Week 9 Thing 23 / Summary Whew!

I will try to answer all that is asked in the summary. This has been a daunting task at times. I can't tell you how frustrating it can be to have to find definitions of words before the learning can begin. Some of this stuff I had no understanding of. The light bulb went off at Week 6 Thing 15. I finally understood what 2.0 was all about!

Some of my favorite discoveries included del.icio.us which I use every day now, as well as bloglines. I have a bloglines account and make it a point to check in every day. I can keep up with the important stories in the news, book podcasts at NPR and even my daughter's blog.

This program has affected my lifelong learning goals. Mostly, it has empowered me to keep on keeping on. Sometimes (actually often) when I take a training session or class, I leave thinking that it was a waste of time. Unless it is a specific how-to thing that I am learning, that I can use tomorrow, I rarely find that I could apply what I learned any time soon. I want to use it now. There is nothing to apply it to. The info sits in my notes (and in my head for a little while) until or if I remember that it is there when it could be useful. The self paced type of learning with 23 things suits me as I can access it when I need it. I can apply it where I think it could be used right now. I have a need and there are lots of tools to use. If one doesn't work another might. Information connects or is attached to like things so that I can look until I find IT! I can explore when I find the need. There was creativity involved and I had fun.

The way that I incorporated some aspects of 23 things so quickly and easily into my daily routine surprised me. I was excited about the blogging part to begin with because my daughter blogs but had no idea that some things would become so indispensable! I have even turned on a few friends to del.icio.us. and plan to continue posting to a blog. Pretty cool.

I did found it hard to keep myself on track. Some days I only had 20 minutes to read a few things and had to re-read when I returned a few days or a week later. It was hard to jump right back in. I tried to start from the e-mails I received each week but eventually found it easier to start a the Merlin Maryland Libraries Learning 2.0 23 Things page. (http://marylandlibrarieslearning2.blogspot.com/) The tracking log helped a lot and I made a folder in my e-mail where I kept the e-mails from Jen. I really loved that "Account Reference" sheet that Jen sent to keep track of all of the user names and passwords. If I had both of those things in a notebook ready to go before I started I may have felt more organized. Suggesting to keep the e-mails in a folder might help too. Overall, it all worked out and I learned a lot, including organization while working online.

I would definitely participate in a discovery program like this again.
Okay so here's my marketing blurb...
The learning that I gained from 23 Things is indispensable. An Internet "surfer" before I began, my concept of the Web has changed as I learned to swim. There are amazing tools out there to communicate and connect, organize and access, inspire and be inspired and it's not that hard when you learn at your own pace. Others are swimming too and they can help keep you afloat. No more surfing...I am hoping for flying lessons soon.

Thanks to everyone for all the help.

I finished! My co-worker says that this video says how we feel!