Week 10 What A Ride!

While it's always nice to come home again after a trip, I usually feel a little disappointed when the adventure is over. That's how I'm feeling today. The iHCPL 23 Things Training has been an eye-opening journey of discovery for me. I didn't know much about the internet, web resources, or current technology when I started this program (and I'm still amazed at all there is to know!). It was hard to know where to even begin to try and understand it all, or which direction to take. The 23 Things Training has been like a having a map and compass to chart my way through unknown and sometimes frightening territory.

We began by creating a blog to learn how to blog. LOVE that concept. I struggled with decisions as if I were packing for an expedition to Everest. Which template is best? If I forget something can I add it later? Do I really need a widget? Thank goodness there were coworkers who, like Tenzing Norgay, provided guidance, endurance, and led the way on to Flickr, RSS, and finding feeds. Week 5 was like reaching base camp in the Himalayas. I breathed a sigh of relief and recharged by playing with image generators. Those exercises were great fun and definately a favorite. Then it was onward to new challenges: technorati, tagging, library 2.0, and wikis. Discovering Del.icio.us and Zoho was like coming across an unexpected and resplendent vista...beautiful! I can't imagine not using these invaluable web applications. Then came my personal challenges....face your fear of podcasting and digital media. Yikes! I looked around for my faithful sherpa, err...coworkers, and there they were, so we forged ahead, pressing on until, finally, we achieved The Summit. Hooray! Tally-ho! Pip Pip!

Maybe the best thing for me about this training has been that it's given me a solid foundation to build on, and knowledge of some useful tools that I can use to continue learning. Thank you! I'm ready for another adventure and the next 23 things! When can we leave?