My Place in the Web 2.0 World

With legs a little bit shaky, I’m ready to take my first steps in exploring Web 2.0 tools, but in what direction  do I head?  Until recently, my experience engaging with the Internet has primarily been one of research and inquiry.  Living in a remote community, I welcomed the idea that I could reach out beyond our shores and get other’s perspectives and ideas to help me both personally and professionally.  Not to mention the fact that through email, I could stay more closely connected with family and friends that lived at a distance.   But that was the extent of my Internet use.... that is, however, until I began my Masters.

As with Will Richarson’s statement in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom (2009), “the ability to create content on the Web was nowhere as easy as consuming it” (p. 1), the idea of “writing” on the Web was (is) a intimidating concept for me.  I suppose there are several factors that may contribute to this:  I am more of an introvert than an extrovert; living in an isolated community, I have had to learn to work with resources readily at hand; and lastly,  it’s a question of who would be interested in hearing what I have to say? 

And with that being said, this is the direction I will take... using this blog as a space to get myself out there, to reflect on my thinking, on my learning and to try to embrace feedback from others as a means to making more connections... with others and to my place in the Web 2.0 world.  And hopefully as my comfort level develops, I may gain the confidence to use these tools with my students (who show NO fear) to help broaden their horizons and to realize the full potential these tools have to offer. 

As with myself, participating safely is a concern.  I plan to keep this at the forefront of my exploration or “play” and learn about how best to protect ourselves.  With no technical support offered by either our school or our school board, I see this as being one of my challenges.  Another challenge revolves around the idea of living in remote regions.  What are the implications that may hinder our abilities to get involved in Web 2.0 technologies?  And how may we overcome them?

So as I head forward, I expect there will be several tumbles along the way.   But it’s important to get back up, wipe away the tears and keep trudging on!