Thursday, November 10, 2011

Learning 2.0

I enjoyed keeping a blog and the opportunity to navigate the web for this project.  Having a blog gives me a sense of pride that I now have more of a web presence than just my facebook page…which, in all honesty, needs updating.  Previously I wanted to try blogging but was always intimidated at the layout of the sites I found, thinking it would be too complicated to learn or by the price that was attached.  I’m glad this was a requirement and allowed me to see how user friendly some of the blog sites actually are.  I might not be saying anything noteworthy but I like having an outlet to use in case I do. 

There was very much an interconnectedness between all the exercises.  For example, starting a blog made me more open to reading other's blogs.  Then exploring RSS feeds provided me a function to organize the blogs I wanted to follow.  Likewise, I realized how convenient Delicious was for organizing sites and articles of interest for me, which led me to give Zotero another chance as a place to store research articles.  These relations between the different exercises allowed me to start examining other sites and technology tools that I come across in a comparable manner.  “Well, this is similar to Wikipedia that I like and use so I might give it a chance,” or “I already use flickr so I don’t think I need another photo sharing site.”  I’ve become more willing and open-minded to try technology I would’ve previously turned my nose up to, but I’m also critical as to how it will assist me and if it’s worth the time.

The real world applicablity was probably the biggest appeal for me.  Many times after discovering a new tool through Learning 2.0, I would then immediately share it with someone else I thought would benefit from it.  Similarly, I found that by reading other's blogs I walked away with something I did not know.  Whether it was a new website to reference, library blog to read, or technique to better utilize the Learning 2.0 tool, I gained something.  Like Library 2.0 that encourages participation and information to flow in every direction, Learning 2.0 follows suit. 

1 comment:

  1. Julie, You seem to have acquired numerous tools for your cyber-toolbox! How will you share these new skills with a prospective employer? This is something I am struggling with at this time. Display them on a website, itemize on a resume, or lump into one category: Web 2.0? Your criteria for these tools are useful, too. I will add them to my criteria for assessing new Web 2.0 tools.

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