OMG!!!

I thought this week's assignments were going to be three "easy" tasks. That was not the case for me. I really enjoyed learning how to use Dipity. Oddly, the majority of my time was spent reading the history of the Internet and then locating the pics. The site was easy to navigate and the result was pretty cool (if I do say so myself).

HTML was another story altogether. My web page looks awful and I know it. I spent an enormous amount of time on the last 2 assignments to the detriment of my family. As I write this, my family has been asleep for a couple of hours now. I was so challenged by finding the series of key strokes that were missing, I couldn't give up and go to bed! I hunted them down and found the errors. That being said, HTML is not my calling. I am aware HTML exists and I know its purpose. I now have a deeper appreciation the software that makes it easier for people like me to create websites. By the way, does this mean I'm now bilingual?

ECI 719- Scavenger Hunt

When I first saw the title for the assignment, I thought it was going to be a breeze. WRONG! I learned a lot about Creative Commons and public domain media. Wouldn't it be great if universal access was possible....at least for educational purposes. I suppose that's why CC was created and I certainly found their site to be valuable. Through my search for wolves (and I know quite a bit about wolves now), I stumbled across some really great websites my teachers can use. I can't wait to share them. Even though the assignment took me more time than I thought it would, it was certainly worth learning about copyrights and public domain materials.

ECI 719 Roller Coaster

I absolutely love roller coasters. Luckily, my daughter likes them too and she is my riding buddy. This past December we went to Disney World and introduced my 6-year-old son to the rides as well. (Side note: He was a preemie and is still a little vertically challenged. We planned to go to Disney a year ago but postponed our trip until he was tall enough to ride Space Mountain. Luckily he met the height requirement by December.) Anyway, may favorite part of the ride is when it goes into its grand decent which causes my stomach to drop. I'm a big fan of the loops as well. The worst part of the ride for me is when you're being lifted to the summit of the ride. The sound bothers me when it hitches upward. It sounds like its groaning under the weight of all the people as it tries to get us to the top. It's at that moment I feel the most anxiety. I begin to question why I even got on the ride to begin with. Then the apex is reached and away we go. The rest of the ride makes up for the slow decent to the top.
I compare my feelings about roller coasters to my feelings about ECI 719. The anxiety is there as I try to overcome the technological hills. For me it seems like I'm having to overcome a lot of shortfalls in that area. But then once I get going, it's truly satisfying. In fact, I realized this week that I know more than I thought it did. Keep in mind though, I'm only comparing myself to myself...not others in the course. I'm looking forward to the ride!

New Beginnings

What have I gotten myself into? Can you really teach an old dog new tricks? We'll find out.