CEdO520 Week 1

This week we were introduced to wikis--we are using a wiki as the main mode of communication for this class, and while I was getting used to Angel, I am finding the PB works pretty easy to use. I am looking forward to getting more comfortable with it and learning how it works; I think it could be useful to have a wiki for communications with my staff. Once I learn a little more about it, I may decide to give it a try.

The question about the usefulness of our weekly blogs came up in our first class meeting, which left us with the task of coming up with more effective ways to chronicle our work in this cohort. As I stated in class, I think the blogs serve a purpose: It is going to be a great reference when we get to the end of our coursework and have to try to recall what we did back in these earlier classes. For that purpose, I think the somewhat repetitive question of "what we did and how we see it can apply to what we do," makes sense. In the moment it feels like it is getting a little old and there are going to be things we learn in class that doesn't always apply to what we do or currently have available to us in our workplace; but recording what we did in my own words and connecting it to how I could see it being used in education (if ideally resources were available to me) is going to help me pull it all together in the end.

I think the more difficult part in my mind is commenting on other people's entries. There are times I have felt compelled to leave a comment because I had an idea I thought would be helpful or had a reaction to what I read, which is how it should be. I also like reading other people's blogs because it gives me new perspectives on what we are learning. I had more of a problem in the weeks where I enjoyed reading other people's thoughts, but didn't have much to add; yet I had to comment in order to complete the assignment. I also would like to have some kind of notification when comments are made, which I have since learned can be changed in the settings of my account.

So, overall, I find the blogging useful as a journal of the work I am completing in this course. Because this is a fast-paced program, I find that I'm very into "the moment" and then I have to move on. I like that I can go back to read my previous entries and it jogs my memory of what I've done, what I liked, what I though was useful and want to go back to later on. It's also a record that belongs only to me, so if something should ever happen where I need to stop taking classes for a time and then resume, I know I can pick up where I left off regardless of the cohort I'm in.