Figuring out Twitter, Tweetdeck, Blogging and Google+; as easy as getting a kitten to poop.

You are probably wondering what in the world social media has in common with getting a kitten to poop!?!

I should start by saying that I grew up on a farm and live on an acreage and, as such, I am an animal lover at heart.  Due to a series of unfortunate events, I am currently in the process of bottle feeding and mothering three almost 4 week old, orphaned kittens. Sounds easy enough, right?  I'm a mother of three kids and they've turned out okay so far so surely I can handle these kittens.  Here's the thing - no one told me that I would have to figure out how to "make kittens poop" - that they couldn't handle that job on their own.  Seems like a natural thing to me, food comes in and waste comes out.  Apparently, for kittens, not so much...5 days and no poop despite repeated attempts on my part and I was starting to think they were destined to die from constipation!  My greatest personal accomplishment this week has been finally getting my kittens to poop.  I know that's a sad statement BUT it is where I am at.

Well, my journey into educational technology seems to be working out a lot like making my kittens poop...a lot of sad statements!  I used to be on Facebook and I like to think that I can navigate around the web; I know how to do most day to day tasks on the computer and on my iPhone.  Much like I want to believe that I can competently care for children and animals, I'd like to think that I am competent with technology.  Then suddenly I'm faced with a task I'm not sure I know how to approach (Twitter for starters) and I'm right back to the kitten poop problem!

When I needed to figure out how to get my kittens to poop, I went straight to YouTube...I've discovered that I can learn how to do almost anything there.  It has taught me how to put the halter on my horse, adjust my saddle and yes, even how to poop a kitten.  I recognize that technology has brought learning to my fingertips and I LOVE that.  I don't have to wait for education to come to me, I can go out and find it! (Which saved me having to admit to my old farmer/cowboy father that I didn't actually know how to adjust his saddle...the shame that would have entailed is indescribable!)  This, to me, is the beauty of educational technology; I see the possibilities as endless with regards to who can learn what and where! I know that many of my reluctant students, afraid to appear "stupid" in class, would much rather quickly figure something out on their own via technology than admit (in a class full of peers) that they don't understand what's going on.  I'm telling you, no one wants to admit they don't know how to get a kitten to poop...

When I need to figure something out for ECI831, I go to Google+ or Twitter to see what my colleagues are posting that might help me.  This week's gem for me has been Kelly's Twitter tutorial because I was having trouble figuring out how to get where I wanted to go in Twitter to see what I might like to see.  Kelly made sense so I finished watching his tutorial and grabbed my phone to download Tweetdeck...only to discover that it didn't come up on my phone as an optional app.  What??? Do I have to be on my computer for this?? Heck, I can't remember how to get into Twitter on my computer...I put it on my phone, never to be forced to sign in again! There are so many things that I didn't know I needed to know!  Hmmm...well this isn't as easy as I'd thought!  But, much like pooping a kitten, all it requires is some guidance and the time to get things going and I will be fine!  I've got an understanding of the basics and just need to make it happen. I've been telling myself that I don't like Twitter and it's not a useful tool for me because I don't know how to use it and haven't the time to invest to learn.  This is kind of like telling myself that the kittens clearly don't have to poop just because I am not doing "it" properly or long enough...kittens need to poop and I need to learn and then we will all feel much better!

My goal for this class is going to be to figure out how to effectively use Twitter.  Will I use it after the course is over? I'm not sure...I still see myself more Google+ bound...but darn it, if I can make a kitten poop, I can figure out how to follow and post Tweets.  Right?!?! I know that there are many more things that I should be taking away from class and I am, however, my time is divided in such a way that I have to prioritize.  Benita and I will work on our final project together, I will check out as many of the suggestions from my colleagues as possible BUT for now...Twitter needs to be conquered because I'd hate to die of constipation...