Adventures in MSN studies: How I'm Learning to Blog

I have learned a lot about technology in education and technology in nursing in the last month. The first thing I have learned is I am more technologically challenged then I first believed. I am learning about so many methods of technology that I did not even know existed. I thought since I could use Microsoft office and a computer that I was doing okay for being 40. Wow, I was wrong. When I read the syllabus to our class and had to learn to create a blog the first place I searched was wikihow. I found a page entitled, Start a blog on blogger, http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog-on-Blogger. This site was very helpful because I had no idea where to start. The site walked me through step by step of how to begin including how to sign up, name the blog, and using templates to jazz up the blog. When I created my blog I felt accomplished. I searched further and found another wiki on avoiding mistakes, http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Common-Beginner-Blogger-Mistakes. This page talks a lot on creating your own blog and not to copy other peoples work, I had not thought about the implications of plagiarizing someone else' s work on my own blog, I thought my blog was my own thoughts. YouTube has many videos on how to begin blogging on blogger as well. My big experiment this week is to see if I can add videos, links, and photos to my blog. Hopefully that will be successful. I have included two videos on beginning blogging that I really hope I successfully added above which I watched to aid my learning.

Technology Information is Everywhere, Do we know how to Evaluate it?

With all of my classes this semester I have read a lot so far. It amazes me that technology is addressed in many different forms, websites, journals, magazines, etc. I have noticed all the information that is out there about technology which I really did not notice before. Now that I am looking for it I have found so much information. I am on the look out for quality information versus personal opinion. I am trying to post a lot on Diigo, another requirement for my technology class, which is also a completely new form of learning for me. I quickly learned just because I can see an article does not mean that when I post it on Diigo it shows up for everyone to access. I had to have my children show me how to store an article on my cloud and then post that URL to Diigo so my classmates could have access to the article. I have really started to understand this month that my children are lucky to grow up in this technology boom; they are a great resource for me. However, they face issues with technology as well.
When I was searching through one of the websites that my instructor placed in our lessons,http://21cif.com/rkit/newRkit/evaluation.html, 21st Century Information Fluency. I read about a problem that is being created in schools. Children are not a able to evaluate the credibility of sources if they are only given specific websites to choose from or specific links. I have tried to teach my children when doing research for projects not to use wiki as a source. However, upon reading this website I was fascinated to learn that less than 7% of teachers are teaching evaluation skills in their curriculum. The author stated that children are creating their own standards if not taught how to properly evaluate the source or information. I understand that teachers are trying to insure students do not have access in schools to inappropriate sites but the author of 21st Century Information Fluency site state students who search for themselves are able to form opinions on the credibility of the site and information included in the site. This was a new thought for me and shined light on an issue that needs addressed in our schools. Learning about evaluation techniques is a skill all students need, including adult learners, the earlier we can teach these skills the better off all students will be.

Fun Things I've Explored This Week

I have spent a lot of time on the Web 2.0: Cool Tools for School site this week http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/. I had no idea there are so many sites to aid in numerous types of presentations including audio, video, and power point. I have spent a lot of time in the organizing tools area. I recently downloaded Gum Notes, http://www.gumnotes.com/, so I can add notes to documents and share the notes as well. I have not started to play with it yet but I hope it is as helpful as it seems. I will keep you posted. I am very excited to learn more about all of the technologies I have been missing.

My Wrap UP

After my first post I really felt good. I thought it looked nice, I thought I had done a good job introducing myself and putting myself out there in a blog, which was a little scary. I quickly realized that my personal accomplishment was not about the grade in the class; however without the class I would have never started this blog. From here on my blog will challenge me to become a good blogger and I hope I really find my niche. I think blogging could be a way for nurses and students to share thoughts and ideas; maybe it can be something I start in my position as an educator.