My final reflections are best summarized by the blog post below. It highlights the journey that led to two key insights (also listed at the end of the blog post):
that connection spans from reaching out to the entire world all the way down to intra-classroom relationships, and that intentionally building connection at all of these levels matters
that building and nurturing connections starts with being focused on the needs of others and listening empathically so you can understand people
The classroom project, course influence project, and individual blogging and PLN work all synthesized together to fuel these insights and many others. Despite a challenging semester of work, this course pushed me from someone who was technically connected to an educator seeking meaningful online connection with the experiences to understand what that means.