TappedIn


It’s 4.04 am Friday July 7 to be exact, and I've just come offline from the most interesting chat I have had in a long while. Guess where … On TappedIn. I went looking for info on podcasting. But while I hesitated, a guy who was in asked me if I needed help. Seems as though he could see every pause my cursor made. So I told him what I was looking for, and he advises “The Blogstreams Salon.” So I enter and he also enters. And I’m browsing the hyperlinks, and the guy says something like, “What kind of info are you looking for? Click on the green i and you can join and post a question.”

Sorry, Dan! You didn’t say we could join, but I joined.

So the guy turns out to have, of all things, an anti-podcasting link. I rib him a bit about him being a bad guy. I read his stuff meanwhile, and tell him that although I don’t know much about podcasting, I don’t agree with his 5 points. So we banter a bit about the 5 points and I eventually read all the listed replies. There is only one reply that agrees with him in a couple of areas. After a while I thank him for giving me an ear and helping me around. And I exit.

My evaluation of the site? I never thought I would respond to this optional task to comment on TappedIn, because I had been on the site twice before and retreated. I found the pages too cluttered. I didn’t like the ruled, copybook format. The rooms were too silent. I found the info good, but there was so much that I was confused ...

Now? I’ve changed my mind. I realize I should have taken Dan’s advice and sought help the first time. My experience is nothing strange. As educators we all know that the greeting one gets at the portals of any learning community makes a hell of a difference to how much one learns there afterward. One thing I know - When I go to browse around TappedIn again, I will not feel as intimidated as I felt the first time.

PS1. Dan, are you sure it was not you in the chatroom? One of the first things the guy said to me … Unasked! …was that ‘Refresh It’ wouldn’t have erased the whiteboard. Only the owner of the whiteboard could.

PS2. Guess what? In my mailbox today is a transcript of the chat I had last night. Now for an added evaluation of the site, in my book that function alone deserves top score!