A penny for my thoughts....

I have been thinking about this for a while. I am a little more used to the set up of this class. I still find it a bit frustrating to not know what really lies ahead. Most weeks I feel rushed trying to get the "assignments" done and that I don't really know if I am doing them well, but I am pretty sure I would get some input if I was really doing that poorly.

I think I am still trying to find my purpose in this class. I now seem to have knowledge new tools and applications, but I still don't really know what to do with them. I have learned more about Youtube and why it is more than just a site to look up funny videos. I have used Wikipedia often, even before this class, but I tend to go to it for information, not feel that I have something to add to it. I like using Google Image Labler, but mostly because it is fun more than because I am helping make the web a little more organized, although that is a nice side effect. So far Google Wave seems like a combination of AIM and Google Docs, but without the some of the good parts. I understand it it is still being developed, but have to admit it so far has been a bit of a bummer.

I have decided that while Moodle's layout is very easy and overall user friendly, I have problems locating the newest posts so I can respond to them in a timely fashion. I spend so much time looking at each topic and trying to locate the newest additions that by the time I find the post I wanted to respond to I have kind of lost my train of thought, or at least my energy.

I like Google groups because it sends you emails and you can respond from your email. Each email also has the correct name of the thread in the subject so you could find it should you go to the group page and want to respond. Moodle sends out an e-mail, but it isn't easy to know what heading the subject was under to find it and respond (see previous paragraph).

I know more people have been responsive than I have. I love reading everyone's posts and blogs, but right now I feel like a sponge. I am just absorbing the information, analyzing it and what to do with it. I don't always feel like I have something valid to say, and I am pretty sure it isn't good netiquette to just write "cool" or something like that as a response. I often find articles while at work that I find interesting, but I cannot access the Google groups page from work to post it, so I have started using Google buzz, but but not sure how many of our class is using that regularly.

I do feel that I am not sure where I am supposed to be posting regularly. I don't mind using all the different sites, I just get worried that I might miss something important. So far it seems there is no real activity on our Ning page. I know we are going to add even more places that we are supposed to post and network on at some point, I just hope I can keep up with it.

I wonder if it would be worth taking turns using the sites. Perhaps saying that for a few days or a week we are only posting to Google groups, or Ning, whichever DI or the class chooses so that we are in a sense forced to try to use the tool and all its capabilities. I think I might actually like that instead of just getting a sampling of a lot of things; learn to actually use a few things really well.

I think that is what I am looking for. I would like to be familiar with as many tools that are out there, but I want know how to use them really well. For me that might really be choosing a select few and really setting my mind to finding out what they can do. I have begun with some of the suggestions DI made about utilizing my Gmail account to help filter all my email accounts. It has become a blessing and I am starting to find more ways to keep things where I would like to find them as references.

Another tool I have really liked using is Wordle. I think I mostly like it because it is fun to use; but I have found that it may be a really useful tool in some of the team and one on one coaching and consulting my department does.

So maybe I have just found my purpose for this class. Hmm, perhaps blogging has a purpose after all:) I think my MBTI personality is at a slight disadvantage with this type of class; it moves a bit faster than my processing skills are use to. So while I might be a little behind or slow to respond, I will get to the finish line and enjoy the scenery along the way.

Delicious

I set up a Delicious account at the beginning of the semester. I think it was Krysti who might have mentioned it and so I went out to see what it was.

I love that I can tag, sort, and group things however I see fit for me. I can have things tagged to be in more than one group. I started with various links to things for this class, but then included all of my bookmarks from my work PC and from my own laptop. It's great, I can now go anywhere and access the websites I use most without having to remember the URL for each one.

I know it can do so much more than I am currently using it for. I just haven't had the time to really explore. Each time I go in I try to read about things you can do, and it is pretty amazing how something that seems so simple can really help keep me organized - and for free!

I haven't figured out how to share my bookmarks or add people to my network, but should anyone be interested let me know and I will figure it out. I had forgotten that I had a yahoo account, but that is the email Delicious recognized when I was registering. I agree with Rick, I think I have too many email accounts. Although I am slowly learning how to manage those too.

Second life thoughts

The other night we all met in Second Life to learn more about how to maneuver our way around. I really liked actually getting to meet my classmates, since this will probably be the closest we get to truly meeting.

I now have a better sense of what SL can be used for. When I first entered, I really had no idea what to do with my avatar. I knew I really wanted to change clothes, which took a while to figure out. I had more fun the second time I visited because I met up with Kelly and it was more fun to explore with a buddy.

So it was really great when DI gave us his list to help us find ways of moving around. I really like his explanation of ignore and explore. I think that was my biggest take away. I don't have to decide to give up reality for a virtual world, but I can use it to explores things that I would never get to do in my real life, well at least not easily.

I was pretty fascinated by meeting Von Fosse. I never expected to meet someone 72 years old who was obviously really involved with SL. She had even gotten married to someone through SL. I have to say I wondered if she had met this person in reality or they really just chatted online. I am not sure what that says though if you are willing to share so much with someone that you would marry them in another world, but not in reality. I am trying not to judge, but it does make me curious about the though process.

I am not sure I see the use of this as a learning tool other than to break out and learn to explore. It is somewhat useful for meeting as a class, but there are other tools out there that could possibly do that without as much spacial limitations. We did seem rather crowded in DI's world. I am looking forward to exploring other countries and hopefully learning things that I didn't before.

