Blogger Logger-September 22, 2013
The advantage of driving in and out of a course is the reflection
time that driving offers. When I left
the course yesterday I was feeling pretty low.
I am not used to being behind the class and feeling inept. It’s not a space I am comfortable in, nor one
I plan to remain complacently in. By the
time I arrived home to my curious family…can you imagine Mom all day on an I
pad? I had re-framed my lackluster experience
and come to understand better why I was working from such a deficit model when
my peers were more than competently maneuvering through the day.
First of all I am more liner than I thought! I was desperate for just ONE hand out with
the clearly define directions of how to do any one of the steps. None of this exploration,
exploration, exploration…it goes against my most efficient and effective manner. Surprisingly this is not a natural state for
me as I know I was the creative, artistic, out of the box child who pushed all the
limits and found all the new ways to do the mundane things. I am hoping I can
access that inner child and let her come forward. Clearly I NEED her.
Secondly I am (currently) technology illiterate. I am TSL ...technology as a second language,
perhaps even third, fourth or fifth. Although I spend my days on a computer I am
limited to the world of a Toshiba, a Blackberry, emails, and word documents and
excel spreadsheets for data. You folks
have a language of words, acronyms, labels and vocabulary that is truly foreign
to me. I know you are speaking English
but it’s not the same language I use every day.
Do you remember how tough Shakespeare could be in high school?? The world has definitely moved on. My
mother had a great laugh at me last night...when she texts her grandchildren
her tag name is “G’Ma” and she more up on the family news than I am. I don’t even text or FaceBook.
Thirdly I could not “drive” my I pad. It was like trying to go on a fantastic road
trip across Canada when I did not know how to turn the key in the ignition. I couldn’t see, enjoy the trip because I was
so focused on the vehicle and not the journey. Where was my trusty mouse? Backspace? Delete button?
Spell check? Escape button? I did much
better at home when I tried the same things on my laptop…maybe my laptop will
be my adaptation for a while. So I spend
several hours last night learning to drive. I listened to music, watched a documentary on
CBC and looked at what my daughter is up to and was delighted to discover that my daughter left me a digital rose with
an “I love you” sign and encouraging words imbedded in notebooks, song lists
and background pictures. I am also more reward driven than I thought. What a gift of encouragement.
Speaking in terms and analogies, which I love, it was also
like taking a wonderful cruise to the Caribbean but not knowing there were
islands out there to explore. Notice in my first analogy I was trying to take a
Point A to B trip across Canada? I am
sure I never left the ship and of course missed much of what the day had to
offer. The islands and clouds (literally) is a broader technology framework that I lack
understanding of…let alone the technology convergence ideology. I will continue to get my head around it.
So by 10 last night I was ready to go again and with the help
of a great husband I was able to
create a Google account and successfully open my Blog for the curse…I mean
course…Freudian slip I guess. The You
Tube video was useful but I still wanted to take notes or have a linear set of
notes/directions to follow. I also
created an Apple ID with my own account separate from my husband and kids and
downloaded the ITunes course manager. I
loaded on my I pad “Book Creator”...and my daughter made a book lying in bed
last night…about 15 minutes. I have the IMovie
ready to go and enjoyed TED before bed.
Some struggles left to solve are…
- · Resist the urge to print all the course materials and place in a binder. I use a highlighter with great success. That used to be known as assistive technology J
- · Figure out how to “find” and attached the Acadia course into my course manager.
- · Air server software. There was much to choose from so I have decided to wait on this step for further clarification.
- · Is Wordle, PollEv and Kidspiration/ Inspiration APPs I can down load or a site to use? hmmmm
- · I need to “design” my blog with links
So for Class #1 I have been down and bounced back. I am persistent and I can see this will serve
me well in the Saturdays ahead. Wish me
luck as in the next few days I attempt to solve my remaining issues.
See you soon
Crystal
Crystal, I totally relate to the drive as one of the most valuable parts of going to and from course. It is a great time for reflection. The unfortunate part for me (profoundly technologically incompetent) is that I live less than a 15 minute drive from HRSB where our course is held. In any other course I would be able to do find value in even a short 15 minute reflection time. WIth this course it's all I can do to motivate myself to keep driving...to not turn around, go home and contact Acadia and ask when the last date to withdraw from the course might be :) I, like you, need things to be very explicitly laid out for me and found Saturday to be wretchedly difficult, frustrating and overwhelming. It seems every difficulty to be found....I found it! Haha, I guess I can at least claim that as successful!!! Today truly has been the first day I had the time or the slightest motivation (and I use this word loosely as it was more anxiety than motivation that forced me to hunker down and push my way through this) to really get to exploring all these very unfamiliar things. Not that I wish you any ill experience with this process but I am at least reassured by the fact that someone else is somewhere close to my level of experience. So thanks for being the glimmer of hope for continuing on this journey. I find the prospect of this learning to be very exciting and valuable but I still am feeling a bit like it need an AT IPP (or Adaptations at least). Surely there's money to be made in an EDUC 5163 for Dummies book! I would definitely buy it!
ReplyDeleteReading your blog caused me to reflect on my own technology journey. I remember the first time I decided to take the plunge, put the pen and paper down and type my university research paper directly into the computer. I couldn't understand why anyone would ever do that. It was the unknown and I wasn't sure that it was somewhere I wanted to go. Well nearly 16 years later I am glad I took the plunge. I can't imagine going back to my previous way of doing things. ( I would write my thoughts on paper, cut them up and rearrange them on the floor, then tape them all together before I rewrote the whole paper.) I'm not going to say that it's been smooth sailing over the years. There have been ups and downs, however the benefits far outweigh the risks.
ReplyDeleteAlways remember that we are a team. We bring a variety of experiences and skills to the table (or should I say iPad?). We are here to support one another, grow and learn.
Here are some resources to help you with your questions above:
Wordle - app (search "wordle" and a variety of apps come up) it is also available as a website http://www.wordle.net/
In class we used wordle as a collaboration tool by accessing PollEv http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Kidspiration is both an app (you can try it out for free) or online at http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration
Hope this helps :)
Your blog looks great, keep going! :) It will get easier and you will be amazed at yourself when you have everything down pat.
ReplyDeleteThere is a good book that goes through the basics it is found on amazon or may be in a larger book store it is called Getting Started: iPads 4 Special Needs by Sami Rahman it may help.