To blog, or not to blog... That is the question.
The reality is that there is no question. It's just one of many tools technologically that we can use to enhance our experiences in this digital age. I would be lying if I said I was very comfortable and well versed with what is now available at our fingertips via computer, but I'm learning. It's a daunting task. I appreciate this course because it's going to force me to get outside of my comfort zone and tackle something new. Of course it's not all that bad, I'm going to learn something good and useful by the end of this term. Actually I'm learning something right now- blogging. So, what is blogging? I had to look it up. The name means nothing to me. Kind of right up there with "Moodle" and "Mahara". New names, new concepts. I'm showing my age here. So here we are- "blogging". From Wikipedia: A blog is ... And we're off! I made my first link :) I didn't know the term "blog" is a contraction of the words 'web' and 'log'. That now makes perfect sense. And I'm finding out that there are many different types of blogs. For all intents and purposes, this blog will be a 'personal' one. But I think it's pretty interesting to know that there are different kinds:
According to Wikipedia: Microblogging, corporate and organizational blogs, by genre, media type, device, and a reverse blog to name a few. There are also "edublogs" which I can't wait to check out. Edutopia offers some fabulous blogs to peruse through. I think the entire website is an exceptional resource, offering a wealth of information dedicated to 'improving the K-2 learning process". I found out about this site through Instructor Magazine.
The Spring issue had a very timely article: "50 Best Apps for Teachers". This article led me to "Animoto" which we will be working with in this class. Great article, introduces some wonderful apps but explains them and makes learning about them less intimidating. I feel like I have some extra help now when it comes to learning about some of the new applications that this class will introduce.
Which brings me back to this class and my thoughts on it. My digital footprint is enlarging I'm afraid :) It is an exciting prospect. I will continue on this thought soon. For now it's time to close the laptop. Perhaps I'll dream about my next blog topic?!
I feel the same way as you- courses like this put me out of my comfort zone! But it is the perfect environment to learn with other people in. I don't think that we can ever be experts but it's good to get a background knowledge of a tool before we bring it to our classrooms. From there, we can learn together with our students. It's important that they see us learning and realize that the learning process does not simply stop when you graduate. I believe that is often a shock for them when they still need to learn on the job. Hopefully we can help and show them that learning never stops!
ReplyDeleteI do love edutopia as one of my main go to websites for everything! You will do great and just keep your mind open to the possibilities that technology affords our students and yourself!
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