I'm about to jump in and try online learning again. This time I'm joining Google's two-week online Google maps/Google Earth training. I'm motivated since we have a new fourth grade project on the horizon that requires these tools, and I have a colleague to who has also signed on.
This will be my third or fourth attempt at online learning, and hopefully my first successful attempt. Why were the past attempts unsuccessful. The one I paid for was unsuccessful because at that time I simply didn't have a quiet space or the time to keep up with the tightly scheduled course. The ones that were free were too cumbersome, and somewhat less connected to my current work, hence my investment waned. This time, I want the experience to be successful even though it comes at a busy time in the school year.
There are so many ways to experience and try out 21st century learning today in free, easy ways. Jumping in at the early stages of new initiatives gives you the chance to take advantage of free learning paths that often come with lots of support and investment by the knowledge providers. In addition, there's not much risk at this point. If you don't succeed, you lose out on time and learning, but you don't lose money or the chance to try again.
Hence, my advice it to "jump in" when it comes to 21st century learning. There's little to lose and much to gain.
