Thing 23. Final Thoughts

Well, here I am doing Thing 23!! Almost finished! When I started with Thing 1, my thinking was that this would either be so way beyond my capability or may not be of interest to me. I wasn't at all certain as to how far I would go. I couldn't have guessed that I would hang in there to the end, but one Thing led to another Thing, and then I was hooked!

I can't say that I have connected much with others that are doing 23 Things on a Stick, not yet anyway, but I did join the 23 Things Ning and hope to connect there. Also, there may be some from our library doing the "Things" the next time it's offered, and I would hope to at least be an encourager when that happens. I have made connections in Facebook, of course, and that wouldn't have happened without 23 Things. Also, just becoming more knowledgeable of Web 2.0 has opened doors of conversation with others, especially younger people. I suppose that would fall into the "unexpected outcomes" category.

The overall unexpected outcome of doing 23 Things on a Stick was a reviving of the joy of learning. I never would have guessed that I would enjoy doing it so much that time would go by without even thinking of snacking or eating! The positive outcome of that was losing a few pounds! A somewhat negative outcome has been that I haven't been doing much reading at all while doing the "Things".

I have a hard time coming up with "favorite Things" and "least favorite Things". Some "Things" were obviously more fun, like Flickr and the Online Image Generators, but some of the more challenging and frustrating, like the ELM Productivity Tools, are probably the most useful in our work.

With respect to improving the program in any way, I do have one suggestion that was inspired by the WebJunction article in Thing 21, "Building a Social Networking Environment at the Library". The examples were very specific. I think it would be helpful to propose a real or imagined scenario and then demonstrate how to apply a certain web tool to it. It's fine to ask for participants' ideas of how to use the tools, but frankly we need help to see the possibilities from those who are much farther along. At least I do. Perhaps a typical situation could be presented in which the old way of handling it could be contrasted with a new approach using the Library 2.0 tools. Or maybe there could be an assignment for participants to work together in a team project in which each one is given the task of applying a particular tool, or otherwise, to be responsible for a particular aspect and use whatever tools they find appropriate.

I appreciate the opportunity provided through 23 Things on a Stick to learn about web tools that, at most, I had only heard about. Where else could I get this training, and to be able to do it at my own pace, in my own setting, and at no cost to me? 23 Things has enabled me to break through a sort of information barrier that, from my age and perspective, I would not have thought possible. I would be very interested in participating in future learning programs of this sort, but not without having a break. Having been exposed to so much new information through 23 Things in just a few weeks, I will need some time to digest and attempt to apply what I have been learning. I also need to get ready for my son's high school graduation, learn a few words of Norwegian before my trip in August, and yes, read a few good books!

Thank You! Thank You! This has been an amazing experience, and I am so glad that I did it.