Week 1 Prompt

Week 1 Prompt: What have been your prior experiences with social media and Web 2.0 technologies? Do you consider yourself a leader or follower in this realm, or something else altogether? Why? Also, discuss what you hope to get out of this class.

This is a new venture for me with the exception of communication with friends and family on Facebook and building a professional network using LinkedIn. I have also used Wikis and Google Docs as a part of previous class assignments in collaborative projects. As a result of these limited experiences, I would have to consider myself a follower in this new realm of communication at this point. However, I anticipate morphing into something else as I immerse myself in the smorgasbord of Web 2.0 technologies over the next six weeks. My concern is being able to choose a few with which to develop my comfort level and to maintain focus on those tools without going down the many rabbit holes of selection.

As a teacher and instructional designer, I would like to improve my ability to use social media and Web 2.0 technologies to help engage students in learning activities and help motivate them to build their knowledge base. I see great possibilities emerging for ways to improve the delivery of education and want to be able to take advantage of new tools for better facilitation of learning. As a small business owner, I would like to understand the use of these tools to market professional services, collaborate on projects with associates, interact with a broader network of professionals, as well as share emerging knowledge about tools and best practices in distance learning.