#2: Learning 2.0

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Before we get started exploring the Web 2.0 tools, let's take some time to reflect about learning.

Learning doesn't mean you have to reinvent the wheel. The tutorial we're using here was produced for this project by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), and we have used it (and the whole idea of the 23 Things) with their permission and under their Creative Commons license. (Remember Rule 2 in the First Thing: Share? Creative Commons licenses are wonderful ways of sharing.) We've made some changes to parts of the program and customized it for GCC.

These habits, what PLCMC calls the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, will provide you with a refresher on what it means to be a lifelong learner.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Make sure you have headphones or speakers attached to your computer.
   Open up the 7 & 1/2 Habits online tutorial and view it.
   
2. As you watch and listen, write down which habit among the 7 & 1/2 is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next week) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning.
   
3. In order to get to the attachments for this tutorial, you’ll need to disable your pop-up blocker. I was able to open the attachments (see the link on the top right corner of the tutorial) in IE 7 by holding down the Control key and clicking on the file name. Then I could either open the file or save it (to that 23 Things folder you created as part of the first thing, right?)

This isn't the only way to think about our habits of learning. If you know of other approaches, jot down a few notes and share them in the next thing, your blog. And don't forget to play around a bit. Learning should always contain a large dose of fun!