Many Findings .... Less Focus

I used to have apple trees in my yard. One year, the buds for the apple blossoms came out a little too early due to an unusually warm late winter. They were looking good, but they were taking a big risk. Sure enough, a frost came along and killed them off. That summer there were no apples at all on my trees. It was all about timing.

My explorations of the resources, people, and discussions here at Classroom 2.0 have been exhilarating. I have jumped into a couple of discussions about videoconferencing and am considering how best to respond to responses I've received. I joined in on the tail end of a live Skype conference on the issue of copyright questions related to open content. I have found some people with similar academic interests to my own. At this point I am impressed by the quantity and variety of things I'm finding, but I haven't yet achieved a sense of focus. I don't yet know how I want to make use of these opportunities. It isn't a case of hesitation due to anxiety or ineptitude. It is a case of trying to evaluate the possibilities so as to invest myself in the things that will be the most fruitful.

I've always been a very early adopter when it comes to technology in the classroom. Often I have begun to explore some possibilities, I have run into technical difficulties and challenges, and then I have backed off. Years later I have seen people successfully doing the things I had tried to do earlier. As the technological capabilities advanced, during my back-off period, others pursued the same ideas but with better results. This has been a repeating pattern with me. It has been frustrating, but a bit rewarding to come to realize that my instincts and visions of the possibilities are not out-to-lunch. The problem right now is that I want to avoid doing the same thing I've done in the past. I want to engage in things that are perhaps less cutting-edge so that I can avoid the frustration of expecting more from technology than it can actually deliver using today's hardware and software.

I want to send out my apple blossoms at just the right time - not so early that I get bitten by a frost, and not so late that I miss out on opportunities that will really benefit my students. Any advice given by the Classroom 2.0 community will receive thoughtful and respectful consideration.