The biggest impact on me was how differently I felt about sites such as ning, delicious, blogger, wetpaint(wiki). When I first got into the course I was a big believer that mostly people with no lives used blogger. I am so embarrassed to even utter these words but I want to be honest with you. I never said a word because I didn't want to lose the respect of my professor and my classmates from the beginning. You see, it wasn't until 6 months ago that I decided to get into the ETEC program and I had no idea what I was getting into. Yes, I took a look at the program and the course requirements and it sounded great to me. When I first saw Dr. Mc's syllabus and saw the word blogger....I lost it. "Oh my god...not another one of those." lol lol
I was quick to judge and feel stupid about it.
For as long as I can remember, I have always preached to never judge anyone. Well that's great, but what about what they do in order to help people. The means that they impart to other people in order to help them. That is what blogger is, and that is what Dr. Mc was using to help us interact in an educational environment. No, I do not judge people, but sometimes I do judge the ways that they go about their business. It feels silly to confess, but you just don't know just how much I hated blogger...and now I actually like it allot. To say that I have done a 180 is an understatement. I didn't just come out with a greater respect for people who use this technology to help other people, but I am even thinking of ways that I may be able to use it if I get to be an instructor one day.
My hatred for ning and delicious was never really as much as blogger. I knew of delicious, thought it was a good idea but I just never used it. As far as ning, creating your own social networks so you can interact in privacy with your friends/organizations...not a bad idea either. My biggest aha moment was with blogger. It amazed me really, the feedback that I received from my classmates and my professor means a great deal to me. Most, if not all of my classmates were educators, so it felt great being in such company throughout the semester.
I would love to use blogger in the future. As to how, I am not certain yet. I am thinking of making like a free for all for my students to just talk it up. Maybe tell them to use the site anonymously, and that if ANYONE abused the site, I would just stop it. It can be a way for them to vent out their complaints/frustrations, and a way for me to better the way I teach.
