Looking back over the last eight months I can see that I have learnt quite a lot about the use of technology to desig and build websites. I have also learnt quite a lot about the use of some well known social media tools. My learning and development  has been partly planned in the sense that decisions were made and a strategy was developed - like the design of my website and the planning for five twitter exchanges. But it has also been partly reactive to the situations as they arose - like  NB's invitation to get involved in Twitter and seeing an example of an organisational facebook page and thinking that this would be a good thing to do.

This journey has involved:
1)   creating my own website using weebly tools - then applying my learning to develop five other websites for different purposes using the same tools.
2) creating and maintaining a blog on my weebly website
3)  opening a twitter account and participating in four twitter exchanges as well as behaving as an individual 
4)  setting up a 'scrapbook' to enable me to provide supplementary materials for twitter
5) opening a facebook account and with the help of my daughter setting up a lifewide education facebook page and making postings to the pagehttp://www.facebook.com/LifewideEducation 
6) setting up a Lifewide Education Twitter account and linking it to the Facebook pagehttps://twitter.com/#!/ 
6) setting up a lifewide education organisational page and promoting discussions on linked in.

What I have learnt through this process of participation?
I realise I can make effective use of these technologies - I am not scared of making postings and I can see how they work in terms of attracting an audience or following. I'm also beginning to understand how I have to behave in order to attract a social network. These things have been learnt through 1) trial and error - just trying them out 2) being guided by people who were already experienced in using them 3) observing how other users use them and copying them 4) trying to involve other people. 

I have been experimenting with twitter and discovered that the 140 characters were very restrictive. In the past I linked any substantial and personal thoughts to my blog but I decided that this was inappropriate. So I set up a scrapbook which allows me to record my thoughts on specific topics. It is effectively an extension of this blog. The first topic I used it for was the Olympics.   http://lifewidescrapbook.weebly.com/

After years of resisting Facebook I fnally succumbed and decided that we 'Lifewide Education' had to have a presence. It was infact triggered by a long discussion with the team on the merits of twitter for engaging people in conversations. It didn't seem to be working for many people.So with the help of my daughter we set up a page  and posted our first discussion item on the Olympics. Only time will tell whether it will be useful or not but it is all about learning how to do it. The interesting thing though was how it has stimulated discussion with my children about the use of social media and facebook and twitter in particular. Because I have experience of both of these technologies I feel I have more understanding about what they are saying.

http://www.facebook.com/LifewideEducation 

The Olympic Games has had a positive effective on the way people feel (BBC Survey discussed on BBC Breakfast TV on 14 Aug)

Of the 1,002 people quizzed by GfK NOP, 80% said they had been interested in the Games over the two weeks they were running showing the high level of involvement of British people. 83% thought the Games had a positive effect on the UK and 80% thought it had made people more proud to be British. However while 35% thought the effect of the Games would be long-term, 54% thought it would be short-lived.

Judging by the responses of the people I have spoken to this seems like a fair representation of how people feel about the Olympics. There will always be people who are just not interested or who are critical about such events but my sense is that most people got swept up in them and allowed themselves to experience emotions and feelings about themselves and our collective identity that we don't normally experience. For me the strong feelings of pride, joy, wonder, happiness (for others) and empathy (for those who felt they had not achieved their personal goal) were about being human. From the moment I witness the torch being carried I realised that there was something spiritual about this and the feelings have been reinforced over and over again.

Maybe it has something to do with the hopelessness of our current economic situation and the divisive cultural cul de sac we have got ourselves into over devolution, but it has made me see these Isles of Wonder in a different way. It took an exceptional event to trigger this and a creative use of technology (BBC coverage was brilliant and we should be proud of this as an Olympic accomplishment in its own right) to engage me physically and emotionally but it has done so and I am a different person for the experience.

The Olympics has been very much part of most people's lifewide experience and sharing the effects it has had on us is worthy of examination. How did the Olympics affect you? Please join our Twitter Exchange and share your experiences.

