Reflection

There has been so much to learn and digest this week that I could easily have become totally overwhelmed. Knowing enough to know how little I knew about technology was just as overwhelming. Now I know what some of the new terminology means and I have some strategies to narrow the exponentially increasing stream of information that is trying to drown us all. I felt empowered to pick and choose what new technology tools I wanted to try out and adopt from the huge "all you can eat" buffet that Alice put before us. I learned the most about blogs and wikis this week. I never really understood what true blogging is, and I was surprised to learn that "blog" comes from "web-log". Suddenly blogs make a lot more sense! This class has given me enough knowledge to feel comfortable deciding when I look at a blog whether it is any good or of any interest to me.
Since my school already has a management system for posting classwork, I probably will not use wikis right away. I do plan to try out blogging with my science classes, Voicethread with my English classes, and RSS for myself. Though I am a dedicated npr listener, I am excited about consuming news from more different sources. I love the idea of reading a little from the New York Times and the Washington Post along with the Lewiston Sun Journal and npr. As for Voicethread, I feel a sense of conquest. A dedicated technology teacher tried to help me understand Voicethread several years ago, and I was a rebellious resister. I can't wait to get my students using this tool, and I am looking forward to understanding more about how Voicethread can become an integral part of other web 2.0 projects.
It has been a long week, and I won't lie, there have been a few tears. However, I am sure I am many steps ahead of where I was on Monday! I know that I have gained significant ground because I have a whole new set of questions to ask our technology teachers at school and I am eager to play with the new tools and learn more.