Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Week 3, Thing #5: Flickr-ing

I have been exploring Flickr, the image-sharing website and it's been quite fun. Reading the tags, and observing how people tag their photos has been amusing. According to their most popular tags, the website has many photos of family, parties, and weddings. The last time I checked, Japan was on the of the biggest countries tagged too. You can be creative when tagging your photos, and it seems that Flickr covers a range of adjectives, nouns, and verbs. I even searched with the keyword "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and I got 35 results!!!!

The photo that caught my attention was a picture of a group of men browsing through children's books in a bookstore in the Philippines. I found the picture via Flickr's search tool, when I typed in the keywords "library" and "Philippines." I chose these two keywords because they are two of my favorite places in the world. I thought this picture was surprising and it made me wonder why these young men (in uniform) were avidly looking through these children's books. Are they looking for a books to read to their kids? Were they just attracted to the cute illustrations? Or perhaps they are seeking books with which they can practice their English? I wonder.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Week 1, Thing #2: my learning habits

After watching the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners tutorial I identified which habit was the easiest, and which one was the hardest for me.

The most easiest habit is the one that is most fun (obviously), which is habit #7 1/2, to play! The slide for habit #7 1/2 encouraged us to "Play, be curious, and read!" I emphasized read because I love reading, which is no wonder why it is a habit I already possess.

The hardest habit for me is habit #3, to "view problems as challenges." I have heard this statement in the form of advice, but I realize that it sounds much more powerful when framed as a habit. When faced with a problem, especially one that is difficult to quickly solve, my gut-reaction is to hesitate. After the initial second of hesitation, however, I am ready to begin problem-solving. I would, however, be a much more effective problem-solver if I could eliminate this moment of hesitation. Developing habit #3 would be empowering because I would even welcome difficult problems because I viewed them as opportunities to learn. Habit #3 is hard for me because of my tendency to avoid situations of potential failure. Despite this, I am confident and excited about developing these habits that I know will aid me in my personal and professional life.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Week 2, Thing #3: Blogging

My first encounter with the Internet as a means to chat with friends online and compose a public online diary was as an undergrad. I came across acquaintances' blogs when they were linked to their AIM profiles, and a number of them used livejournal and Blogger, and then Xanga came on the scene. Back then blogging for me was just the digital way to journal, an opportunity for public self-expression. I am eager to learn and develop my web 2.0 skills and participate in the digital information evolution.