Intrigued by Technology

The most apt statement with which to begin my reflections for this week's classes on creating this blog is one of Lao-tzu's popular saying: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Indeed my journey to the world of blogging and using online resources for teaching and learning has started with my enrollment for this course! As one of the tasks for the week, I had to create a blog using blogger. One of the steps required signing in or signing up with a Google account which, to my advantage, I already had. Interestingly, some years ago I had jokingly created a blog and what I learned this time was the fact that an individual can own more than one blog! 

While creating my blog, I learned that I can use different templates to design it. It shouldn't appear as a surprise, therefore, to anyone if my blog background and templates keep changing over time. One of the things I've liked about blogging it that I can re-edit my posts, Moreover, blogging can be a product of both seriousness and play. Experimenting and risk-taking become the heart of learning while getting to know how to use the feature in the blog page. For instance, the link I just shared in the first paragraph above was a result of my experimental learning as to whether I could insert it there since there is an icon on the tool bar labelled Link.

This week I've learned many exciting things: I started off by pinning my location on Google map as an optional task, tagging my name and a description to it. This was as good as playing, yet I learned a lot as I explored further. I got introduced to Nicenet for the very first time and I was amazed at the statistics displayed of people who have recently logged in. I came to learn that Nicenet is an Internet Classroom Assistant and several online classes are conducted through it. Another interesting concept is the wiki in which the course summary and required readings are displayed for the class.

As I plan to use blogs in the classroom, I imagine how exciting it will be for my learners and this alone will motivate them into learning as well as exploring technology further. The excited ignited within me is indescribable and I am so intrigued by technology. 

With week one almost gone, I can gladly say one step out of a thousand has been taken and the count-down now begins!

Daniel