An ending and a new beginning

I have had a lot to learn in a short period of time. 

Some new experiences

• participating in a webinar. --  By the last webinar, I had finally figured out how to hear the conference from my computer instead of watching and calling in on my cell phone.
• watching a voice thread. --  After the 3^rd one, I figured out why random photos and avatars appeared on the right side of the screen.
• creating and maintaining a blog
• creating tags (who knew?)
• making a screen shot
• a gazillion Web 2.0 tools 

I learned

 

• the more people looking at a problem, the easier it is to solve the problem especially on the Web.
• the significance of the blog for giving voice to those too shy to speak up in the classroom.
• the heart of the volunteer and the value of the pro-am collaboration.
• a new metaphor for super glue and WD-40, bonding and bridging capital.
• the democracy of the Web in building communities of practice.
• participation in on-line surveys; rating restaurants and hotels at TripAdvisor; and  liking, commenting, or reposting a Facebook post is all produsage (which is a weird new word.)
• not finishing something or even imagining how something will end is sometimes the goal.

 

 

The learning curve has been steep the last six weeks, but it goes forward from here to my high school classroom.  I’m so energized and anxious to share what I’ve learned.

Thank you for being a great introduction into graduate school, Dr. Dennen.  It’s going to be a worthwhile adventure!