My Techno Journey Continues, this time with my doctoral students

I'm back! I have sadly neglected my techno-journey blog since my last technology class, but I'm raring to go again, greatly inspired by my students:)! This semester I am teaching a course called Distance Education: Theory to Practice for doctoral students, and my students' first task is to create a Distance Education Techno Journey blog. I am a great believer in at least attempting to practice what I preach, so of course I need to get blogging! I'm really excited to be doing this with a new group of students:)

So I'll jump right in here with some of my recent great discoveries on my Techno Journey (my journey has been continuing in leaps and bounds since I last blogged here -- I have just not written about it). Here are 3 just to get started...

1. Tech Talk America: This has been a wonderful addition to my life for a while now. I subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and listen each week to the entertaining and very informative tech update from co-hosts David A. Cox and Allen Gallant. I also follow them  on Facebook and receive their weekly newsletter. All of these are filled with hot-off-the-press (or web!) tidbits on practical, easy to use, fun tech tools and news e.g. their app pick of the week. I highly recommend subscribing (to the Podcast and newsletter at least, but the Facebook updates are great, too). They also have a now free (used to be paid) webinar series providing live (online) tutorials on how to do all kinds of cool things.
2. iPad: Although I have had an iPad for a while (first the iPad 1 and now 2), it's only really since this last summer that I have become a huge fan of it. I used to think the iPad (and also iPod Touch) was merely a "computer lite" but as more an more really impressive apps are created, it has become MUCH more than a computer -- doing things that cannot be done on a computer. And with the invention of really good iPad keyboards (I use the Zagg one after doing quite a bit of research on iPad keyboards. However, since I bought this at the start of the summer, other better ones may be out now) and word processing apps like Pages or just using Google Docs, I can use my iPad instead of my computer to take notes in meetings, observe student teachers and much more (easier than carrying around my laptop). I could say a lot more about the iPad -- and will in a later blog, but this will do for now.
3. Posterous blog: I found a wonderful and really easy to use blogging tool called Posterous. What I really like about it is you can post to the blog merely by sending an email! It's free (of course -- I am all about free and cross platform!) and doesn't require any set up at all. I have started using it to keep a phenology journal which I have called Helen's Happenings. Sadly I neglected it over the summer, but I'm back at it again.