After hearing Alan November at yesterday's faculty meeting and returning to the Pi2.0 work, I feel energized. I've now made the leap...I get it. The internet itself, the mechanics of it all, has always been overwhelming to me. But with the right teacher(!), it seems far more manageable. The best teacher appears to be Lee at Common Craft. He breaks it down, idiotproofs it all. I didn't have to spend hours reading, scrolling really, through all the instructional information. I can always go back to get more detail, but I'm no longer stymied by too much information.
Thanks to Alan, I'm now on Twitter. I've not figured out how it will be useful to me in teaching or in my life, especially since I cannot get it on my mobile. And, I've already had to block some random person (Susan, a self-described shaman) from following me. Still, I am now following Scott Simon, which is pretty fun.
I now see how addictive all this information gathering can be. I think I'll have to set some of the same limits on my own screen time as I set on my children's video gaming over the years, as I could "waste up some time" on this. This, it seems to me, is really the key. Are we actually more productive? Are we doing things faster and better? Are we adding value to our teaching or complicating it? Or are we merely wading through the equivalent of everyone's mail and the Library of Congress without any guides? I'm in a search now for on-line "librarians" who have vetted material, or for better ways to search.
Speaking of better ways to search, just learning about site: countrycode or edu etc. was revolutionary for me.
As for the task at hand: I've started the Google Reader and read through one of the required three subscription sites, where I found an interesting article. The author posted sites that have original source media content. Although I don't see myself using these sites at the moment, I was happy to see someone interested in finding original sources and writing about fair use.
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Sydney: I am enjoying reading your blog. One of the things I enjoy most about the Pi classes is getting to better know people and their teaching. No one has answers to many of your questions... What is too much technology... Information overload... using twitter... but the opportunity to be a learner and to network with others is pretty cool. It is an interesting journey. I look forward to reading more. Call on us anytime.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got so much out of Alan November. I think it does take some time to learn all these new tools, but once you get them in place, they can actually save a tremendous amount of time. For instance, instead of visiting 10 of my favorite sites each day to see what is new, now I just have to go to my Reader. And instead of searching and searching the web for a certain website, I may just ask my followers on Twitter if they know of the site. I look forward to seeing how you make use of all this in your personal and professional life.
ReplyDeleteSydney, you may find this wiki useful. http://twitter4teachers.pbwiki.com/ You can use it to start building your twitter network by finding people with similar interests.
ReplyDeleteDon't be too overwhelmed by the abundance of information out there. Over time, you will figure out how to navigate the waters and find interests you.
Ever wonder what the proper balance is between web2.0 development and implementation? The amount of time I use learning how to use TwitterMonkeyGadget-a-matron is time that I could be planning or grading. I'm not trying to bash the use of technology in the class, but as a person who uses it often I wonder if I am spending too much time on fancy toys and not enough time on substance.
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