wRappin' it up...

I've enjoyed the learning challenges posed by our 2.0 exercise. A repeated, or follow-up, exercise would benefit from a smoother process, perhaps created using the feedback of a beta testing team. It's been exhilarating to hear the buzz of group learning, but it's been sobering to witness episodes of even well-intentioned coercion. We have not quite met the challenge of radical trust implicit in self-directed learning.

The journey to learn 30 things is a long haul, perhaps too long. I believe 23 Things are preferable to 30 Things. I think a course of 10 Things, with time to synthesize and extrapolate, is even better. We have missed opportunities for thematic dialogue and construction of meaning, especially across the generational spectrum.

Beyond the tools and techniques (the Things), there are concepts raised that bear rumination. There is, for example, an existential toll exacted by multiple creations of self--all those profiles, usernames, passwords. All those identities spinning centrifugally from one's core entail cost and energy. It would be profitable to incorporate some discussion about these concepts into the program, if only to better explain to the public the human cost and benefit of using 2.0 tools.

Our 2.0 exercise has helped to underscore for me the importance of approaching technological education in a holistic manner. It is not the technology, or even the technologically proficient, that directs our course of enlightenment. It is the force of our institutional principles - access, equity, inquiry, and dialogue - that turn the keys of our professional development and our community service.

Peace out.