… she hopped, skipped and jumped through the social networking module ..

Okay, I sat, slouched and ate through the social networking module, but I was only being social!

Being a ‘new’ New Zealander, and so far away from the bulk of me and mine, I’ve used social networking sites a lot over the last few years, so most of this wasn’t new to me. I didn’t feel the need to set one up, not because I think I know everything there is to know, but because I’d rather move onto something I’m not so familiar with given the tight timelines for CCL Learn.

So, onto passing it on. I’ve got a victim, I mean student, in mind who really wants to learn about social networks, so two birds with one stone and I can find out just how much I really know about it all. Shouldn’t take long.

... so, full of confident smugness ....

... onto the widgets and gadgets module, which is good fun. And you can see something happening straight away, so you either get it right or wrong. If you get it wrong it doesn’t work, simple as that. I like that kind of learning, none of this crap about there being no winners or losers, it’s all about taking part. No it isn’t! It’s about getting the box of chocolates at the end.

So I widgetted (a new entry for the English dictionary?) the BBC weather forecast for Manchester, so that when I’m having the odd pangs for old buildings, chippies that have vinegar as standard, and the need for a night out with my bezzy, I can call up my blog and see straightaway that 12,000 miles away it’s peeing down and it’s cold, even though it’s the end of summer there and it’s sunny and warm in Christchurch even though it’s the end of winter.

So, the purpose of widgets is to make you feel better. I like them.

.... and she found new enthusiasm for CCL Learn ....

And so on to NZ 2.0, at the same time that the big white Open Polytechnic folder is glaring at me because I’ve got a 2,000 word assignment due. Not a big assignment, by most people’s standards, and I can probably talk about 2,000 words a minute, but to find the time to read all the material, digest it, research material that’s not provided by the OP (excuse me, but for $560 I did not expect to have to go and find my own stuff as well), and then write about it, is just asking a bit too much.

Surprisingly, the NZ 2.0 won out, because the moment I opened the link I was totally engrossed! Whereas before I’ve struggled with learning from the screen, I’m more a read a paper, write notes, swig wine, reread the paper, check my notes to see I’ve understood it, swig wine, pull out relevant points and write them on stickies, run out of wine kind of gal, this module really grabbed me. It’s still a technical application, but the material is more policy based, and that’s my work background, so I was totally hooked.

What a fantastic way to share learning, across so many organisations, and still make use of all the technology. The information is so easy to find, and as the sites are all information based, rather than technically based, there’s very little computer jargon. The technical stuff is still there, but it doesn't feel technical, it feels informative, helpful and friendly. This, so far, is the only module that I will subscribe to afterwards, and use for my OP studies, and any other studies I do. It’s interesting, it feels relevant to the work we do, it’s up to date, and I love it love it love it.

I absolutely LOVED the Porirua Emergency Blog - sounds like such a contradiction in terms - but whoever came up with that idea deserves a pay rise. As soon as I found out how I’ll add it to this blog, it’s genius!

…. But was saved, not the first time, by her kids ….

So podcasting still remained a mystery, like algebra did in school. It posed more questions than it gave solutions. When would I use it, why would I want to learn it? Why is Baileys so darn expensive? When will LiquorKing have it on special again?

Then my beautiful, talented, clever daughter (yes, we did the DNA tests, she is mine!) unwittingly gave me the answer. She’s on a podcast. Oh yes she is. Her band got airplay on www.nzbeats.com and it’s on a podcast. That’s www.nzbeats.com, show 70, the last band on the podcast. The same podcast that a track by Greg Johnson is on. I wonder how many times I can say podcast in one paragraph.

The band’s called Tame Embrace and of course they’re brilliant because I’m the mum of the lead singer and I think everything she does is brilliant. Well, almost everything. Nicking a jar of curry paste from Tescos when she was four and eating it with her fingers was a strange way to get attention, and there have been many other weird and wonderful occasions over the years, but hey, she’s mine, what can I do, other than bask in her musical brilliance and hope she buys me a house with insulation and double glazing when she makes her millions.

And then, being a mum, I linked the podcast to everything I could find, on my Facebook page, onto an iPod, by email to everyone in my address book, and as a shortcut on a work computer so all my colleagues can pretend they can hear the lyrics too. And I’ll get it on this blog too, maybe even when I do the widgets and gadgets module, and won’t I be supersmug.

When the bolt of lightning had finally struck and the understanding that THIS was a podcast took hold, said daughter rolled her eyes, tutted and walked away. The elation of finally understanding podcasts was shortlived as the pity that only a teenager can give found its way to me. But then I didn’t care, I’d got podcasts sorted, and my daughter was getting airplay. Double whammy.

So, podcast module finished. Thanks to the kids. Again. Don’t know why I didn’t just ask them in the first place.

