This is the End…for Now

I was repeatedly amazed by how much 2.0 tools there were available for people to use (if people only knew they were there). I feel lucky to have the chance to keep up with the times and to learn to use these tools. I was actually concerned that I might not be able to get through all 30 Things (or that I would be able to learn anything at all). I am glad to have a supervisor who supports my efforts and to have co-workers who covered some extra hours on the desk so that I can finish. Their efforts have really made it possible for me to explore 2.0.

Thank goodness that the deadline was moved to the end of February; I took longer to get through all the discovery exercises than I expected (Writing these blogs can take up so much time!). I was surprised that so many of the Web 2.0 tools were available for free and that most of them require creating an account with them, too. Having to keep track of so many different accounts (and their accompanying passwords) can be exhausting and off putting. The social aspect of 2.0 took some getting used to, because I felt uncomfortable having so much of my personal information on the web.

While I can see that a lot of well thought out planning went into the program, there are still some areas that can be improved:

Basic computer or internet skills need to be considered. Throughout the exercises there seemed to be an assumption of certain skills, such as bookmarking, including hyperlinks, finding and copying html codes, and adding blog elements. Perhaps there should be a pre-survey to find out what people know how to do or need to learn before starting Learning 2.0.

In the beginning, the discovery exercises tended to have more instructions and explanations; I liked the reassurance (sort of like someone holding your hand as you venture into unfamiliar 2.0 territory) that I was heading in the right direction. A few of the later ones would have benefitted with instructions, especially pertaining to how to get the html codes needed to embed something into the blog if we had to post the results of our experimenting somewhere in the blog. Library Thing and Rollyo come to mind.

I would have liked to read fewer articles (or hear less podcasts) for the sake of learning how to use a 2.0 tool instead of reading about it. I often found that I did not see the potential use for a lot of these 2.0 tools before actually using them (or subsequently creating accounts for them).

Is there any way to cut down on all the accounts we had to create throughout Learning 2.0? I grew nervous with the increasing number of accounts I had to keep track of. Or is there a way to direct the created accounts towards library work, so that creating an account would be useful?

The time commitment required needs to be considered. The time needed to complete the discovery exercise and still keep up with work deters some staff from participating, especially part-timers. Some of the part-timers I’ve talked with would like to participate, but they simply don’t have the time with the hours they work to do both 2.0 and maintain their workload. I’ve also noticed that fewer technicians and aides tended to sign up.

Perhaps the beginning of the 30 things should have started out more actively, because the amount of articles, podcasts, and video clips to wade through can be mind-numbing and a turn off. Many of the exercises are more hands-on learning than what the first couple of discovery exercises suggest, and some people don’t have the patience for all the background information.

Here are some of the discovery exercises that could be condensed and fixed:
*Learning about Web 2.0 Library 2.0, and then discussing it with co-workers. We have to be instructed to discuss what we learn? That’s sad.
*Move the Lifelong Learning exercise closer to the blog exercise, if we still have to blog about it. It was a bit confusing blogging about Thing 2 during Thing 7.

*When the blog account is created, perhaps there should be more encouragement to play around with the page elements, blog layouts, edit/delete posts, etc. A few explanations or directions on how to use them might have helped. While some people might do that on their own, I think a lot of us might have a little tunnel vision when it comes to the exercises, doing what's in front of us instead of looking into the tools a little more.

*Instant Messaging should be more hands-on. While I think it’s great to learn about how the Library is using IM, perhaps one of the exercises should involve practicing with an actual IM account (though creating yet another account might frustrate some).
*I found the MySpace and social network articles rather unhelpful in my understanding of the appeals and possible benefits of social networks.
*Try cutting one of the Technorati exercises. Having it twice seemed a bit redundant.
*One exercise with podcast was probably enough. I didn’t find myself learning that much more from Thing 24 to 25.

While going through Learning 2.0, I ran into some trouble with some websites used in the exercises being blocked. Could the filter be removed for the duration of the training?

I realize that the blog entries need some direction, but ironically I find that writing the blogs to answer the questions raised in the exercises took more time than the actual lesson!

Could the exercises be offered in smaller portions? Even with the extra weeks allowed, the weekly schedule made me feel like I was falling behind when I had to stop my 2.0 progress to keep up with work.

Last of all, if another discovery program like this is offered in the future, I would definitely participate! This was an amazing opportunity that I leaped at the chance to take.