#23: Learning never ends (but the time has come. . . )

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Wow! How time flies when you're having fun. That's the power of play.

Even though learning never ends, we've come to the 23rd thing. Just in case you were worried, these 23 Things aren't disappearing, so you can come back at any time and catch up, or add a comment to any of our entries, or explore some more. Because we have feeds to all of your blogs (and we hope you do too), we invite you to keep playing, writing, commenting and sharing. In fact, you can go to the Blogger Template and change the title of your blog (or add a subtitle) so it reflects the ongoing nature of learning 2.0. If you never quite got around to sharing the name of your blog with us, you can still let us know (by commenting on Thing 4.) We know we have some lurkers out there; you don't have to hide!

So now it's time to take stock and reflect on what you've learned over the past 10 weeks. Even if you skipped some of the 23 Things, we're really interested in what you've learned about your own learning during our time together.

Discovery Resources:

1. Go back to Thing #2 and review the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. Read your notes (is it still in your 23 Things folder?) or re-read the post you wrote for Thing #4.
   


2. Review all of the 23 Things. There's a list in the very first blog post (linked in the sidebar on the left). Think about which ones you enjoyed and which ones you didn't like or just passed over.



3. Read Will Richardson's "Why is it so Hard for Educators to Focus on Their Own Learning?" from his blog Webblogg-ed. Don't forget to read the really interesing comments at the end.

And now, for our final activities.

Did you play and learn? We've played (and worked) and learned a lot. A lot of a lot. So much so that we were challenged by the Goldilocks dilemma throughout our trek with you. You know, that conundrum of whether it's too much, too little, or just right?

So, did you find anything "just right"?

We want to know! We will be gathering information from here and there, from those of you we know, from those we sort of know, and from those of you who choose to remain anonymous. Please consider informing us of your impressions and/or suggestions through one or more venues:

• Anonymous survey responses (use link below)
• Your blog entries (most but not all of yours indicate names)
• Comments on this blog entry (another anonymous option)
• Email us at 23Things@gcmail.maricopa.edu (both Karen and Christine receive the message) or email one or the other of us!
  

Thanks for taking the trek with us and for letting us know what you think.

Discovery Activities:

1. Complete our survey, please.
   
2. Write a blog entry about what you've learned about your own learning during the past 10 weeks.

So we've come to the end of our travels in the world of Web 2.0, but we know we will keep on learning, and we hope you will too. Happy trails!

Christine and Karen

#15: Thinking about "2.0-ness"

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I'm sure some of you are just bursting at the seams with pent-up thoughts about "Web 2.0-ness" and its implications for teaching and learning. We've seen little hints of exasperation or confusion in some of the blog posts, and we find them very exciting! Recognizing that we haven't explored some major tools yet, like wikis, podcasts, videos, and online productivity tools, maybe it's time to reflect a bit.


Discovery Activity

Thing #15 asks you to blog about one or two key issues about 2.0-ness and education. What's bugging you? You can use any of the tools we've introduced so far to find blogs on Web 2.0 or learning 2.0, but here are a couple of interesting items:

• A thread at Britannica Blog beginning in June, 2007 initiated by Michael Gorman in the Web 2.0 forum


• Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning? By Bryan Alexander published in EDUCAUSE Review in April, 2006
  
• Pay Attention from TeacherTube or the more raucous Technoloy Fear Factor in Education by Vicki A. Davis (CoolCatTeacher)

Or perhaps you've used del.icio.us or Technorati to find some key discussions in your discipline. What are the Web 2.0 issues in learning in the sciences, or mathematics, or literature or for librarians? Is there a difference between Web 2.0 issues in college and in secondary schools?

Don't forget to use links in your blog post to those others who have sparked your thinking. For example, rather than just adding a comment to Alissa's post on collective intelligence or to Veronica's on School 2.0, why not buld from their ideas in a post of your own?

So much to think about . . . so little time!

#4: Sharing your blog

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The last activity this week is to share your blog with the rest of us. The easiest way to do this is to write a comment right below this entry and tell us about your new blog. (If you login to make your comment, your name should link to your blog.) Then we'll add it to the blogroll to the left. If your blog already appears in the list on the left, we've already found it!

