Module 1

Until a few days ago, I had absolutely no idea what Web 2 was. Yes, I should have Googled it.... I was intrigued by the look of the course and was interested, so I sent Lisa an email and found the course came with a lot of support. With a great deal of trepidation, I signed up.

On completing the first module, I did breathe a sigh of relief (a little one). It was strange to realise that much of what I do on the internet actually is using Web 2. Oops! Many of the eLearning tools shown are ones I readily use at home and in the classroom. Many shown on the links have been filed away to explore later.

I have my favourite Bloggers. Not Quite Nigella, is a very entertaining food critic with a dynamic and fun site full of recipes and international travels (could I possibly start writing reports on food in exotic locations instead of writing reports on children as I eat a vegemite sandwich?!). I posted a question on a craft site a while ago asking for patterns for a craft cutting machine. The next thing I knew, people from all over the world were posting replies in a highly productive way for weeks. We all gained so much shared wisdom. I was blown away by the response as I had never posted a question before.

These experiences did change the way I viewed mediums such as blogs. I know that many people use social media including Facebook, tweets and blogs to share with the world that they had weetbix for breakfast, are suffering a headache or that they just stubbed their big toe. For those reasons, I stayed clear of joining up to Facebook and the like. I liked the idea of blogging because many blogs are actually related to the concept of sharing information that is more than idle self promotion.

When my Grandma became frail and began to develop dementia, I was thrown into a world I had never experienced before. Over the months and then years, I gradually learned more and more about the services available for elderly people and those who try to support them. It was so hard to get that information and much of it I discovered purely by accident. It was back then, a long time ago, that I had thought it would be great to set up a blog to share the information I was constantly discovering. I wished to save others the frustration. Pity I hadn't discovered this course back then! I had thought setting up blogs must involve web designers and professional computer people.

For these reasons, I didn't set up my 'old people help' blog and hadn't really contemplated how blogs could be used in my classroom. After module one, I can see that it could be a dynamic learning tool. It is also a tool available to everyone with a computer and internet connection. Maybe that was obvious, but I didn't know.

I am reasonable on the computer as I try to stay a little ahead of my own children - as well as those in my classroom, to ensure I can help them. My Year 7 son keeps wandering in to see what I am doing and was quite impressed when he heard I was creating a blog. It's not easy to impress a 13 year old, so that is saying a lot. Funny thing is, it wasn't that hard. I just took an awfully long time choosing and then re-sizing the photo I wanted to use on my cover page. Figuring out how to position it and change the colours was another issue and several searches later too. It didn't need to be done, but I just wanted to see what Blogger can do!

I am looking forward to the rest of this course with it's many challenges, but what I think will be a very valuable and fun learning experience. Thank goodness it's not a report writing term....

My Grandma

A WW 2 Wedding Day photo of my Grand Parents

Thought I'd have a go at inserting some pictures while at it. My Grandma and Grandfather on their wedding day and my Grandma a few months ago.When I talk to my sons about the world I grew up in - technology wise, it is so much more confronting to think my Grandma was born in a world before such things as television -  and telegrams were a quicker and novel way of sending messages. When my son was born, I swallowed tablets whole and used a pen to write in note books - and he is only 13 years old. I had also just received a very expensive, cutting edge 2 MG camera to take his baby photos on. My phone now takes larger pictures. 

Now, I have just completed my first blog!!!