Assignment #23..its the end but its not over :)

Woohoo I made it! This is the final assignment. But like I said before this will not be the last you hear of me. Before this assignment I never thought I could get into the whole blog thing. I always thought that I would not know what to say or not have time...but after I got started I got really into it...especially personalizing it and learning all kinds of new stuff. I got compliments from other staff members on my blog and others asked for help which I happily gave. I even added some little tips to the QLChat thingy. I completely enjoyed this project and definitely hope there will be more like it.

Questions & Answers:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? I was going to pick my top five but since I can never do everything exactly like everyone else I am going to pick my lucky number top 7 ;) And they were:

• #3 The Blog - this is where all the fun started...like I said before I never thought I would be into the whole blogging thing but I really did get into it and I am enjoying it. I plan to keep it up as well.
• #5 Flickr - I used Flickr before and it was fun to show some of your pics and see others.
• #6 Flickr Fun - It was fun trying out the Mash-ups and the fun Flickr Tools.
• #7 Blog about Technology - Being a techy talking about technology is always fun...in my blog post I was able to vent about my PC issues and Ipod headaches so it relieved stress as well ;)
• #10 Image Generators - The image generators were alot of fun because you can personalize stuff and I loaded a bunch on my blog. This was definitely alot of fun. Most of the Help Desk is also working on Blogs and they also enjoyed this one.
• #11 LibraryThing - This one was alot of fun because it was cool to see what other people are reading. Plus I loved the bookshelf widget you could add to your blog of your own books.
• #19 Web 2.0 Tools - This one was fun to see all the Web 2.0 tools out there..who knew there were soooooooo many for every "taste". ;) I personally was thrilled to find another site that had great widgets as one of the top 2.0 Tools.
• #20 YouTube - I totally LOVE YouTube so I enjoyed this one alot. And whatever chance I get to see more of U2 is always a GOOD thing. ;)

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

• This program assisted my lifelong learning because as I said in the beginning of this project that learning something is always an enhancement to your life. I learned alot about stuff out on the web like RSS feeds and Del.icio.us. I mean being a techy I did know about these but pretty much overlooked them and there usefulness. So I am glad to this project for actually showing so many possible uses for these technologies beyond what I thought. It definitely was a LEARNING experience.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

• I think like I said before being a techy person I thought I knew a good amount so I wasn't really expecting to learn much...but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did. And as I also said before I never knew that I would be one of these people who were into the whole blogging thing and look at me now. ;)

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

• I thought for me personally the program was done well. Everything to me was pretty easy but then I did hear alot of people had trouble. I think that if you decide to continue the program or start another maybe you can cater it to different learning levels. For instance maybe have assignments for those who are beginners and those that are a but more savvy. Maybe cater the "prize" accordingly so that way you can have the beginners shooting to learn the beginner stuff and move on to the more complex for a better prize. Some people where scared they were "too far behind" to bother with even starting. But in general I think that alot of people just did not want to be bothered even if you made it the easiest thing in the world there will still be some who don't want to be bothered. Oh well they are all just missing out on an opportunity to learn, grow and better themselves. I always think that you should take whatever opportunity you can. But then that's just me. ;)

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

• YES, YES, YES definitely. I had alot of fun during this program and I feel I learned alot. I do hope there are more programs like these. Programs that will help us grow and have fun while doing it. I think the people who did not participate did not give it a chance without even trying and I think that they would have been pleasantly surprised had they tried. I am actually kind of sad that its over. I mean I am glad I reached the end for a sense of accomplishment and a $25 gift card helps. ;) But it was fun doing the assignments even the zzzzzz ones...ha ha! Do Definitely bring more of these programs because I'll be there with bells on. :)