Well, this computer stuff can be fun.  I was looking at other blogs and found the videos some of you had posted and decided to try it for myself.  It was fun!  This is the kind of things I like doing on the computer.  This tool was very user friendly and the end product is not bad.

Thank you everyone for your comments as I know I am not alone in my frustrations.  Well, Jolene and I tried a Yugma session tonight and found it absolutely useless.  The lag time between what I was doing and what she was seeing was about 3 minutes and visa versa.  We are going to try it from work tomorrow to see if we have the same lag time and if the performance is any better.  I am not so sure if it is wordpress that is the problem with my frustration as I have noticed over the last two days  that all internet activity is pretty slow.  Something interesting that I discovered tonight was that a simple error can steer you in the wrong place.  While talking with Jolene, I was unable to find the course calendar.  What we discovered was that I was working in google.ca/reader and not google.com/reader.  I was unable to see any of the top bar in the ca mode.  I found that interesting as I thought I was way out in left field when working in this site but actually I was okay.  Also, my delicious tool was showing on my blog without any tags and was not able to figure out why, well turns out I was not even logged into my delicious account.  The next tool I will try to fix will be my Flickre tool as I was able to upload photos but not able to display them on my blog.  Hence the frustration with some of these tools and just simple little fixes.  Amazing technology   I am not ready to give up yet, however, I agree that in a classroom it would not be as easy to walk away and try again later as we all know that time is of the essence in a classroom. 

Well, what is with the “BIG WHOOPS” when I try to do anything on wordpress or google reader.  Anyone else get that message?  I try to comment and then get a message after several tries, of “whoops” and then it says “refresh” and then after several tries, it says “be back in a few”.  Where did he/she go?  Can’t they take my response and then go?  Well, well, well, prehaps it is way too late to be on here anyway as my patience level is low.  However, this time of the night seems to be best for me as all children are sleeping.  Working on here tonight reminds me of the computerized phone messages when I call anywhere…..frustrated and only a computer to yell at   This is the very reason why teachers avoid the use of computer technology in the classroom.  It is very frustrating when it doesn’t work for you and also the amount of time it consumes in a day.  This is also why I like the self-directed learning approach to this course because when I do get frustrated, I can turn the darn thing off and go to bed as tomorrow is a new day.

Okay, got my Yugma account going as well….where do they get these names?  I have heard of this tool before and would like to try it out if anyone is interested.  My computer was not very happy downloading it which made me a little nervous.  However, I do absolutely everything on line and get no paper bills etc…. so I am not too worried.  I figure if I am going to get a virus I will and no sense worrying about it.  I am hoping while we are working together with it that my computer does not recognize it as an intruder trying to take over my identity and the whole process is problem free!!  Wait and see.

I guess I have mixed emotions about the conference.  I had trouble staying connected within the conference and then when Glen began having final comments, I was kicked right out of Skype and by the time I was reconnected, everyone was gone.  I really like it when we have connected as a small group, I didn’t have any problems staying connected.  I am not sure why I was having this problem.  My teenager plays on this computer for hours and never, unfortunately,  gets disconnected

 As for Literacy with ICT;  I have been on the action research team for the past two years and am currently very frustrated within our district with the whole implementation of it.  I think people have to get out of the “technology” frame of mind and more into an “infusion” frame of mind.  I guess I feel at a disadvantage in the current course as I do not have a student body to try these tools with.  I read other’s blogs and find it fascinating how these tools are being used within the classroom.  What I have done with the information that I am receiving from this course is sharing it with one of the teachers so he can use it immediately with his students.  I hope to at some point share this with out whole staff and work with the teachers using some of these tools.  Once I get more comfortable that is. 

Well this is an interesting tool.  Unfortunately, I am unable to add my tags, although I will continue to work on it.  I am thinking that it has been a long week and it is probably time to quit while I am ahead.  I have managed to add the del.icio.us tool onto my sidebar but no luck transferring over any tags as of yet.  It is much neater than bookmarking a site.  I also like the ability to “social bookmark”.  This will definately be a handy tool for use in the classroom and with colleagues.  Very interesting!!

I recently was sent this video from a friend and found it to be very interesting.  I thought it would be a great tool to use during a staff presentation, especially with the teachers who are afraid of the fast paced technology.  It is worth watching and only reenforces what we already know.  Here is the website, worth the time.  http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/video/shifthappens

I have come to realize that the only way to learn your way around the web and find out how to use many of the tools is to play with them and search around yourself.  I often wonder why kids spend so much time on the computer and have come to realize that they are in fact, teaching themselves the technology!  As Glen said the youth of today is way ahead of us in technology use and we need to catch up.

Hey, I think I am on the right track.  I finally got down to business.  I will be exploring throughout this area of the web and hope all goes well.