Week 1 in Webskills

Dear Classmates,

I am Dev. It's been nice being with you on Nicenet. Here I would like to share my reflections about this week and what I have done. 

It took me a day or two to believe that I had been admitted to this course. I had always been technophobic. What this course did was providing confidence to use technology. The reason why I was technophobic was the conference I attended 2 years ago in Vidyanagar. I attended some sessions of the conference and concluded that using technology was not my cup of tea. I thought that there was no chance now. The world was quite ahead of me, and I belonged nowhere. 

Well, you may think that the beginning is very dramatic. Yes, it is. And the change that came after the commencement of this course, too. Let me begin from the beginning. 

I received Donna's email telling me what I was supposed to do during the first week of this course. I was bubbling with joy and enthusiasm. At the same time I was nervous too. Question after question cropped up in my mind. Poor me!  The questions were:

• Would I able to understand the instructions?

• What would my classmates think of me if I failed to complete the tasks?

• Would Donna be supportive?

• Would our cross-cultural differences create misunderstandings?

• Would the course be addressing only the issues related to use of technology in teaching?

I think some of you may have had the same questions. And I know you too have found answers to our questions. 

The first week of the course has been very exciting. It started with introductions. I met my classmates on Nicenet. After reading their posts, I thought that I had been unnecessarily informal in my post. But then I felt that my introduction was different.  Unique. It was as it should have been. Commenting on my classmates' posts was interesting. I learned that this platform could be used for meaningful discussions. Moreover, Donna's comments were a constant source of motivation. What else did I need? I jumped into the water, and to my surprise I could swim. Needless to say that Donna was there with a life-ring. After completing the first task (Week 1: Topic 1 - Introductions), I moved on to the second task (Week 1: Topic 2 - Ground Rules for Discussions). Writing on Ground Rules and Rubric was not a child's play. The reason is that it's always easy to comment or criticize as laymen do. But when it comes to explaining the idea in detail or stating a specific reason behind what you believe, you find it hard to verbalize your thoughts. That's what happened to me. My fingers froze. The mouth went dry. Can you believe I read Donna's message five times? This is where I found my answer.

"What do you think of the Ground Rules?"

This question caught my attention. We were free to share our ideas. What really made me participate enthusiastically in this discussion was the word 'you' in the question. My typing knew no hesitation. So comfortably could I share my thoughts with you all. Moreover I was propelled by Sonia's comment - "Dev's thought is also enlightening." I also came across Sitaram's comment - "It lures the participants for good grades and makes the participants marks oriented. Furthermore,It might raise the question,are we posting messages for good grades?" Here was a comment that was different. A comment that made me think. To be honest, I did not know if I agreed with him. If I did not, what reason did I have to differ? I could have googled out the solution. But then it would not have been my solution. After these initial hiccups, I set myself drafting a reply to his post. After 15 years of writing tailor-made answers, I found the task difficult, but not impossible. To put my feeling figuratively, I must say that my creativity flowered. Vinay wrote in his post,

"...we are not only going to share our knowledge but also our culture, beliefs, values and religion..."

This comment is a gem. A seed that grew into my thought tree. An idea flashed in my mind. I learned that I could use this platform to design tasks for my learners to enhance their inter-cultural competence. 

As soon as I was done with the second task, a more interesting task was awaiting me. Blogging. I am sure I am going to enjoy blogging. The instruction reads - Write a first blog post—your reflections about this week and what you’ve done... Every mail comes with a surprise. 

This course has rekindled my curiosity. The first week has provided me with an opportunity to mix with my classmates and know their ideas. I really feel happy when people quote my ideas. It's so nice to form a community and learn by doing things and helping each other. In a wink of an eye, technology turned into teach + nology.

Thanks for reading my blog. Happy learning.