#7 Blog about Technology

I have mixed feelings about technology in learning. On one hand I think it is the most wonderful way to individualize learning and to excite students (or at least keep their attention) while they are learning. Technology has enabled teachers to use various strategies in order to address the different learning styles of students.On the other hand, I think that technology has dumbed down our society. Students get most of their "research" information from Google. An encyclopedia is a top notch scholarly journal compared to the information on the Internet. Even if you manage to find reliable information, there usually is only a few paragraphs. We are now in a society where we want the information quick and fast, even if it is not factual or has the depth and breadth needed to fully understand the subject.It is not the fact that they are getting their information from this form of media. If they were reading a good width and breadth of information, it doesn't matter if it is in print or digital form. But, we don't read the Internet like we read a book. We don't take the time on the Internet - we want our information short and flashy - and preferably astonishing (like our beloved reality shows).Of course, I am a librarian and therefore am somewhat prejudiced towards books.

#5 & #6 Flickr

I haven't done much with FlicR but it looks like it could be a rather neat application to use. A pretty easy way to organize and present images for others to see. I can see how teachers could use this application in the classroom to organize and manipulate images for classroom lessons. Or have students do the same with images for a project. I don't know if I would use it much in the Media Center but I would like to try it out with some pictures from a trip or project of mine, just to see how the tags, etc. work.

#4 Share your blog

I looked at a few of the blogs the first of December to see what everybody is doing. Some of the blogs are great! After I finish the class I would like to spiffy up my blog page and try putting video, etc. on it.

#3 BLOG in 3 steps

I set up a blog, played around with the template, and have finally figured out where I POST and where I view my blog as others would see it. I have played around with the features - font, etc. as well as where to go to get a list of the blogs in order to edit the post. I don't think I want to create my own blog but I do like to blog on sites that are interesting to me.

#2 7 & 1/2 lifelong learning habits

The 7 & 1/2 lifelong learning habit that is difficult for me is to view problems as challenges. I just find problems about things that don't interest me (computers, cooking, mechanical equipment) to be annoying and discouraging. I am not curious at all about them. Nor am I embarrassed to admit it. I don't know where to begin most of the time and it seems like such a daunting task to get everything you need and then figure out the procedures. If I were to start to maintain a "toolbox" of basics about machines, computers, cooking and work up, that might work.

The lifelong learning habit that is the easiest for me is to teach/mentor others. I also usually begin with the end in mind, althought I may not follow through.

#1 23 things class

I hope to find out more about the philosophy and concepts of the whole 2.0 bit. I also want to become familiar with all of the funny-sounding things that many people are talking about - ning, blog, wiki... And then I would be somewhat of a resource for teachers who want to do a particular thing with a class but don't know how to do it. Also, these are by and large free programs, a feature that might be important if we don't get the mill passed!