My brain feels like scrambled eggs! 6 months ago I didn't know what web 2.0 was. I asked my school ICT teaching and learning coordinator to set up a blog page for me and my students (I was not even sure what a blog page was) because instinctively I knew that it would be a great way for my students to communicate with each other, and for me to communicate with them in a logged, written format. My only previous exposure to blogging was due to the purchase of an iMac (you gotta love a piece of technology hardware that comes with NO instructions! I mean, I was always a 'read the instructions' kinda girl). Well, the paperless world of Apple, and online support opened me up to the world of information beyond Google Search!
My ICT coordinator pulled through though, and created a class blog for me on Sharepoint (I am still not sure what sharepoint is, but I think it is some kind of platform that the school network can support). SEE WHAT I MEAN? I AM A NOVICE, scared and excited at the same time, hungry for more, frustrated that I can't make some things work. What I can say is I am becoming an expert on determining the ease of the 'user interface'. I so wish my school would move to Apple! Anyway, I was launched into the web 2.0 world (at least within my little school, because of worries about going public with ANYTHING work or student related). I learned a little about how to create a wiki (and what a wiki actually was), how to use the blog to store documents, make announcements to the class, and share photos. Needless to say, my first foray into setting up a class web page compared to what I am doing now is like comparing the size of a grain of sand to the planet Jupiter!
Although my school is not' teaching and learning' web 2.0 savvy, they have been smart enough to set up a fully wirelessly networked system, and have removed all filters with the idea that we as teachers and students must be fully responsible and ethical with the use of the network in the school. We are not a tablet school, or a laptop school, but we have enough laptops on portable trolleys and open plan learning stations that using ICT is possible 100% of the time in 90% of the classrooms. Pretty good, if I do say so myself. And yet, the wonderful resources that have been made available are way underused. There are really only a handful of us in the school who are really ready to take the risk and lead the school into 21st century learning. And guess what, yours truly, THE NOVICE, is helping to lead the way - the Web 2.0 world is my oyster!
So why is this post titled scrambled eggs? Well, in 1 month I have acquired 80 twitter followers, and am following 175, I have 2 lists, and have been listed 6 times, I have diigoed, delicioused, facebooked,vodpoded, animoted, you-tubed, yahoo'd, g-mailed, PLN'd, classroom 2 'd, webinar'd edchatted, edteched, edublogged, wikispaced, wordpressed, linkedin, - I HAVE SO MANY ACCOUNTS I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL! And the problem is, that this wonderful, exciting, motivating, energizing world of social networking and professional development, and the amazing people and websites I have visited in the last month are turning my brain into SCRAMBLED EGGS!
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just need a little help in moving to nice little organised groups of poached eggs! Just making this post, my very first on PLN, has lightened my load. Stay tuned for more eggs to follow.....
My ICT coordinator pulled through though, and created a class blog for me on Sharepoint (I am still not sure what sharepoint is, but I think it is some kind of platform that the school network can support). SEE WHAT I MEAN? I AM A NOVICE, scared and excited at the same time, hungry for more, frustrated that I can't make some things work. What I can say is I am becoming an expert on determining the ease of the 'user interface'. I so wish my school would move to Apple! Anyway, I was launched into the web 2.0 world (at least within my little school, because of worries about going public with ANYTHING work or student related). I learned a little about how to create a wiki (and what a wiki actually was), how to use the blog to store documents, make announcements to the class, and share photos. Needless to say, my first foray into setting up a class web page compared to what I am doing now is like comparing the size of a grain of sand to the planet Jupiter!
Although my school is not' teaching and learning' web 2.0 savvy, they have been smart enough to set up a fully wirelessly networked system, and have removed all filters with the idea that we as teachers and students must be fully responsible and ethical with the use of the network in the school. We are not a tablet school, or a laptop school, but we have enough laptops on portable trolleys and open plan learning stations that using ICT is possible 100% of the time in 90% of the classrooms. Pretty good, if I do say so myself. And yet, the wonderful resources that have been made available are way underused. There are really only a handful of us in the school who are really ready to take the risk and lead the school into 21st century learning. And guess what, yours truly, THE NOVICE, is helping to lead the way - the Web 2.0 world is my oyster!
So why is this post titled scrambled eggs? Well, in 1 month I have acquired 80 twitter followers, and am following 175, I have 2 lists, and have been listed 6 times, I have diigoed, delicioused, facebooked,vodpoded, animoted, you-tubed, yahoo'd, g-mailed, PLN'd, classroom 2 'd, webinar'd edchatted, edteched, edublogged, wikispaced, wordpressed, linkedin, - I HAVE SO MANY ACCOUNTS I CAN'T KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL! And the problem is, that this wonderful, exciting, motivating, energizing world of social networking and professional development, and the amazing people and websites I have visited in the last month are turning my brain into SCRAMBLED EGGS!
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just need a little help in moving to nice little organised groups of poached eggs! Just making this post, my very first on PLN, has lightened my load. Stay tuned for more eggs to follow.....
