Tuesday Skype Chat. 

Today’s Skype chat included several points that I found really useful in my own studies.  I think the Skype sessions are incredibly valuable for discussion and ideas.  We don’t have a regular classroom to attend so its really nice to physically talk through things we have been thinking about, especially if someone else ideas can help to develop mine further.  My main reason for being a part of today’s Skype was to see where other people were up to and to see if anyone was having similar thoughts to mine.  After reading the reader and several of the recommended articles I was almost overwhelmed with the amount of information! There was so much that I didn’t know about Web2.0 even though I have been using it for years, for example Facebook.  Speaking to a Module 2 Student was extremely helpful as they have been through the process already and arrived at the other side.  I have been finding it difficult to filter through all of the information that I had been reading, there was just so much to consider I didn't really know where to start, but now I feel a lot more confident and focused on a more specific direction.  A point was made that I should ask what my position is within Web2.0, what does my online personality look like? If someone , i.e a prospective employer where to search for me what would they find? It’s a question now of utilising the information I now have and making it work for me.  Web2.0 is a mass of recourses and I can honestly say that I am not using it to its full potential, I realise that now.  

It was also particularly helpful to discuss our Blogs. Again, in keeping with the idea of an online personality, how do I want my Blog to come across? Do I wish to keep things looking strictly professional, writing in an academic style? Or, is it more useful to write in a more informal style including links to useful recourses etc.  After discussing this I feel like a mix of the two will be most productive.  One one hand I want my Blog to be a professional reflection of my learning, a place that I can practice writing in a certain way . I also want it to be an open space where people feel like that can comment on things I have said.  I don’t want to restrict how I post on my Blog, if I feel like if something has been useful to me then I will informally blog about it and make the effort to reach out to the community, sharing what I have found. 

 I feel like I really have clarified a lot of ideas within this Skype chat and hope the other participants found it as useful as I did. 

I’m really looking forward to the next chat we have!