Some of my favorite discoveries and exercises in the 23 things program were the activities centered on Web 2.0 applications and other online applications like Zoho.com, etc. Now that computers are everywhere we go, the internet can provide us with a mobile workstation that contains our work, our favorite places, our pictures, our whole lives. Without the 23 Thing program I'm not sure I would have discovered everything that the internet has to offer to make life easier. I love my Google Calendar and I can't wait to start making to-do lists with "Remember the Milk."
The Web 2.0 applications opened my mind to instructional possibilities that I know couldn't be achieved with traditional materials. I know my students will benefit from the fact that my eye is now trained on emerging technology. To be honest, one of my favorite parts of this project was the blogging process itself. It has inspired me to create a personal blog to communicate with friends and family. I would love to set up class blog when I'm teaching to create a sense of community in my classroom as well as communicate with my students and parents.
Before completing this program I hadn't given much thought to how I would incorporate technology into my instruction but now I don't see how the two could ever be separated. I'm so excited to get out there and use the tools that I have learned about. Better yet, the 23 Things actually made me feel competent with each tool I tried so I know I'll be much more likely to use them and to experiment with other things I discover. Now that I know how to access everything the internet has to offer I find myself looking back into issues and topics that I miss reading about and talking about in my undergrad studies. Instead of just looking up recipes, I look for video tutorials on cooking skills. This program has changed the way I view the internet as a learning tool for myself and my future students.
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