It has truly been a challenging task to shift towards becoming a connected educator through Blogger and Google Sites. I have spent several days figuring out how to work with both, Google Sites and Blogger. Interestingly, I found Goggle Sites to be rather self-explanatory and easy to use. Blogger really posed a challenge to me. I faced a huge obstacle (of course, huge in my own limited mind). I was focused so much into learning Google Sites that I missed the live explanation in my class as to how to add a navigation bar to your Blog. Seriously, overlooking 5 minutes of class while paying attention to my Google Site cost me four days in Blogger. I was frustrated, I played around with the features for hours, I stayed past midnight, and nothing…. My blog did not look the way I wanted it to look. The lay out and format was a challenge. I was ready to quit. I had settle for a simple looking blog, no navigation buttons, and I was going to stick with Google Sites. I was going to use Blogger just for that, blogging. I could not go to sleep because I needed my brain to tell me what I was doing wrong. My brain did not help. It just went to sleep. That’s it! I need to figure this one out, if I can’t do it by myself, I am sure I can find a video to teach me. There it is, the power of sharing, the power of social media, and the power of being a CONNECTED EDUCATOR! I persisted, researched the topic, and I got it. My first accomplishment in Blogger is completed. My advice to anyone that has the desire to learn to apply technology is not to give up. Keep playing around, stay put to your computer, research the topic and ask the experts on You Tube, Twitter, and other Social Media. This is precisely the essence of becoming a connected educator and to build a platform to tell the world what you know. You might just become someone’s hero on line with your knowledge.
