Hello ETMOOC

I have recently taken the leap and joined a MOOC (Massive Online Open Course). ETMOOC (Educational Technology and Media) is a connectivist MOOC loosely tied around this website. 

Is it for credit? Is it something an administrator is heading? No. Then why, you may be wondering. Why would one sign up for such a thing then? 

1. I've heard enough about these courses and their growing popularity that I figured it was time to see what the buzz was all about.

2. I am also part of a district committee on developing PLNs as a professional development model and I am curious to take part in a completely new learning process and a chance to meet some new educators. From what I've read of the introductions so far, it will be a privilege to make connections with any number of the talented participants that have signed up. I have started a blog  (Professional Development Online SD67) for those that are new to the world of PLNs.

3. I believe that if we as teachers are expecting our students to become self-directed, lifelong learners then we should walk that walk. Hesitantly I offer my third blog (1000 Reuses For A Thing) which is a little off my radar at the moment but not dead in the water.

4. I am excited and energized by both the possibilities and challenges of this so-called "revolution" in education due to technology and media and look forward to continuing my learning in this field.

Our first task is to introduce ourselves. So this is me....

There's Always Tomorrow.

I am both excited and somewhat nervous to have joined a group called Blogger's Alliance. Thanks to Kelly Tenkely for starting this group. I joined to jumpstart my writing on this blog and to meet and talk with other educators. I keep reading about PLNs (personal learning networks) and want to explore this more.



But what have I gotten myself into? I have spent the last two hours reading some recent posts from members while simultaneously making a roast dinner, preventing my 3 yr old from breaking down his older sister's door, and finishing the laundry. I feel like I have walked into a class where I must have missed the first two weeks because EVERYBODY's blog seems so polished, so pretty, so perceptive. What I am doing wasting everyone's time here? Where are the other beginners?

Part of me wants to quietly slip out the back door, head to admissions and see if I can still enroll in "Tetris Revisited", but I'm going to stick around and see what happens. I know that since I have started reading blogs on education I have learned more and been more inspired than most of the traditional pro-d sessions I have attended. And from the posts I've read so far, I've stumbled upon not a group of beginning bloggers and tentative technologists like myself, but some very dedicated and talented teachers. I feel a bit like a kid in a candy store with a stomachache from trying to many new things, but can't wait to come back next week and do it all over again.

I see the purpose of this blog to clarify my thinking and progress on projects I am working on (online writing workshop, using voicethead, creating class blogs) and the role of our DL program with our district. If I'm going to ask my students to blog and be part of an active online community, I want to have experienced that personally. Not to mention having an immediate audience will get me off my procrastinator's duff. A theory I'm hoping will work with my students also.