Is It the End or Only the Beginning?


Wow! You’ve completed the 23rd thing. Give yourself a pat on the back for finishing this program!
We hope you have learned many new things during Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers. And one thing you have learned is that Web 2.0 is anything but static. Changing, challenging, and exciting are hallmarks of Web 2.0. Here are some other things we hope you have learned:
  • It really doesn’t take that much time. You have some new tools—Livebinders, del.icio.us, RSS, calendars, social networks, and others that make finding news about new tools and ways to use them easy. You know how to use them to make keeping up easier. Of course, you can spend hours (and hours) playing around with Flickr or YouTube or other tools, but that counts as "improving your skills."
  • You know you can do it. Sure, there were trials and tribulations as you learned the new tools or struggled with glitches in the products, but you did finish and you did get the tools to work. That means the next time you see a new tool, you will be ready to figure it out and make it work for you. No fear!
  • It's fun to know and use these tools. Admit it, YouTube can be entertaining--and you can even see some uses for it in school. Some of the tools have more toy-like features than others which have a more obvious use. It is amazing what people will think of and more amazing what they create to enhance Flickr, Google, or whatever.
  • We need to keep informed. It is easy to get so involved in the day-to-day of teaching. In spite of all that work, we do need to stay up on what our students are using, talking about, and asking us for help with. As technologies continue to evolve, we need to be informed to evolve with them and guide the evolution.
Discovery Exercise:
1. Please give us some feedback by reflecting on your learning journey in one more blog posting. Here are some questions to guide you:
  • What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
  • How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
  • Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
  • What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
  • How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?
  • How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
2. Where do you go from here? Some things you might want to do now are:
  • make a resolution to maintain your blog, use the tools you now know, keep up with new tools, and apply them in your classroom or job. Give yourself the gift of time—15 minutes a day, a Webinar now and then, conversations with classmates or colleagues about Web 2.0, whatever—but don't quit now! Put your resolution in writing in your blog!
  • every day, ask yourself, "What did I learn today?" Record your responses in your blog.
  • add your blog URL to your e-mail signature line
  • re-purpose your blog as your classroom blog
  • share your blog with your classmates, colleagues, and administrators
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Our hope is that this not the end of our learning together, but rather it’s just the start of something amazing …that will impact the way we work with our 21st century learners.
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