Thoughts at the end of the program

The good:

Lots of interesting things to explore out there on the WWW, and this learning program gave me an overview and broader perspective than I was getting from weekly perusals of the Green Guide.

I can see a use for Wikis as an aid to communication, and many of the other online tools are useful for folks who move from one machine to another. Flickr is a handy tool for those wishing to share photos, we used to have to find a server to store them and then hand the pathway out as if it were the Key to the Kingdom, but Flickr is a more civilized option and much easier to drive.

I can see a use for the Social Networking sites, but having lost hours and hours of incredibly enjoyable time to the delights of Live Journal I, personally, am not ready to be seduced again. At this point in my life 'spare' time is at a premium and I often wonder how I found the time to blog on a daily basis and to read the blogs of others with such dedication. Ergo I wish all those networkers well because there is a lot of fun to be had connecting with folks from far, far away whose paths you would simply never cross without the world wide web.

The bad:

I am finishing this course vaguely on time because I have considerable tech savvy and fast typing skills. Many of those around me are not so fortunate and have become progressively more frustrated with the difficulties of trying something new and hitting a pothole, the slow nature of the internet here, the inability of the podcasts to load and play with any efficiency, the lack of assistance and the laughable notion that this could actually be done in 15 minutes a day.

Curiously as if often the case, those who wanted to cover the content thoroughly and really learn the ins and outs of everything are the ones who became the most frustrated. I myself, as can clearly be seen, was quite ready to say 'well, tried it, ran into one of WebMarshall's quirky little idiosyncracies and am now out of time'. Because I know I can always check it out later and at my leisure, and as I am confident in my abilities I don't feel the need to have a supportive environment while I explore.

A great frustration for all I think was that this was presented to us as 'can be done at work, only 15 minutes a day' and this is patently not the case. The minutes of the Staff Meetings at no less than 3 of our Branches have recently included the point that this program is not do-able in 15 minutes and a day and that participants need to be prepared to spend some time at home completing that tasks. Well, this raises the question of how many of us would have volunteered if this out of hours commitment had been part of the initial information. It assumes that all of the staff have internet access at home (not the case) and that that access is capable of the speed necessary to open the various programs (not my case: see previous entry). And it assumes that we have the time to spare, a notion that leaves me rotflmao.

The final word:

This was an excellent program, and a great idea. It just ran in to some administrative hiccups. Cure the hiccups and all will be well.