Poetic License

OMG!!! How excited am I to be finished with this course and ready to implement so many cool things this coming year. I’m starting to think like a 2.0er (is there such a thing?) and am playing out different scenarios in my head about how I am going to approach the start of school next week. Yes, way too soon.

First… what I loved…Lots and lots of new tools especially the blogging, the wikis, de.liciou.us, RSS Feeds and video tools.  I know I will use all of these during the coming year and will continue to refer back to my Web 2.0 notebook whenever I need the instructions on “how-to.”  I’m already using RSS and de.licio.us daily and think I’m going to begin a classroom blog before school starts.  

I am excited to share what I’ve learned with other teachers too, but always fall prey to the “I have no time” trap – as do they.

What I hated…This course is almost impossible to accomplish during the year and should be offered for more credits. I spent an average of 2-4 hours per day working on my Things this summer and I’m fairly tech savvy. When I felt frustrated, I imagined someone who really doesn’t know much about the computer taking this course. It is daunting and overwhelming at times and could be offered in a classroom format with more support.  PLEASE look at offering more PLUs. The time commitment is worth at least 5 PLUs.

What I wonder about…what’s next? 3.0? What types of other technologies are out there that I would benefit from knowing about?  

I am SO done!!!!

I ended up exploring Ning for a lot longer than Classroom 2.0 and joined both sites.  As social networking sites, I think they are terrific for people engaged in new technologies, and I even posted a request for others who teach the same novel as me in the fall. I’d love other partners on this wiki that I’d like to develop for The Watsons go to B’ham, 1963 if they are out there.  

What I found limiting is that some of the groups have few members. For instance, the YA Lit group on Classroom 2.0 only has 3 members.  I think I’d prefer to share ideas about unit development with a group line NCTE Middle School or NMSA. For new technology work, however, these social networking sites can work. I think I’d turn to them for problems and troubleshooting more than I would for “social” needs.