Thing 1 (7 and 1/2 habits)

I will start out by saying that many many years ago, I told myself that I never wanted to be that old guy at work who was afraid or avoided technology.  Well, truth be told, there are days that I feel I am now that guy.  I see how technology can do so much and is much quicker, just as it was 20 years ago, but often I feel that I get so lost in it or find it so difficult to figure out why it is not working on my computer or my provider or whatever, that I feel I end up wasting more time than I saved.  "Oh no, I am that guy" or at least I am now saying the things I remember him saying.

So, on to Thing 1.  I am frustrated.  I spent far too long trying to get the power point to play with the sound, or at least with the narrative.  I tried different ways to get it to work, using both my school computer and my home computer.  Tried, until I was ready to throw my computer against the wall.  Finally, with no success, I decided it was best to wait until tomorrow to see how my classmates did.  Guess what?  It didn't work for them either.  Okay, feeling a little better as it wasn't just the old man who couldn't get it to run.

Thing 1 is about 7 and 1/2 habits of lifelong learners and it is asking which is the hardest habit and which is the easiest.  Well, the easiest was a no-brainer.  It is the 1/2 habit of PLAY.  That comes naturally and almost without effort.  Except that sometimes play is hard because I know I really should be doing something productive instead.  This productivity may be why using technology to my advantage is the easiest habit for me.  Okay, truth be told, it used to be the easiest habit for me, until I didn't need to use it, which in turn, left me far behind on the techno curve.  This class will definitely put me back on track for using technology to my advantage.  So, which is the hardest?  For me, it may be a toss up.  "Goals" or "Having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner.  Goals probably is hard for me because I know if I set a goal, then I must then achieve that or fail.  Set it too easy and it really isn't a goal.  Set it realistically or harder, and there is the pressure to accomplish it.  Give me a goal and I can usually do well to achieve it.  Ask me to set my own goal and I struggle with where to begin.  This probably leads to the other hard habit I listed as I am sure having confidence in myself goes along with setting goals for myself.  I think as I have grow older, perhaps wiser, but I am not so sure about that either, I do recognize my own short comings more than I did in my youth, plus I think I may have even added a few more, such as memory/recall and my ADD has either gotten worse, or maybe my awareness of it has crept in to my psyche.

So, what have I learned about myself.  I must be more deliberate in my actions and thoughts to stay on task and set goals for my future, short term and long.

I suppose the experience I want to gain or learn from using WEB 2.0 tools is to not be that old guy at work who is afraid or refuses to stay current and use all that is available. I just have to learn how to keep ALL these tools and the ADHD in check by keeping it all organized.