Today was a great day but it was also an information overload. I can honestly say that I see myself using every one of the tools I was introduced to so far. I have been playing around with Twitter since I signed up back in the middle of June and I am still waiting for my AHA! moment. Many educators I know, including my professor, speak about how much they love love love Twitter and how they find it indispensable. I think I need to spend more time on Twitter to reach that level of obsession. Right now, I just want to reach a level of admiration. I understand how Twitter works but I do not yet see it as a tool that I could not live without. The graph we viewed about the feelings you have toward Twitter made me hopeful because I am definitely still in the beginning stages of Twitter love.
Today was also an eye opening day about Wikis. I have never created a wiki or blog or any other personal page beside my facebook and I keep that rather private. I had a great time learning how to embed widgets and link sites to the wiki along with how to create a table of contents- these were very exciting moments for me! I was surprised at how quickly I was able to pick it up. I was able to go back to work we did yesterday, edit it and embed it in the Wiki I learned to create today. I feel as though I have learned so much over only about 10 hours of actual face-to-face time. I think that my efficiency with tools I learned yesterday came with my vigorous exposure to them last night after class. I spent a lot of time playing around with some things that we had learned so I am becoming quickly more proficient with the tools. I anticipate that with all the tools we are learning over this course, that as long as I keep playing around with them and trying to figure them out that eventually it will all come together. Here's to hoping.
A tool that we discussed today is something that I already cannot live without: Google. I have been obsessed with all things Google since my first exposure to the site. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences using any and all of the applications. I love love love Google Docs and have been using it for quite some time now. It is such a great tool for collaboration and in my eyes, far superior to other tools I've used. The more we studied Google Apps that I haven't used before the deeper my infatuation grows!
I look forward with only excitement (and maybe a teeny little bit of nerves) and eager anticipation about learning more new tools and Web 2.0 technologies that we will be learning over the next 3 days. As we are discussing different tools and applications, I've started thinking of so many ideas on how to incorporate them into the school setting or I am simply inspired by what I see.
Love your enthusiasm. I think you will come to see the value of Twitter as a learning tool. I don't go on Twitter everyday; I go on when I'm in the mood, or if I know there is some great conference going on somewhere in the country and people will tweet what's being said.
ReplyDeleteYou are smart to continue playing with these tools after class. :)