Jenn's+Session+1+Reflection

Jenn's Reflection about questions raised about social software during session 1....
I just set up a myspace page about two months ago and was overwhelmed with all the terminology and details. But, I am also excited about the possibilities. I have felt like the world's oldest newbie. There is so much that I really don't "get" about the myspace users world (and so much I don't want to get, actually). I am new to considering myself a "user" of social software. I've only been texting comfortably for a year. And only IMing comfortably for about two years. I really want to incorporate it all into my classroom, because that is the only way I can connect with my students - I've got to see where they're coming from and learn ways to help them connect to my subject area through the technology they feel comfortable with. I don't feel like my area of teaching is necessarily completely changed in the increasingly expanding world of technology: reading and analyzing books and writing skills are pretty standard.... However, literary styles are being heavily influenced by the world of social software. Books are being written that mimic new ways of communicating. A really exciting new website (to me!) is goodreads.com where people share books they've read and chat about them! I love it!

I would really like to learn to use a wikispace with my students for outside-of-the-class discussion and comments. I would like to do some blogging about my subject: hopefully turn that into ways of capturing my students' attention, especially those who are reluctant about my subject area (English, if it isn't obvious:)). This past summer I created a radio essay using the incredible software, GarageBand, and got excited about the idea of creating podcasts FOR my students, as well as having them have the option of creating their own podcasts as a potential class product/assessment tool.

My reservations about incorporating all of this aren't fear-motivated, but just the lack of time and resources. I feel like I need more time to get comfortable with the software and really need access to the technology at school for my students. I can literally spend hours adjusting and working on my myspace page or goodreads page and those are hours that I need to focus on school work and grading. I guess that's almost a separate frustration than simply getting some training time. It's that all this new software, while seeming to be simple to become acquainted with on the surface, is also complex and can require and command a lot of hours.