It’s not all smooth sailing October 9, 2007

Giving something new a go is often a little tricky to start with, but I really recomend persevering with these tools – you’ve got so much to gain. Some of the things that have worked for me…

• confidentiality – not being able to be identifiable in my professional/workplace role has meant having to really think before posting on my blog so that none of my clients are exposed, or my employer. This has meant I’ve limited posts and reflecting on clinical issues to pretty much nothing, but I’m sure it can be done! Sometimes it means that the hard work and reflecting is done well before posting something so that what’s posted is a”percolated” version of my thoughts
• do it regularly – what ever you’re trying to get the hang of, don’t leave it too long between accessing. If you’re anything like me you’ll think you’ll remember for next time, but if next time is too far away….it’s gone….and it all seems foreign and new again
• share it with others – one of the best things about this project has been sharing info and resources with others, and seeing the “real life” applications
• get good technical support – this was easy as we met weekly and there was always a couple of technically savvy people there, meaning frustration levels didn’t get too high, and nothing (read, computers)got thrown out the window!
• get over feeling you’re intruding – going into other people’s del.icio.us bookmarks isn’t intruding, it’s what they’re there for!

YouTube October 9, 2007

There are heaps of YouTube videos out there showing what occupational therapists do – most of them American, so nothing that I’ve found that shows kiwis. But if you spend a bit of time trawling through everything I’m sure you’ll find something relevant. Here’s a couple that I’ve found that look good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jhY6bc10C8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIxBabhz_zw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wau9cgdyT0A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvhzHlrargU&mode=related&search=multiple%20sclerosis%20neurologist%20psychologist%20occupational%20therapist%20OT%20MS%20Trust

The project’s over but… September 19, 2007

Although our project with Merrolee officially ended a few weeks ago, I’m still learning heaps about the potential for Web 2.0 tools, and almost daily am thinking of ways of using these tools in my practice and professional debvleopment.

Really looking forward to presenting at the NZAOT Clincial Workshops in October (www.nzaot.com) and I hope that lots of people take the opportunity to come along and learn a little (or a lot) about what’s out there and how it can be of use to us.

This week I’ve been working with some colleauges and staff from an Occupational Therapy School on putting together an academic proposal. Over the past year (yep, it’s taken us THAT long) we’ve had a couple of false starts, and it’s taken a while to organise even some of the most simple things. This isn’t from want of trying or effort, it’s just been really tricky for us all to co-ordinate diaires and figure out when we’re all available, let alone putting in the brain power when we meet! This week, we’ve gotten really close to finalising our research question, and it finally struck me that using a wiki to plan and organise our meetings and ideas would help to streamline things. In the past someone’s suggested a meeting time or research idea, and 700 emails later we confirm something, meanwhile I’ve responded to the first person’s email, someone else responded to the second persons, and round and round we go!

So although that’s a pretty straightforward example of how to make use of a WEb 2.0 tool, I imagine it’s going to make this project SO much better. Clever eh?!