First off, let me say that I realize why Jim chose the order of assignments this week the way he did. I chose to delve into each subject as I wanted and ended up playing around with Ning last. Which was the most work for me.
I had heard about facebook the last few years. Before I began teaching I had a myspace page for a few months just to check it out. I enjoyed it because it allowed to remain in contact with friends, design a creative page that said something about myself, and of course, get connected to great music. I found so much incredible music and lists of shows that I would have never been able to go to if I was not on myspace. I deleted my page when I began teaching because I thought it would be a better idea that my students weren't searching for me. I realize you could make your settings private but I just deleted it. Therefore, I have been weary about facebook. The reason was because, first, I thought it was like myspace. Second, is because facebook is in competition with google to see which one can take over the world. Third, I, like Lisa do not like the fact that I am in the facebook files forever. Yet, wIth this assignment, I bit the bullet. My reaction... it was overwhelming. Too overwhelming. I did not edit my settings so that I was not updated by email with each friend request, post, etc. I had 74 emails in about 3 hours. It literally scared me. I calmed down after a couple days and got connected to my local outside world. In comparison, Myspace was literally global, while Facebook seems much more intimate and confined to a regional (if it could be that) space. I don't know if I like that because I tend to like what people around the world offer me rather then people around here. If I need something from people I know around here, I will call or text them. Plus, the page that people post things on, "my wall," if I may quote my esteemed colleague Lisa, "is just noise." I don't even look at it. Other than that though, this is simply my initial reaction. I will see what else it has to offer in the near future for my classes.
In regards to the blog, I have never blogged before this class and I have never used blogs in my classroom. I joined blogspot and I posted my first blog on Thursday.
http://ajohnson22.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-piece-of-paper.html . It has been two days and I have no followers. I feel like a failure. I, like Christina am probably going to post about things I find interesting and see if I can get some action. Since joining the internet community, however, I can honestly say that this is the first time I have felt naked since I was 7. I truly felt vulnerable blogging about my thoughts. The other major concern is possibly posting religious views, political views, etc. I have many and would like to share them through blogs but having my students being able to see it could be a problem. I don't mind if they are outside the class and have moved on, but I would like to keep those views private during class sessions. Other than that, I read books and articles, look for new ways of approaching my classes, watch films and love music, so I can use it as a way to review what I have found and connect with people who have the same interests. For my classes, I can have them post blogs about a particular assignment or it could be used as a follow up to an in-class assignment. I do that through blackboard, but the blog seems more coherent.
Twitter, I have no idea. I joined and see the benefits of getting information but it seems as if people are just tweeting what they had for dinner and ways to promote consumer items. If someone can post what they have found or where to look I would love to see the benefits.
I have used Dim Dim and Eluminate before. Lisa and I used it for study sessions (although we had some problems in the beginning and students did not use it, we still tried it). I used it for one of my classes the next semester. We had a study review session online using the Eluminate since it was connected to blackboard. It was very useful because we could talk to one another through the microphone but people could also chat and ask questions as we went if they did not have audio. It has video but I took it off because its slows it down. We set up the session and the time, people connected to the session and it went really well. For those that could not make it, I recorded it and posted it on blackboard. I think this would be a great way to set up office hours and have personal sessions to go over a paper or a test with a particular student.
Ning. So I have used blackboard for 3 and a half years now. The reason... because it was default. I was introduced to Lisa's class that was on moodle and I was blown away. Especially by the chat room. I have always had a difficult time with blackboard's chat and moodles was excellent. When I went to Ning, I did not know it was a way to build a class (I was again overwhelmed with how to approach it). I then looked at Lisa's example and so I started fooling around with a class example. I am still in the process of doing it, but I like what it has to offer. The chat, like moddle seems much more user friendly. Overall, it is once again, much sexier then blackboard. I definitely need more time with i, but since I have Lisa's model I will just go back and forth from her page to mine and eventually figure it out. I am going to build my summer history class using Ning and try it this summer. I will let you know how it goes. But the students will not be completely dependent on it so if something goes wrong I am not scrambling.
Great assignment this week. I was in the woods, closed off, cut off and lost. Now I am in the open, connected, vulnerable and found.
Andrew
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