Thing # 23: Summary Thoughts About this Program

I'm a little brain dead at the moment. But, it's kind of like an ice cream brain freeze. It hurts a little, but you would do it again. I still have to finish uploading my Photostory for Thing # 21, but other than that. I'm done! I have to say I was very apprehensive when I started. But, only a few of the things really aggravated me. Other than that, I enjoyed learning about all of the things and I have learned a great deal. I am very proud of the knowledge I have acquired and I feel so much more competent saying I am a library media specialist, now.

Some of my favorite discovery excercises and journeys were making my blog, the mashups, and creating the avatar. I look at my blog when I open it up and I think to myself, "Did I do that?!" I can't believe it. It looks so beautiful, so professional. And I never would have thought in a million years that I would undertake such a project and complete it in a single class. I am stunned. It was all possible with all of those wonderful videos and much needed reading materials about each thing. It really made everything seem manageable. It still took a ton of time. But, I took it one step at a time, and gave each thing all the time necessary to finish it and understand it. And it, as a whole, was not as overwhelming an undertaking as I first thought. I always say that if one has the right teachers and help to do something, one can accomplish anything if the desire is there. And I had some great teachers to guide me in the Library2Play. I really appreciated the comments and the set-up. It obviously was extremely well thought out. Thanks!

This program has assisted and affected my lifelong learning goals by making me more brave with regard to technology. I love to be in the know about new technology. But, I always hate the feeling when it doesn't work the first time. I have learned that one has to go on to something else and come back to it. If one takes a "breather" and tries again later, somehow one's brain may have figured it out by then. So, I will remember this in the future when it doesn't work "the first time". So many things don't. It's important to remember that people we admire so many times had many more failures than successes. But, they kept at it, and that is what makes them great and memorable to us today.

There were some take-a-ways that surprised me. The Photostory was amazing. I made it and have had a little trouble loading it. But, I am sure they will be resolved. And, once I get it loaded, it will be the most awesome part of my blog. It's so amazing. I can't believe making such a great project is so easy with the software. I also was surprised at how easy it is to load a Teacher Tube or You Tube video on a blog. That is amazing, too. And it works! I can't believe I did that.

What I would do differently to improve upon this program's format or content is to put some more explanation in the Photostory part. Everything else I think was great. Not too hard, not too easy. But, I spent hours and hours on that Photostory, and I could not save it as an .mpv file. It wasn't even an option on the save screen- only the wp was an option. That's why I can't even get it loaded onto my blog. I looked at all the information that's offered in Thing # 21 and still can't figure that one out. Maybe it's just my computer. But, tomorrow, I will go to my friends' house and try theirs. Hopefully that will help. Like I said, nothing in all the things gave me as difficult a time as Thing # 21. So, I could use a little more info on that thing. Maybe it's just me. But, that is my only suggestion. I enjoyed everything else and was able to follow it more or less without major problems.

If, after I had already been a librarian a couple of years, and you offered a program like this to keep up with technology, I would love to participate. I think I need a couple of years to try the things I learned out in a real world environment, first. I say this so I don't forget what I have learned in this program. What you don't use, you lose. So, I'd like to use this stuff and then come back for more new stuff.

If I were to describe 23 Things in one word or sentence, I would say, "One of the memorable accomplishments of my life." I am not a technologically gifted person, in my opinion. But, I value technology, and this experience has taught me so much about something I feared. I think it is mainly due to impatience. But, I have learned from completing the 23 things that it requires patience to master new technological things. Young people master them because they have more free time than we adults have. So, we adults who want to master it must prioritize it and devote enough time to it so we may master it, just as young people do. That is the only difference between them and us with regard to technological ability.

I will come back once I have loaded my Photostory. Hopefully it will be very soon...