Thing 23: The Journey Continues...

Take a few moments to reflect on your journey. You've covered a lot of material over the past ten weeks. What does it all mean? How has your thinking changed between Thing 1 and Thing 23? Has this program changed how you view the Internet or how view education in the digital world? What plans have you made for using these tools in and out of the classroom? How will you continue to learn about Web 2.0 tools? What are your big "take aways" from this experience?

This has been an incredible journey. It seems impossible to me that it all happened in just a few short weeks. I remember struggling just to set up my blog and now I’m creating wikis! Not only my thinking changed from Thing 1 to Thing 23, I have changed. I am much more comfortable using Web 2.0 tools and have gained so much confidence in my abilities.

I came into this journey having some knowledge and experience with Web 2.0 but I learned so much more than I thought I would. I love Flickr. I never would have investigated it had it not been for this class. I thought it was just another place to store photos like Photobucket. Flickr maps? Wow, I have to go check out that one! And I can’t wait to have some time to really play around with Flickr Speller.

By far the best lesson I take away is social bookmarking. I think I’ve become addicted to Delicious! Even though it is summer I am already collaborating with a colleague by sharing websites we find. Her user name is in my top 10 tags! Another lesson I see myself using is Google Docs. Although I was introduced to it earlier this year, I am now using it for ongoing curriculum work on the GLCEs through my ISD. Learning how to download and save video from YouTube will change how I teach. Now, I can grab my students’ interest from the start with short videos that pull them into the lesson.

Thank you for providing this valuable hands-on Web 2.0 learning experience!