So while I am not sure that I will continue living a double life after this class, it will be fun exploring and getting to know my classmates in a way that email just doesn't quite afford.

Oh my Wordle!

Wordle is really pretty cool. I had never seen or played with it before, but I have seen "word clouds" on things before.

I was having trouble writing something about where I am now, so I went in and actually wrote up things in my current job description. When I put it all into world, I loved the first result. The biggest word was training. That is what my department does, not totally what I do. I am primarily the support to the trainers. But the image was still what I wanted. It was very linear and straight forward.

When I started thinking about where I wanted to go, or what I wanted to be, I began deleting words and re-writing things. I played around and think I came up with something I liked. I can't say it is completely based on Web 2.0 or that type of position, but hopefully being able to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into what I currently do. I entered the words and clicked create. At first there were a few words i realized weren't quite right, so i did some editing. Then I really played with colors and layout. I found I really felt the words shouldn't be in a set pattern. I wanted them to be more free form and expressive.

I guess that is how I see the Internet and its capabilities. As something not linear, but sometime jumbled up yet still sort of cohesive.

I think I was also saying something about myself. Overall I am someone who is rather structured and follows the instructions. I like guidance and information. In this class I am learning to let loose a little, to explore on my own to see what it is I want to learn. It is still a challenge for me and I know I will never quite move into the free form extrovert, but I am trying to tell my introverted tendencies to calm down and see where this all leads.

This type of word cloud could be used in so many ways. Just from what I have said, I could see this in training purposes, personal explorations, and brainstorming. I actually think it would be fun to take a research paper or someones thesis and see what it pulled out. I think I might have to try that.

Thanks for the experience DI.

Making work fun

I loved the video. I liked how even though he was talking about things that were new to me, he made them fun and interesting. I liked how he talked about making the work fun. No one likes just being told to sit at their desk and type in random data that they have no vested interest in. But when you make into an interesting game, it is amazing how many people want to play.

I have never played any of these games before. After reading some of the other posts I have to check out the rice game and found that addicting. I love learning new words. I found that my vocabulary was pretty good, but there were plenty I had no real idea what they meant.

So while all of these games are fun and addicting, I think it is really interesting that someone has found a way to make them mean something. While the image labeler is not feeding the world, it is truly helping to make things more easily found on the Internet. There have been plenty of times I have searched for images on the web only to find some of the most random things pop up.

I am not really sure what other types of things you could use these for, but I am sure there are plenty of applications out there. Labeling images is only a beginning.

Communication

Is there such a thing as too much communication?

When I first started this class, I thought perhaps maybe there was.

I was overwhelmed by the amount of postings. Most of which I did not understand their purpose. I felt lost for the first few days, but as we all started settling in, the discussion started to take direction and information was being passed along quickly and easily.

So, this morning when I checked my emails, I was shocked to find there were no new posts. I began to wonder is there such a thing as communication overload withdrawal? I didn't seem to know what to think as I stared at my empty mail box - well perhaps not empty but nothing new and shiny.

What I find so interesting this semester is the major difference in communication between my Web 2.0 class and my Multimedia 5200 class. This class communicates so much more, about everything. Yes, most every post has something to do with web 2.0, but not always something specific to a class related task, just a good sharing of information.

In my other class, it seems people don't want to post or something. There seem to only be a few of us who try to post things, mostly questions hoping that others will respond, but no one really does.

For a class that has a very detailed syllabus and timeline, there is very little communication going on, especially about class expectations or projects. Whereas this class began with no set goals or syllabus much less a timeline, and there is far more sharing and collaborating happening. I don't know if it is because due to the free form format we all just felt we needed to share and have kept doing so, or if it is just a different class dynamic.

I haven't decided if I prefer one "method" over the other as of yet. I can say I like the written timeline of things to do so I can plan and prepare for the other class, but I truly miss class interaction. In this class, I miss the lack of more structure and knowing what is to come, but I absolutely love the collaboration that is happening and it does seem to help make up for the moments I feel a little lost. Someone always helps me find the breadcrumbs.

Exhausted

This week has been challenging. It is only Wednesday and I feel behind in everything, not just this class. You would have thought that having the snow and a forced day inside would have helped me feel like I was catching up or getting ahead, but no. Instead it caused me to not be able to go look at wedding venues, which made my mother very cranky.

Ok, a personal venting moment: it's my wedding right? I am the one planning it and putting it all together. Why do other think they can tell me what I should be doing? Argh!

Ok, back to other things....

I really like a lot of things about this class. I am kind of glad we might be moving things over to google groups, but I think I have gotten used to the messiness of our current site. But I also like google groups, I used it for another class and while it did occasionally become challenging to make sure I had gotten to read everything, it did consistently tell me of new posts, unlike moodle.

There are times I feel like if I don't check the site 2 or 3 times a day I might miss something, but pretty sure that's just me. I tend to over think many things and not always listen to my instincts. Trying to get better with that.

I really liked looking up Web 2.0 tools and terms. I really don't seem to know a lot of them or what they do. At some point I think I will be able to tell my grandparents what it is about. Although for the first half of my working life they didn't understand what I did for a living as a stage manager, not sure this would go over any easier.