga.com – A similar site with videos, articles, and a community page for posting forums, and an online store.
FitnessMagazine.com Yoga Poses for Beginners – Shows images of various poses and instruction.
WIGGLING
These sites all seem very reliable and current, with articles that may be helpful as I continue my yoga practice.
Search results for “Yoga for Beginners”
WEBBING
Next, I searched YouTube further with the hopes of finding a channel with helpful videos. I searched “Yoga for Beginners” and was completely overwhelmed by the results–over 713,000. Instead of looking at particular videos, I instead looked at the users. Yoga with Adrienne and PsycheTruth had several videos on the first page of results, so I looked at the rest of their videos.
I noticed that Yoga with Adriene, one of the videos that I found helpful from my observation, had several helpful playlists including “30 Days of Yoga,” “Yoga for Beginners,” and “Foundations of Yoga.” There were also several more advanced videos and playlists that I could use as I grew more experienced. The PsycheTruth page was not nearly as easy to navigate and the videos were not as well designed.
WIGGLING
After browsing several other channels and users, I realized that the Yoga with Adriene videos were definitely the most helpful in my opinion. The number of viewers, quality of videos, and number of videos all supported that this was a very reliable source. The teaching method and video design matched my abilities, and the range of videos ensure that I could continue working through them as I became more skilled.
WEAVING
Given the resources that I had found, I began to understand how I would use them. I decided to use the “Yoga for Beginners” video five days a week for two weeks so I could get used to doing the exercises almost every day. In addition to the daily sessions, I could view the Foundations of Yoga videos along with the website resources I found to learn new poses each week. Once I am sure that I can keep up, I will start the 30 Day Yoga videos. The 30 Day Yoga videos seemed to be a perfect way for me to learn the basics of yoga and continue to work through new lessons each day.
I decided to create a two month schedule using these resources. After that, I could decide if I wanted to continue or if I needed to alter my schedule.
Resources:
Fitness Magazine. (2015). Yoga Poses for Beginners. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/yoga/poses/beginner-yoga-poses/.
Yoga. (2014). Snapside Ltd. Retrieved from https://yoga.com/.
Yoga Journal. (2014). Cruz Bay Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.yogajournal.com/.
Yoga with Adriene. (2015). YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene.
Before this project, I had seen yoga in practice many times–on TV, in commercials, on YouTube, or being practiced by family and friends. I have an aunt, a cousin, and a friend who are very enthusiastic about yoga. Watching others do it prompted me to want to try–it doesn’t look so hard, I could do that, why not?
In her book Teaching the Library Research Process (1994), Carol Kuhlthau focuses on the feelings of students during the process of information inquiry. During the process of initiating and exploring, she describes student emotions as confused, apprehensive, and uncertain. (Lamb, 2015) These feeling were definitely accurate in my case and I began the watching and wondering stages. I had my topic but I was confused and unsure on where I needed to begin.
My first step was looking for videos on YouTube to try and gauge where I should start. A basic search for “yoga” brought a few different videos:
I learned a few things from observing these videos:
1. The instructor and the design of the video really matter. The Jillian Michaels video was very stressful for me to watch. The music in the background was very distracting and made me very anxious. The video was also very fast-paced which worried me as well. The Yoga with Adriene video and the DoYouYoga.com video both started with relaxing music and then featured no music at all during the actual practice. Both of these instructors worked very slowly, making the whole process much more relaxing.
2. Verbal explanation helps. While I am very much a visual learner, in a virtual setting where I cannot have someone correcting me or answering questions, it was definitely helpful to have the instructor talking through the process. The Yoga with Adriene and DoYouYoga videos both did this without being too loud or distracting.
3. I needed to pay attention to the goal of the particular video. The Yoga with Adriene and DoYouYoga.com videos were meant to be introductions to yoga. The Jillian Michaels video was designed “to sculpt muscle, burn fat, and tone your entire body fast” (BeFiT 2012). While searching I saw videos ranging from full sessions to perfecting particular poses, to weight-loss exercises. Since I was just looking to start yoga, I needed to find a slow introduction video.
4. I really wanted to incorporate videos into my practice. Even though I did not enjoy all of the videos I watched, I did realize how helpful the successful videos were. Being able to watch the poses and hear the instructions was much more helpful that simply reading a book would be.
Overall, by observing, I realized where I needed to start, what resources I needed to look for, and what methods might or might not work for me.
Resources:
BeFiT. (14 March 2012). Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown Level 1. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5nyrD4eM64.
DoYouYoga.com. (1 June 2013). Day 1 – 30 Day Yoga Challenge – Let’s Get Started! [Video resource]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wJtQjQ4HI8
Kuhlthau, C. (1994). Teaching the Library Research Process. Center for Applied Research in Education, Scarecrow Press. Retrieved via Lamb, A. Information inquiry and instructional analysis.
Yoga With Adriene. (1 January 2015). Day 1 – Ease Into It – 30 Days of Yoga [Video resource]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBu-pQG6sTY.
For this project, I chose to use the 8W’s created by Annette Lamb (1997) in her article, “Wondering, Wiggling, and Weaving: A New Model for Project- and Community-Based Learning on the Web,” to learn yoga. My goal was to locate internet resources to help me learn the basics of yoga and create a month-long practice schedule.
The 8W’s Model is an information inquiry model that “involves wondering about a topic, wiggling through information, and weaving elements together” (Lamb 2015). The different stages of this model can be viewed in the image above. The steps include Watching, Wondering, Webbing, Wiggling, Weaving, Wrapping, Waving, and Wishing.
I know that I am very much a visual learner. I learn be watching and then by copying or doing. I was particularly attracted to this model because it focuses on Watching (“explore and become observers of their environment”) and then Wrapping and Waving (“creating and packaging ideas and solutions” and ” communicating ideas to others”). In order to fully explore this model, I plan on observing yoga videos in addition to my experience observing yoga in the past, exploring and evaluating internet resources, and using the best resources to create a schedule that will be shared on this blog.
Resources:
Lamb, A., Smith N., and Johnson, L. (1997). Wondering, Wiggling, and Weaving: A New Model for Project- and Community-Based Learning on the Web. Learning & Leading with Technology 24:7, 7-13.
Lamb, A. (2015). Information Inquiry and Instruction Analysis. Eduscapes. Retrieved from http://eduscapes.com/instruction/5.htm#b.
Beginning My Yoga Journey 