Sometimes all you need is a little prodding....that push that forces you to jump into the water even though you're not sure you're ready for it.
I guess you can say that my recent enrolment into my current Masters course, "Literacy in a Digital Age" was the push I needed.
I have been passionate about the use of technology in education for a number of years. I took a networked leader workshop for professional development that attempted to get us to blog....but it wasn't something I felt comfortable with. I have ideas, thoughts and opinions but sharing them in such an open forum is scary to me. However, I also recognize my hypocrisy because I regularly visit blogs of other educators and follow various educators on twitter as a part of my PLN. I am awestruck at the teacher's out there who post their wonderful ideas for others to see and share. There are some days when my lesson plans would be dull if it weren't for my access to teacher's who share- there's only so many "new ideas" the brain can come up with over the years. I love the professional sharing that has resulted because of the internet.
Although I'm not a digital dummy, there's so much out there that I'm not familiar with in terms of how digital literacies can enhance learning experiences in the classroom.
Through this blog I will be sharing some of my reflections as I delve more into the digital literacy world with my course. As I learn more, I hope to be able to share more with others and give back what I have gained from the brave people who ventured into the waters before me and were willing to share through their blogs or other digital media sources. Thank you to my tweeps for recommending Blogger as a format for me.
I guess it's time to stop lurking, and it's time to start contributing. My experiences are my own be them right or wrong, but perhaps they will connect with someone else out there and help them on their educational adventure as well.
Wish me luck!
Barb
Disclaimer: This post was written to help me experiment and get used to the blog as a tool. It is note intended to be one of my contributions towards the course requirements for EDER 679 although comments on this post are most welcome! :)
Congratulations on your first blog post! You seem a little reluctant, but I don't think you will find blogging to be an overwhelming stretch. It's a step into the participatory culture that fuels the exchange of ideas and, in turn, the expansion and clarification of perspective. The benefit from blogging that I think best applies to me, since I don't actively cultivate a readership, is the refinement of my thinking that comes from writing it with the goal of being readable and understandable. The simple act of writing pushes me to shine a light on my assumptions, on the contextual links that I believe I see and to tie it all together with a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteIt's an added benefit if anyone reads it and comments. Agreement is nice, but (polite) disagreement can begin a discussion that will further the process of refinement of ideas. Often, a reader/commenter will point out an issue or a contextual link that I've missed or improperly accounted for. I appreciate that kind of objective feedback, because it improves my thinking and instills rigour in my treatment.
Best of luck as you continue blogging!