The journey continues…Day 3
July 30, 2009
So here we are day three of my technologcial journey…and my Internet connection has not worked all day and here I am at 10:30 at night connected once again and ready to share another blog about today’s learning curve. Today Alec was able to provide us with a list of other technological applications that we can use within our educational practice. We also had some time to practice some of the tools to which we have been introduced (much appreciated). Today was another good day to get the feet wet, as all this applications need practice. It is not sufficient to just know about them, and it is necessary to actually try the applications, as I found many questions arose while trying to use some of the tools. For example, today I was trying to make a wikki page, but I found myself stuck on trying to create the different pages. I was able to create the different names for the pages I wanted, but I could not delete what I did not like in the tool bar section. I found myself getting very frustrated and quite honestly a little obssessed with the delete function…This was actually a good experience for me, because it made me realize that as learners, we need the time to actually practice and explore, just as I would have to incorporate time into my lessons for students to explore and discover the potential problems with using new applications. It is a question of being flexible with the time and trusting that the time spent will pay off. I definitely believe that I have learned a lot through my own exploration of the many applications presented and feel proud when I am able to figure things out. Again I am hoping that I could give the time to my own students to explore and have that sense of pride when having accomplished the task. I have to admit though…I think I have many questions for the class tomorrow….as there are things I still need to figure out…the delete button!!!
One last comment for the night…I was reading one of the other edst499k blogs tonight, andwould like to discuss the social networking and the PLCs (Professinal Learning Communities). I do agree that this course has opened my eyes to how I can choose who will be part of my learning communities through the open networks such as blogging and twitter. Many times the PLC is indeed contrived, but having a little autonomy over our own development by communicating with other educators of different perspectives may allow me to feel a little more in control of my own advancement as well as feel like a professional. I have enjoyed reading the different comments and blogs that present different perspectives concerning education and technology and I believe that, although I have been a bit wary about the privacy issues, that I may continue with the blogs and social networks in order to get more perspectives from a wider range of people across the world, and not just the perspectives dictated by my school or district (nothing wrong with that by the way…I just like to open up the world a little more).
I look forward to reading more blogs and comments to the blogs…
