Thing #23 - Reflections

For this Discovery Exercise, I will reflect on my learning experience by answering the following questions...

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? - It's hard to choose! The mashups were a hoot, as was Flickr. On a professional level though, I think I got the most of discovering and expanding my 'circle of the wise.' I will be incorporating blogs, wikis, and nings into my teaching this coming year. I will also take advantage of podcasts and vidcasts to help reach my students in their digital native world.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? I have become proactive in seeking out and learning new technologies that will help me grow as a teacher professional and affect positively the lives of my students. I also am developing a network of experts from which I can glean knowledge...awesome!

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I think what surprised me the most is just how easy it is to create podcasts and vidcasts. I was expecting something really technical, but it wasn't. I purchased a microphone, plugged it into my computer, read a little bit of the index on the help areas of Audacity and Photostory (thank you SBISD for providing those tools on our new laptops!!) and then just 'went to town.' I did experience some issues with uploading my vidcast directly to Blogger, so I opted to upload it to TeacherTube and then embed it to my blog from there. Worked fine...


4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I'm not sure. The instructions/information listed on the Library2Play blog were easy for me to follow. I did read comments from other blogs though where people struggled in certain areas (like with podcasts and creating avatars). If I were you, I would read carefully the comments from the survey and incorporate the most relevant suggestions into the next round of learning. Just a side note here--I spent WAY more than 18 hours completing the 23Things...

5. If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Absolutely!

6. How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities? Phenomenal! 23Things incorporates the 3R's that are necessary to successful learning: Rigor, Relevance, and yes, Relationship! Thanks for an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience!!!