Blogging Course Feedback/Self Reflection

This course really started off uncomfortable. I never felt comfortable making a video of myself. I always preferred to be the guy behind the camera. Initially, I did not understand the first assignment. Why was I being asked “what causes the seasons/temperature differences on earth thru the year?” What has this to do with social media? Late, I would learn the relevancy of the question as I read the Private Universe Theory. As the course progressed, I learned terms and concepts such as social bookmarking, and crowdsourcing. I discovered web 2.0 sites, like Wikiquotes and Wikivoyage, that I also never knew existed and gained an understanding of how these sites could be used to promote e-learning. I never blogged before this class and now I am thinking of creating new blogs. I have to admit that I never got a handle on Second Life. I read an email and logged on at the specified time but was unable to connect. I did not know whether to run or fly. This class required more work than I expected. Before the start of this class, I read reviews from former students and this class was supposed to be a breeze. While this class is not difficult, it is time consuming and far from being a breeze.

Over the past two years, I have been on light duty status, worker compensation. my goal is to obtain a certificate in distant education and use it to obtain employment in a community college in order to avoid sitting home on disability popping pain killers. While I can no longer shoot a weapon from the prone position or risk having to defense myself or other against an offender, I can still work. This class exposed me to a lot of unfamiliar information. After this class is over, I will review sites like Wilkiversity to learn more. More importantly, this class opened my eyes to some of the tools available to create instruction for today’s students and thus has helped me toward my achieving goal.
 

I read the blogs of the students in this class. Most are far more familiar with social media. Perhaps, it is generational. My children grow up playing the Simms and probably would not have a problem with Second Life. Perhaps, it is the result of teaching in a title one school in Baltimore where most students lacked computers or access to the internet that I saw no need to learn social media sites to create instruction. Still, one of the most important lessons that I learned in this class is that social media, web 2.0 and the web technology that follows has the potential of improving education opportunities in even the most disadvantaged school districts by making it possible to put a quality, well qualified teacher in every classroom and home. More research should be conducted in the use of social media in underachieving school districts, solving the digital divide might make it as close as possible that no child is left behind.