What ds this?

When I first opened up ds106 I was excited because all of the tweets I had read so far were filled with education-related excitement. After spending about fifteen minutes exploring te website, I was utterly confused. What was the purpose of this site? I thought I was already taking enough summer classes? Why is everyone excited to have a class without teachers? We are all studying to BECOME teachers. (This is still gets me if we’re being honest.) Since it was the beginning of the week I decided to just close the tab and come back to it later with a clearer mind.

The next evening I found my way back to the land of hyped-up confusion. If you click on this link, you’ll see it’s actually the ‘About’ page. Still mind-boggled, I read almost every page, from ‘Home’ to multiple blogs posted to the site. At this point my conservative mind set was beginning to understand the concepts of ds106, but refusing to see how the lessons were beneficial. After even more searching I grew frustrated again, this time mostly with myself, I stumbled upon pages and pages of Daily Creates. I like the idea of doing something creative everyday because I am a firm believer in the fine arts and their positive impacts on academics. Our requirements to use five mediums throughout our twenty days of creates reinforces the foundations of the arts. I gave up again after studying ds106.

As we all learned from Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try.” This morning I sat down with a plate of eggs and a glass of juice, determined to understand ds106 and tried, I really did. In accordance to Yoda’s phrase though, I guess I failed. I am still not sure if I understand all the uses and purposes of ds106, but I do not plan on giving up.

Sidenote: I understand that ds is short for ‘digital storytelling’, but could someone clarify the significance of 106? Even if it is blatantly obvious, if someone could let me know, that would rock my socks off. Happy learning everyone!