Web 2.0 Monsters

Well, I survived another week, fumbling along through the dense, dark forest of new electronic tools and complicated topics. I honestly feel myself avoiding the computer, as I know I have so much to learn for this class, and I am not great with technology, and it sucks the hours out of my day whenever I attempt to get a few things done. After the web 2.0 monster steals the hours from me, I find I still have so much more to learn. It is not a simple tool for many reasons. There is so much to explore, which is fun, but distracting also. It took me a while to figure out how to use the podcast, wiki, diigo site, diigo educational acct., NY virtual library, thinkfinity, etc. I even managed to post to the wrong discussion group-twice! I did not get to my google reader acct., and have to make an effort to remember that tool next week. The reading is great as I like learning new things, (or at least reading about them), but the writing is slow for me as I have never been much of a writer. There were times when my children were little, that I thought it would be nice to keep a journal documenting their growth and all the cute things that they did and said, but I never liked my writing. I am too critical and self-conscious! So, if anyone reads this, tell me it is not as bad as I think or say nothing.

The new web tools are not the only thing that I find scary; copyright law is probably worse! I do hope the law becomes clearer to me when I am working in a library and media center, as I would not want to violate any laws, either as an innocent, standard, willful or contributory infringer. Although, it does seem like the classroom teacher will encounter the greater burden in finding material that can be used for assignments. It may end up being my responsibility to teach copyright literacy though and assist teachers with materials that are legal to use. So, this is a subject I will likely hear about for years to come. To be fair, I do find it to be an interesting topic, but it seems like it would be very easy to use copyright material without realizing that it is a violation. When I worked in a small special ed. classroom, we played music, DVD's and videos all the time for the students and there was no concern over the use of these materials. Technically, should we have asked permission? It would take quite a bit of time to do this, as we had a wide variety of entertainment for these students. These were used as motivational reinforcements to keep the students working. I will be interested to learn more about the role of the school library and media specialist in copyright protection.

Lastly, the chapter I read regarding weblogs was interesting, especially as a collaborative learning platform. The topic of blogging and how it is different from writing was interesting, with blogging being an ongoing, collaborative" conversation", that continues endlessly and becomes something called "connective writing". I can see the benefits of having an educational blog, as we can all learn from each other. It also seems to be the way of the future with the popularity of social networking and Twitter.