Technology Response to Carrie and Olivia

After reading both Carrie's and Olivia's responses, I realized that I had many similar feelings while creating the project. For me, technology is definitely not my strong point and when I have to do anything on the computer (besides a power point), I become anxious and frustrated. I can definitely relate to Olivia, when she said she became frustrated at first, while trying to upload the pictures. I can't even count the number of times I've tried to do something online or other than typing a paper, where I just couldn't figure it out. That goes the same for blogs. When I was first introduced to blogs, I was so aggravated and then I couldn't remember my password or how to post something... But like Olivia, after much practice and playing around with the materials, I finally understood it. Just like I'm learning in my classes, I feel that hands-on activities (and through mistakes) is the best way to learn. After using the blogs myself, and through several unsuccessful attempts, I eventually became used to the technology. This definitely ties into our literacy project, because I'm becoming more literate with technology.

Reading Olivia's response made me smile in many places, just because I felt many of those same things. For instance, she said, "In a way the final product was frustrating to watch because it ran so smoothly that it seemed effortless," and "Through this project I was allowed to get out the information I would have written, but through a creative way." For me, I look at many webpages and sites and think, "Oh, well that doesn't look hard to do," yet if you're unfamiliar with how to do, it can be very dificult. I sometimes feel people forget how difficult a task really can be for people, and they may take it for granted. I also agree that this was a nice way to not write another 11 page paper. A project like this is a way for each student to explore their own interests and became familiar with something in order to express their work in their own creative way. I know that not all people like to be creative, but allowing students to do something like this, it lets us to see a little bit about who that person is.

Like Carrie, I also found my writing to be more informal when I used a blog. I feel that blogs are more casual and friendly for readers, rather than just having a long paper. Pictures can also make it more pleasing and inviting for readers to read about the blog. I also agree that "blogs can be anchors for many technology related experiences." Through this project, it has opened my eyes to new ideas and ways to present topics to my future students. I noticed that Carrie and I had the similar feelings about blogs being used in the classroom -that it allows enough time for students to response to other's, which could then lead to more meaningful discussions. Although there is still a lot of technology I should become familiar with, I feel that blogs are just such an easy way to continue building a classroom community and enriching discussions. I realize some students may not do the work, but I think at least introducing the idea to blogs in the classroom may reach the interests of more students.