LIFEWIDE EDUCATION TWITTER EXCHANGE

'How has the Olympics affected us?'

Wednesday August 15t-18th 2012   Tweet to #LWE4

Did the Olympics affect you, if so how did it affect you? Did it make you think and feel differently about anything? What did you learn through the experience? Do you think it will have a lasting effect on you and our society?  The Olympics is  one of the few events that can claim to be global in its involvement of people and the nations of the world. So what, if any effect has it had on making the world a better place?

These are questions worth asking in the wake of what for many of us will be a unique event in our lifetime - an Olympic Games in our own country. The London Olympics set out to inspire a generation but did it infect you in an inspiring way?

Please join our event and share your thoughts and feelings

HOW TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION

GETTING A TWITTER ACCOUNT
  If you are not already a twitter user, please go to http://twitter.com and sign yourselves up for a free account that will enable you to participate.

  
FINDING THE SESSION ON TWITTER
The start and finishing dates are shown against each event. To find an event in Twitter, use 'Discover' as the way to find the seminar/session. Discover is the search facility in Twitter. Type #LWE4 into the search window to access the session.

  
POSTING A MESSAGE
When you send a message (no more than 140 characters) add #LWE4 to the end of your message. Example: Hi everyone, just arrived and looking forward to it #LWE4

STIMULUS PAPERS/SLIDES/IMAGES & SUMMARIES can be found at

http://lifewideeducation.co.uk/page/twitter-exchange

World events come in all shapes and sizes but the Olympics - especially when they are hosted by your own country are pretty big and sustained. Of course I love sport and having been sporty as a youth I can relate to what these elite athletes are going through and appreciate something of the dedication, commitment, sacrifice and pain they have gone through to prepare themselves for their moment.

I can honestly say I have been blown away by the spectacle from the opening ceremony which filled me with pride through all the drama as it unfolds. Not retrospective analysis but raw gut feelings to what is happening or has just happened involving the people who it is happening to. Having the time to follow multiple events on the BBC internet service I have been totally enthralled by the drama and the spectacle. I also managed to experience two events - football and volley ball. 

There is no doubt that the media have a huge role to play in engaging people in the Olympic experience especially for people who are unable to directly experience an event. The BBC coverage has been exceptional - through the profiles of the athletes I have learnt about them as individuals - their families, their sporting history and what it means to them and the coaches who encourage and help them perform. Through the events we learn about the different sports and what individuals have to do and of course we witness people performing at the highest level.

I expect I'm no different to anyone else when I witness - albeit through the BBC - someone winning an event in the Olympics. On every occasion I experience a rollercoaster of emotions that begins with willing people on and then there is an overwhelming feeling in which tears well up and I connect with the moment being shared by athlete and audiences all over the world .. It is an amazing feeling of happiness, pride and gratitude for someone who has achieved their dream after devoting their life for this moment. And they share their overwhelming joy and thank all the people who have helped them and made sacrifices too.. And I can't help but be moved and feel uplifted as I experience this wonderfully human feeling over and over again.

                                                 Laura Trott just after she won gold in the cycling rejoicing with her family. 

But what about the downside of the emotional rollercoaster? The side that is not joyful but broken-hearted. Thanks to TV we also witness the total dejection of people who judge themselves to have fallen short of their goal, who perform well below what they are capable of doing or who injure themselves in competition. We see interviews of people who have given everything and were piped at the post like Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase in their dramatic lightweight double sculls final when they led all the way until the last few metres and were beaten by inches into the silver medal position. They were barely able to talk because they were physically shattered and choked with emotion. And our empathetic brains kick in again as we share their utter devastation and empathise with their situation. 

And I'm sure the memories will live on until I can remember no more and just as I was inspired by Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovet in the 1980's many young people will have been inspired by the performances of participants in these games and their influences and effects will be immeasurable.