torn...

So as I was catching up on publishing my posts I realized something, I'm very torn with how I feel about this class. I LOVE this class because it's fun and I actually learn things that are useful in my life unlike a few other classes I am taking right now. Despite how much I love what we are learning to use and do I am having a hard time with showing how much I am learning. I love technology and think its amazing what we can do now with it. I mean for my birthday last Monday I got an ipad and am very happy about it. I can't wait to get my new iPhone and in general love technology a lot. My husband looks at me like I'm crazy because I can tell him more about the video games and T.V.'s he looks at than the sales people. I  do like technology and I use it. I just realized I use it to supplement my life, not make it my life. I think that's why I am having such a hard time showing what I am learning. I have learned so much from this class and I actually use a lot of it, not everything because as I stated in my twitter post, some of it I just don't like. It doesn't mean I don't get the tool and the purpose. I think I just tend to go towards what works for me. I have a hard time with posting blogs all the time and posting articles and sharing tweets. This partly because these are things that I have to make part of my day and frankly I just don't want to. I don't use tools to post articles in files because I either bookmark the page to read later or I just read it on my phone. And truthfully I'd rather read the paper and magazines, which make it a challenge to post it to diigo. I could but that would mean finding the article online which just takes forever while I can just rip it out and pin it on my actual bulletin board. I love reading actual magazines still because I'm tactile and like to feel the pages, plus it hurts my eyes if I read too much on my computer. I'm still pretty old school with the magazines and newspapers. I just get more inspired by having the real thing. I also have an issue with blogging and twitter because again, it's forcing myself to do it. I'd rather talk to actual people about these things then send it off into the Internet universe. I understand the use of posting and sharing your thoughts to the world but I tend to get more from actual conversations. I like being able to sit there and discuss something in real time and show people what I'm talking about. I think part of this is I express myself with using my hands and using things around me. I think my biggest obstacle is that I'm extremely right-brained. I think in different terms than most people and I express myself through different means that just writing. I love to write but it's just one of the ways that I can express myself. Which is why I have a hard time expressing my learning. I think that the Internet and these technology tools are still very left-brained. They are very logical and very simple, there are some that are more right-brained but for most things its very left. It's still very structured and follows our current learning model. I believe that is why I'm having such a hard time. I think that I am also having a hard time because we have been given so much to do and are expected to use it right away. It takes a while for change, especially to change to having a complete virtual presence. I stated earlier that I love technology, but I use it how I want to. I don't want technology to be my life. It is something that is supplemental to my life. I like being able to not have to be online everyday. I'd much rather be outside or painting or doing something more productive and enjoyable for me. I think technology is a very important part of life and plays a big part in learning now, but it's not the only way to learn. I learn through many different means, and technology isn't the main one. Technology is my way to supplement what I want to learn and discover more about things I love. I think learning is when you explore something and you discover new things and apply it to your life. I've been doing that. I use the tools that I find purposeful in my life, but I also remember these other tools we've been taught. I take this knowledge and I share it with people I know. I share what we've learned and explain how you use them and why you would, so they can use these tools. I don't do much of it online though. I physically show them what to do and how to do it. I think that this has helped me learn too. Just because I'm not using it doesn't mean I didn't learn it. I was able to learn it and teach it to someone else. So I'm having a hard time with this class. I love what we learn and think it's great to have a bag full of tools to use, I just think that I shouldn't have to use every tool to prove that I am learning and growing. I am, and I know I am, I just have to find a way to show to everyone else.