Finale

Well, I have to admit that when I first started this whole thing I didn't think I would have a lot to say, but it turns out that I did have a lot to say and I learned a lot also. Some of it was frustrating and some of it was fun. But most of all this program helped me conquer some doubts about my ability to create and explore on the Internet.

When we first started this journey together we learned the 7 1/2 habits of highly successful lifelong learners and I tried to keep those principles in mind as I continued along the path to thing 23. Here is a little insight into what I learned and took away from this program.

HABIT 1: Begin with the end in mind: I have to admit that in the beginning an MP3 player was the end in my mind. But along the way I learned that that was not all I was going to achieve when I finished this program. I learned about myself and what I can accomplish and I learned about my coworkers and what interests them in and outside of work. I also got to meet some people at other branches, through their blogs, that I might not have met otherwise. I learned that you can start out on one path expecting one thing and meander along to find the end is not what you expected, but that it is still okay. That to me is a great ending.

HABIT 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning: I knew that to be successful in this project that I had to rely on myself to learn the "things". Because this was voluntary there was no one standing over my head forcing me to do the steps so I had to rearrange my schedule and make the time to learn for myself.

HABIT 3: View problems as challenges: I think if you view problems as a challenge rather than just a problem, it becomes more important for the person to complete the task. Wording is everything in this Habit. I viewed each of the "Things" as challenges and some of my coworkers viewed them as problems. Who finished? The ones that was challenged accomplished the goal, not the ones that were overcoming problems that's who.

HABIT 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner: I thought this was going to be a hard one to accomplish, but once I got started my confidence as an effective learner of technology grew by leaps and bounds. I think I noticed a change in my confidence level when people started to come to me to ask about this stuff. I thought wow, these people think I actually know what I am doing. That was impressive to me.

HABIT 5: Create your own learning toolbox: My toolbox is full of useful knowledge that I can use to share with other people or can pull out to learn something new. What a great Habit to get into.

HABIT 6: Use technology to your advantage: It is obvious that I used technology to my advantage. I even added things to my blog that weren't "Things" because I started to wonder how to do stuff so researched them and added them to my toolbox.

HABIT 7: Teach/mentor others: I tried to do this habit throughout the program by helping others from my branch. I let people know that I was available to help them when I could. I would check up on those that were not as confident in their abilities, asking them how they were coming along, did they need help, etc. But I also knew/learned when to stop asking/encouraging those that were just not into it. Because that was okay too.

HABIT 7 1/2: Play: This habit is evident in all my videos, pictures and image generators. I had a great time bring some of my New Jersey memories to NC.


To answer Helene's questions posed on the learning 2.0 blog

My most favorite discovery was zohowriter. Even though the image generators and pictures and videos were fun. I believe that zohowriter will be the most useful to me in my job and "real" life.

The unexpected outcome for me was simply that it would be so much fun to learn technology. I always learned new techy stuff for work, because I had to. But this program made learning fun, challenging, experimental and because it wasn't required of me it was okay if I didn't finish. But me being competitive I had to finish.

What would you do differently? I would have offered more guidance, such as in-person instruction/training in getting a blog started and registered. For example, I wish my branch would have encouraged and provided one on one training for people who didn't know how to get the whole process started. I had enough background in computers to do this on my own but I believe others would have participated more if they were given the encouragement to do the tasks. Perhaps assign/volunteer one person to be branch "captain" to make sure everyone was getting the help that they needed. Providing people blocks of time away from desks with computers that had all the needed software/hardware to complete the "things" would also be helpful.

If other discovery programs are offered I would definitely participate in them. I love a challenge!

Thanks for creating a great learning experience! I look forward to more