Thing One.

Hello everyone!  Well, my first adventure on this blog seems to be a success.  It is created and seems to be in working order, and that is a big plus for me since I am a novice at computers.  Last night my husband was even impressed at how my blog looked since he has called me repeatedly, "the least computer savy person he knows." 

The 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners is a great place to start this blog.  I think that I will use these steps in learning more about computers and the Internet in this class.  All of the steps I can apply to my introduction to the World Wide Web:
1.  Begin with the end in mind - To be more knowledgeable about computers and Web 2.0.
2.  Accept responsibility for your learning - Practice each night.
3.  View problems as challenges - Problem solving can help me learn how to navigate the web.
4.  Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner - If my 5 yr old can learn about computers, so can I.
5.  Create your own learning toolbox - My classmates and professors can hopefully be in my toolbox to answer questions.
6.  Use technology to your advantage - This is what I am trying to do.
7.  Teach/mentor others - This is what I would like to do in the future.
7.5 PLAY!!!! - Finally, playing on the computer is helping me learn, and not just distracting me from learning.

As I begin to learn these habits and how to use them to gain new knowledge, I recognize some that are easy for me and some that are difficult.  The easiest habit for me to use is to accept responsibility for my learning.  This is something that every college student must do in order to succeed when they are out on their own for the first time.  You must get up and go to class, take your own notes, and create your own study schedule (with no mom or dad telling you what to do).  I took responsibility and graduated with a degree in History and Sociology, and now I am working on a masters degree.  On the other hand, the hardest of the habits for me to utilize is to use technology to your advantage.  Hopefully, this class will help with that.  I graduated college in 2003 and have been a stay at home mom since then.  I let the technology world get away from me, and now entering back into it is a real challenge.  As a teacher I hope to teach the students about technology, not vice versa.

So far setting up this blog and navigating 2.0 has been much easier than I expected.  I still get stuck in a few places, but with a few clicks I can get back to where I was and begin again.  Picking templates and designing the blog was fun, quick and easy.  I will post more about blogging in Thing Two. 

I want to learn not to be afraid of computers!  They don't bite (Do they?).  I want to be able to use the computer and technology to the best of my ability and to be an effective teacher by using technology in the classroom. 

One down and twenty-two to go!