... and drank more than she should ....

Having failed miserably at getting my head around podcasting, I thought I'd forget about it all and enjoy four days in Auckland. Unfortunately, I really enjoyed four days in Auckland and seem to have forgotten absolutely everything about podcasting, so back to square one. And it seems taking four days off and missing a few hours of CCL Learn time is not a good idea, the momentum has gone, the brain cells have rested too much and playing catch-up is not good for stress levels. Perhaps it's time to leave podcasting for a while, accept defeat on this one, and move onto NZ 2.0 - hopefully looking at something new will get the brain juice going again.

…. Who bit off more than she could chew ….

So I’d decided to do the studying, I’d set myself up for it, saved the money (not easy for a spendthrift like me), and disciplined myself to set aside time for study. It was a shame the decathlon training had to be put on the back burner, but a girl can only do so much.

And how smug was I? I was coping with the vast volume of paper delivered to my door, I read, I scribbled, I read again. I evaluated and cogitated, I paced the room chanting Ranganathan’s five laws of library science. I absorbed knowledge like it was oxygen. I got a B+ in my first assignment and a B- in my second. I was indestructible!

And then, somehow, my boast of being technically minded when answering the interview question about learning and adapting backfired, and I got nominated with CCL Learn. Now, what I meant when I said technically minded was that I can change UK plugs to NZ plugs, I can tile a bathroom, I can lay flooring and, more importantly, I can programme the My Sky. Technically minded to me does not mean I can use a computer keyboard like a virtuoso at a grand piano. Widgets? Gadgets? Wikis? RSS feeds? Podcasts? What? Speak English! And if all that doesn’t sound like a foreign language what about Personal Horizon Frameworks, Unconference, and In the Cloud? I’ve tried being in the cloud at work, the customers really don’t like it. They much prefer you to look them in the eye and show at least a modicum of attention.

The first module was blogging. Easy enough, like speaking but you can press the backspace and take foot out of mouth. Quite like it. Then RSS feeds and podcasting. RSS feeds – okay, get that, subscribed to Google Reader and had a bit of a play. Not something I’d bother using outside work, but handy to know about. Next module - podcasting. And here it all goes pearshaped. I’m flummoxed. I just can’t work out how to subscribe to them, where to get them, and actually why I would want to. Perhaps part of the problem is that it just doesn’t interest me, so as soon as it gets difficult I tune out. And whilst I enjoy a challenge, it has to be something that I can actually say I’ll learn from and this, for me, just feels now like something I have to do, rather than something I want to do.

I’m going to try to do it at home, away from work, and see if a different environment helps me focus more. And drinking Baileys whilst working is so much more acceptable away from the workplace, don’t you think?

And in the beginning there was a stupid woman .....

So at the grand age of 30 something (ok the something is a double figure, but it’s still a something), I decided that it was time to get the old brain cells working again. After all, one of the kids has managed to cut the apron string, the other kid is shredding her string with her teeth. I was running out of excuses. When I should have been at university I wasn’t interested, I just wanted to get out there and earn some money. I had dreams of owning property, making my millions, and retiring at 50. Then along came the husband, and then the kids (and how pleased was my mother that I got that in the right order), and then the dogs, and the bills, and somehow the ability to absorb any more knowledge got lost in the piles of ironing and the pursuit of happiness in the pursuit of keeping within a budget for the weekly shop.

Then I walked into Central Library in Christchurch, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I want a job here said I. Ha! Said everyone else. You in a library? You have to keep quiet in those places! The same people had been known to say Ha! New Zealand? You must be crazy! And I smile to myself when I post my beautiful NZ scenery pictures on Facebook for them to drool over.

And, being a curious person, though some may say nosy, I’m not content to settle for seeing the books get issued and returned and go back on the shelves, I want to know why and when and how and if not, why not. I’ve been really fortunate to have jobs I’ve loved, and jobs that have challenged me, but none of them have made me want to dig and question and understand and process it all and take it apart and put it all together again in my head like this job has.

So I’ve gone back to studying. It’s only the Level 5/6 Diploma in Information and Library Studies, it’s only part time, but for someone who’s raised a family, dragged that family 12,000 miles, said goodbye to friends and family, changed career, taken on a 27 year mortgage a year ago, and somehow still managed to keep her sanity, it’s a huge leap of faith to tempt fate into nudging me over the edge when really what I should be doing is buying myself a sun hat, crocs, nana-pants and a gardening basket and taking it easy at weekends. Having struggled through one paper, I know how time consuming and intense and difficult it is to juggle it all, but, as one career guru told me, I’m a completer finisher, and I’m determined to do well in it. I think completer finisher is guru speak for stubborn git.

Oh, and I’d really like to earn more money, and I’m at the top of my grade and I’d really like to move up. Did I forget to say that?