online technology

I enjoyed this task very much.  The training videos were incredibly helpful and clear.  I absolutely loved reading the various blogs.  Blogging, posting, this type of communication is so informal and personal and conversational.  That is the point obviously, but it is both engaging and hard to get used to.  This is the first time I have enjoyed reading blogs. This task begins with the statement that blogging begins with reading and I decided to take that to heart, to just read, not question, not wonder, not look for anything specific, just read.  Maybe I am starting to get it.

The comments and posts by students were quite striking especially site on sickle cell anemia which is actually about heterozygote advantage.  The original post was entertaining and informative but I was astonished by the mature responses by the other students.  As for the calculus scribe, well the student should be teaching that class.  I read several more blogs but the one I most appreciated was David Truss‘ article on rote memory and math.  He had several additional links and I investigated most of them.  This is the first time I have done such a thing.  Usually I just read the article or post and move on.  Looking at the links did indeed deepen the conversation David was having.  I think this is how blogs can facilitate learning, they allow for deeper investigation through the links. Clearly they facilitate good writing.  I was quite frankly stunned by the quality of writing on these blogs.  Others I have seen are very superficial.   My own past use of blogging has been very superficial.  Reading and practice, treating blogging as its own writing skill.  OK.

It is  a little uncomfortable to read blogs for me.  I always feel like I came in on the middle of a conversation.

I do have questions about learning in this way and brain research. The book Brain Rules states that our brains do not actually multitask.  I wonder about this.