respond back to in paragraphs The main difference between Walter Webb and Sally Smart (Grand Canyon University, 2020) is in their approaches to a challenge, in this case synthesizing empirical articles on the types of leadership. Walter's approach lacked some of the pre-planning that was evident in Sally's approach. While Sally recognized the gaps in her own knowledge related to the differences between transformational and transactional leadership and addressed those gaps prior to beginning the assignment, Walter tried to plow through the assignment first. This allowed Sally to have a much stronger grasp of the concepts discussed in the three articles in the first readthrough, while Walter felt confused and overwhelmed throughout the process.

A second difference in their approach is in the resources with which each chose to engage. While Sally used her background in academic research to seek out peer-reviewed journal articles and utilized the university's library databases, Walter performed much more cursory research using widely available but less reliable sources (i.e. Wikipedia, About.com, and YouTube) (Grand Canyon University, 2020). The difference in this approach could stem from the idea of digital native versus digital immigrant, as discussed by Jacobs and Greenberger (2022). Sally approached the challenge of research from the perspective of a digital native, embracing technological tools available to her. Walter, on the other hand, displayed more characteristics of a digital immigrant, sticking with what he was comfortable with rather than learning new technological tools.

As for my own takeaways from the vignettes, I do think I need to be more willing to engage with new technologies. Although I have a solid background on utilizing library resources to conduct research, I recognize that I will likely need to conduct deeper dives into those databases and utilize other research-based technologies like Google Scholar and at least one iteration of data management software. I find myself somewhere in the middle of a digital native and a digital immigrant. Although I don't think I'm truly old enough to be considered a digital immigrant (I turn 40 in a few months!), I do have some of those tendencies. For example, I downloaded and printed the textbook as well as the articles for this course, as I prefer to read and annotate on paper copies, which is related to example given by Jacobs and Greenberger (2002). Conversely, I have been familiarizing myself with the use of artificial intelligence as a writing and research assistant, which embraces the digital native side.

Dissertation Diane, in her quicker completion, likely began her own research and synthesis of articles related to her dissertation topic alongside the class assignments. As she learned new skills through her courses and assignments, she applied those skills to her own topic and work. She likely developed a specific plan and goals related to her own research and practiced self-motivation in progressing toward her completion. As I discussed in Week 1, continue to develop that self-motivation and self-discipline will be an ongoing process for me, but I'm feeling confident at the moment.