My journey continues as I have learnt how to set up RSS and a wikispace.
However one of the downsides of the internet is having to remember your username and passwords - and for my wikispace that is what has happened.
In our virtual classroom this week we had as a guest lecturer Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach who is an amazing example of how internet opened up her world and enabled her to realise her potential after her childhood years. She sets up online communitiers all over the world , her wikispace is http://21stcenturylearning.wikispaces.com/
This lecture raised several things to ponder on. First the belief held by many that professional learning environments more and more will be built around virtual community. Sheryl linked this to the trend that social and intellectual captial are the new economic values in the world Therefore as educators we have a responsibility to keep abreast with the virtual world developments. Second point was that by using technology especially participatory media educators will help students shape tomorrows world.

Sheryl expounded the positives of a world where isolation becomes a thing of the past and that virtual worlds increases our understanding of diversity. This may well be true for those who have internet broadband access, but there are many billions in the world for whom that is not the case. She argued that the digital divide is not about access but about those who can collaborate and those who can't. I personally think that today access is still one of the digital divides and one that may never go away.

The removal of isolation is interesting and I certainly am drawn to the idea of teachers from around the world networking via virtual communities. My students especially once they have graduated ( no longer in class) do become much more isolated from the wider early childhood community with its wonderful diversity and an online community would overcome that isolation. The question is how much of ensuring students have the skills and knowledge to access and collaborate on line is our responsibility as teacher educators? I think we do have some responsiblity and therefore offering blended delivery of our courses ( face to face and online) is important. Hence me doing this course.