Thing # ∞ - One Last Thing... Or Is It?

Because I am ALL OUT of creativity at this point, I'm just gonna copy-paste and answer some questions.

* What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I liked almost all of them, so it's really hard to pick a favorite. The ones I liked least were about the applications I'm most familiar with, like Facebook and Google Docs -- but that's only because the applications weren't so shiny, and I wasn't as actively curious.

* How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
I feel SO accomplished having completed this. I love to sit in a class and learn, but it's harder for me to do something that takes so much self-motivation. The feedback and comments really helped, and the fact that the subject was interesting to me (and was something that allows my Web 2.0 experience to closer approximate my husband's) kept me going. Maybe now I'm in the Long Tail of Teachers Who Grok Web 2.0!

* Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I love being able to join my husband in conversations about our wikis!

* What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think a major improvement would be to add the "update" email information to each of the Things' blog entries. For example, in the Update #3, you link to "other brainstorming/mind-mapping tools" for Thing #14. It would've saved me some time (in the form of tab-swapping) if you'd listed those links under an UPDATE: heading at the bottom of that Thing's page! Aside from that, though, it worked out great! I don't know if I'd've had a fruitful an experience without the knowledge I already had, though!

* If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
DEFINITELY. But probably only if it was offered during the summer. Haha, yeah, my answer is "definitely probably."

* How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian?
I'm not sure yet. It will definitely change the way I think about my teaching.

* How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
You've already shared that with us! I can do a Google email alert, or put a blog on my RSS reader! That Learning 2.1 page was pretty, um, heavy.


I will definitely share my experience with my administrators and co-workers. I've already shared the 23 Things page with my mom, who just got high-speed Internet for the first time!

As for the future of this blog... Hm... I'm pretty anal, so unless I continued with the enumeration, I'd have to rename and reformat it. I might start another one, though... I can't imagine having enough time (even 15 minutes!) after school starts.

But.

The Things have shown me that they are indeed powerful, especially when used in concert to make life online more efficient and informative. I have only one year of teaching under my belt, so using all of them this year is a virtual impossibility (pun, of course, intended). But I'll use baby steps, and hopefully my power as an educator will rise, exponentially.