My eportfolio reflects that I have gone from a digital immigrant, to a digital “would-be” native.  I’m not quite a native, since I was born too late.  Also, I don't know if I could ever attain that comfort level.  However, I have definitely come far in the last few months and have created some things online that I never would have imagined I could do just a short time ago.

I included the blog for two reasons.  I have tried blogging before.  I remember trying to respond to a friends blog and getting simply exasperated.  I had already typed up a lengthy response, and had put a considerable amount of thought into it, only to be prevented from downloading it because I couldn’t figure out how.  This put me off to blogs for a long time.  I have another reason for having a negative attitude toward blogs.  I come across blogs all the time when I’m reading the morning paper.  Articles refer to celebrity blogs and how fans can read up on various tidbits of gossip or how the celebs feel about this issue or that.  I don’t really care!  So, blogs have not made the greatest impression on me.  Then we did our blogging in class.  It occurred to me that, like so many things, just because Hollywood has smeared something and made it ugly in the eyes of the public, doesn’t mean that it has to have no value anymore.  I realized when we began to post our discussions, and I was actually successful (wow!), that perhaps there was a practical purpose for blogging after all.  I found that when I wrote my piece on the blog, I was sorting through my thoughts and reflecting on ideas.  This was really just an online way to journal.  And so I began to reevaluate my opinions of blogs.  And so those are my two reasons for including my blog.  First, I finally mastered it!  And second, I have reluctantly reconsidered my position on blogging and recognize that it truly can be a valid way to reflect and post one’s thoughts.  My final entry on the blog makes this point most clearly.  

I also included among my eportfolio artifacts one of the wikis that I contributed to.  I included the Virtual Worlds wiki.  I was so intimidated by the first wiki assignment that it prompted me to call my instructor (just one of several phone calls).  After days of panic and lots of deep breathing, I buckled down and took the plunge.  I watched the video, which was immensely helpful, and took my time, which is quite uncharacteristic of me but was another big help.  I quickly began to feel at home with the wiki, such that I even started to enjoy creating them.  By the time I was working on the Virtual Worlds wiki, I frequently found it difficult to tear myself away from working on it.  I think it was the whole act of just creating something new out of nothing.  Maybe it’s the artist in me.  I also found the novelty of it exciting.  I wouldn’t have thought I, of all people, could create something on the Internet like this.  It was very different for me.  I included the Virtual Worlds wiki because that one in particular was a lot of fun to create. I also think it turned out particularly well.

The final artifact that I included in my eportfolio was the “Soaring with Bats” lesson plan.  I thought this should be part of my eportfolio because, although I have created a number of lesson plans before, I have certainly never created a technology-based authentic lesson plan.  It was a challenge and had me stumped for a while.  Once I had the idea, and the website, it started to flow pretty easily.  And when I got it back and was told to create assessments for it, it took shape even more.  I was surprised at how it sort of fell together once I got into the rhythm of it.  This lesson plan showed how far I’ve come in developing as a digital “would-be” native.  It also gave me confidence that I would be able to create a technology-based authentic lesson plan for my students when I’m in the classroom, a confidence I did not have before.

As I alluded to above, all these artifacts reflect a new-found confidence in technology that I did not have prior to taking this course.  I doubt I will take the opportunity to create wikis with my students if I am a second or third grade teacher, however the knowledge, skills and confidence I have gained have been great.  They will be instrumental in enabling me to use whatever technological opportunities present themselves in the classroom that I end up in.  I used to be intimidated by technology, and even shied away from using DVD players since they so frequently didn’t work the way I thought they should.  I felt like the students were giants in my eyes because they knew so much more than I did.  Now, I feel like there is a much more level playing field.  In fact, actually, I think that I have the advantage now.  And that’s the way it should be.