Thing 23: All Done?

Phew.  I've been working all night to try to finish my 23 Things, not just because I really wanted to meet the second deadline after I missed the first, and not just so I can check it off my neverending list of things to do, but because I also enjoyed it.  This truly has been one of the most rewarding professional development opportunities I've been afforded, and I'm so grateful.

Before I started 23 Things, I considered myself knowledgeable about the web and pretty comfortable searching for and finding what I needed from it, but not an expert.  I was so flabbergasted by how much I didn't know - and I don't mean for that to sound like a defeated or discouraged thing to say.  Rather, I quickly gained a more realistic vision of all the tools that are out there, and the way that content delivery has changed, and the kinds of literacy I needed to develop to take full advantage of them.

My favorite discovery was probably Google Reader.  My day just isn't complete now unless I get to follow up on the headlines that appear there for me each morning.  But as soon as I say that, I remember the Mash-ups thing and how cool I thought some of those were, even if they weren't as functional as the others.  My least favorite discovery is an easier call - LinkedIn.  Enough said.

The 23 Things program was perfectly structured for someone like me who is curious but has a busy schedule, who likes her independence but occasionally needs support.  I would love to do more of these over and over again.  But even if I don't have that opportunity, I'll be okay, because the whole process has been so rewarding that I think I could pursue more on my own.  Not only have I discovered a lot of new and practical tools, I feel so much more confident in my ability to figure technology things out by myself. 

Still, please offer more!