Getting out and about - a tad overdue

I only have one excuse for why this post is late - information overload. When I started looking through the other participant blogs I was totally overwhelmed. As I write this, there are 630 blogs listed on Delicious as taking part in CPD23!
In the end I took a completely random approach to browsing these blogs, firstly working my way through the alphabetical list on Delicious then when I got bored narrowing it down to my country and sector. I'm nowhere near looking at them all. Now I've imported all the CPD23 Participants Delicious bookmarks into my Google Reader and am going to see how that works.

Of all the blogs I've viewed so far, I particularly recommend Rhythm and Knowledge with their post on this same topic. They give some excellent alternative ways to deal with information overload - I currently tend towards culling but would love to learn how to surrender more!

I also really like the way that Much Ado about Blogging (brilliant name too!) has encouraged some conversation by asking her readers a question. I really do believe that it's important to encourage two-way conversations with these technologies and what an excellent way to do it.

Why oh why?

I decided to take part in CPD23 for lots of reasons probably in common with all my fellow participants:

• to try something new - I'm always up for staff development but I've never come across a course like this before. I love the idea of networking, picking up tips and having a go all without leaving my desk!
• to have a go at some technology - some I've not come across (Evernote, Pushnote) and some I've used before (blogs, RSS feeds).
• to learn from others - I'm interested not just in what people choose to talk about i.e. their content but also how they use these technologies e.g. self promotion, current awareness.
• to get myself out there - ever since I attended a Developing Your Web Presence course last year, I've been interested in how to make myself visible online. After all, what's the point in writing something if no-one ever reads it?