Then read the blog entries others have written. You might find ideas that get you thinking in a totally new direction. If so, you can write another blog entry! Can you see how entries and comments and links build upon each other in this read/write web?

If you're confused, that's okay too. It's part of learning, sometimes an important part. Write about confusion!

But most of all, play around and have fun!

#3: Creating a blog

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Now that you've explored this blog and thought a bit about learning, it's time to really get started. Blogging isn't just about reading. It's really about writing.

Creating a blog using Blogger* takes just three easy steps:

1. Create an account
2. Name your blog
3. Select your template.

Once you’ve created your blog, here are two important things to note:

To add posts: The maintenance interface that you will use to add posts, edit or change the step-up your blog is accessed online at http://www.blogger.com Be sure to write down your login and password. (Remember? That was part of the first thing last week!)

To view your blog: Your blog address is http://(xxxx).blogspot.com, (xxxx)=the unique identifier you entered in Step 2. Be sure to also write down your blog address.

OK -- Now, it’s your turn...

Discovery Exercise:

1 -- Set up a blog for yourself through Blogger.

2 -- Add a test post or two. Then write an entry about the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits, especially which one is easiest and hardest for you & why.

3 -- Have fun!!!!

If you're an early bird and have already completed this step, write another entry about learning. It's a great topic because we can explore it from so many different perspectives.

* Use of Blogger is only a recommendation. If there is another blog hosting site that you are more comfortable with, please feel free to use it.

#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!

#1: The first thing!

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If you've found your way here, you're one of a merry band exploring 23 Things @ Glendale Community College over the summer. Each week, either Christine or I will introduce a couple of things to learn about during the week. We've posted the list of 23 Things and a schedule; whether you print it out and post it on your refrigerator or add the dates and topics to your Blackberry is a secret you'll never have to share. Our goal is to post at least the first thing each week in time for you to get started each Monday morning, but we might get the things done earlier. Who knows?

You can work ahead if you'd like; just be sure to check back to make sure you've done the specific task we've identified for that week. If you fall behind -- hey, life intervenes occasionally -- that's okay. You can always catch up, but we've heard a rumor that there are some prizes for those who complete all 23 Things by August 1st. Shssh.

For the first few weeks, we'll send out email reminders, but that's so Web 1.0! In Week 4, we'll learn some Web 2.0 ways to keep up without filling up your mailbox. Won't that be grand?

If you have questions, check our FAQ to see if we've answered them already. If not, post a question there . . . or here . . . we'll find them! And away we go . . .

Welcome to 23 Things!

This is a self-paced activity for the summer. Come play with us as we learn about new capabilities on the web.

Listed below are 23 Things (or small exercises) that you can do on the web to explore and expand your knowledge of the Internet and Web 2.0.

(Note: Details about each task will be activated every week with posts related to each item. We'll begin on May 21st.)

Week 1: Introduction [May 21st-May 27th]
1. Read this blog & find out about the program
2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

Week 2: Blogging [May 28th - June 3rd]
3. Set up your own blog and add your first post.
4. Tell us about your blog and begin your Learning 2.0 journey.

Week 3: Photos & Images [June 4th - June 10th]
5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups and 3rd party sites.
7. Create a blog post about anything technology-related that interests you this week.

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders [June 11th - June 17th]
8. Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.
9. Locate a few blogs and/or news feeds of personal or professional interest. and blog about them.

Week 5: Play Week [June 18th - June 24th]
10. Play around with online image generators.
11. Take a look at LibraryThing and music collection sites to catalog some of your favorite titles.
12. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati [June 25th - July 1st]
13. Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmaking site)
14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.
15. Read a few perspectives on Web 2.0 and education and blog your thoughts.

Week 7: Wikis [July 2nd - July 8th]
16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that people are using them.
17. Explore the 23 Things wiki on PBWiki.

Week 8: Online Applications & Tools [July 9th - July 15th]
18. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.
19. Explore any site from the Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.

Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable audio [July 16th - July 22nd]
20. Discover YouTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.
21. Discover some useful search tools for locating podcasts.
22. Take a look at the titles available on LibriVox and learn how to download audiobooks.

Week 10: Reflections [July 23rd - July 29th]
23. Summarize your thoughts about this program on your blog.