The Good Ship Beagle

I really like the idea of Play as a way to get comfortable with new technology. I’m reminded of the persistence of my children when they were learning how to swim: how they worked so hard at getting under the water, jumping in, plowing towards the shore in their first efforts.

Reading about different learning styles, I ‘m most like the kinetic learner. It’s the physical reality that teaches me. I’m also amused that it seems to take at least three exposures to an idea before I’m willing to admit it might be something useful and something I could learn to do. Forced to use Excel files to get tasks done, I eventually moved on to sorting statistics with Excel and perhaps, in the future, will try developing a spreadsheet or statistics form from scratch.

Biggest challenge in the lifelong learning 7 1/2? Making the time. Good thing this came out in January when it feels natural to make those resolutions!

Starting with the end in sight is a natural– I’m only too aware of how much social networking and web 2.0 is changing the internet and the digitally connected. Remembering 1994 and the World Wide Web, I feel like I’m in the same amazing shift. Learning how to use the new tools should keep me informed about the age group that follows mine. I don’t want to join Second Life, but I want to figure out how the high school graduates around me manage to stay closely connected though separated by miles.

The title of the blog, Good Ship Beagle, evokes for me the beagle I know best– enormously energetic, very social, and incredibly persistent in following his interests. The HMS Beagle set out on a scientific expedition that still challenges our perceptions about genomes and evolution, about interpreting the natural world around us. Inspiring themes for librarians!