Life Blogging

I really enjoyed Lisa's blog this week. In it, she mentioned that she has a hard time getting into technology if she doesn't see it as valuable in the classroom. I totally understand, and have similar issues. My biggest issue is that there is just too much stuff out there, and I don't have time (who does?) to become an avid user of all of it. Therefore, I have to choose carefully the things that I feel will benefit me the most, and pretty much ignore the rest. It's difficult, especially since I plan on teaching college students. They're like teenagers, only worse! :) They are ravenous consumers of all kinds of technology, and I need to stay on top of it and try to incorporate it into their learning experience.

I also liked the picture Lisa included in her blog - it really took me back! I remember when I was in high school, I thought I was so cool because I had a pager. Not a cell phone, a pager. It had 2 buttons on it, and displayed whatever phone numbers my friends entered when they called the phone number. We found creative ways of using pagers to communicate more than just phone numbers, though. We developed numeric codes that meant different things, and while it didn't work as well as a cell phone, we managed to have pretty detailed conversations with numbers only. I always knew when my best friend had met a hot guy, or when there was an emergency ("911"). Sure, the technology was nothing compared to what we have now, but it allowed us to be creative and learn the devices inside and out. Now, I have a cell phone, iPod, etc., and I don't understand or use half of the features available to me. When I was younger, I never dreamed that pagers would become obsolete. Now, they're really only used by doctors (and restaurants, to let you know your table is ready). Technology can be really intimidating, and if you're not careful, it's easy to let it get away from you. I feel like I'm in constant danger of becoming a dinosaur, and I'm not even in my third decade of life yet!

A Little Lost...

This blog is just a little late this week. Between the sick dog, the new job, and the Eracism judging ordeal, things just got a bit weird. Once I got it all figured out, the judging things was pretty fun. I liked listening to the kids go back and forth and, at times, get rather vicious with each other. It made me miss being a teenager! I wonder if the project has any ties with this one - http://www.eracismfoundation.org/ . This Eracism project was created in 2006 by Louis Gossett Jr. Maybe the two are unrelated, but they seem to have similar goals. It just makes me sick that in 2009, racism is still a problem. Human beings accept all kinds of change - we are inundated with new technology and new ways of doing things, and think it's great. We are constantly changing our ways of thinking about everything - except, apparently, race. Why can't we change our minds about something so trivial as the way we look? Why do people still make decisions about others based on skin color?

Deb's blog was really interesting this week - http://djbloomie.blogspot.com/. She mentioned how she showed a video about technology in her class, and a student said the video had no claim, only facts. Do younger people, then, have a better shot at erasing racism? If they are so accepting of technology as simply "the world as they know it" (thank you, Deb), then perhaps they will also be more accepting of skin coming in a variety of colors. I think technology's biggest benefit is globalization, and the fact that it is now totally commonplace for a high school kid to complete a project with a student of a different race, culture, and religion. Hopefully, our future generations will know of racism only through history books, and will think of it as archaic as dial-up Internet.

(By the way, I think this is "evangelist blogging")

Wikis, Blogs, and Nings

Am I just super ignorant, or do other people wonder what the difference is? I'm learning more as I go through this program, so I'm starting to grasp it better... I think. It might help if all three names didn't sound like E.T.'s buddies. From what I gather, a blog is somewhat like an online journal, where you post your thoughts on stuff. At least that's what I'm doing with mine. Wikis, then, are basically online documents that a bunch of different people can add stuff to and change. Are Google docs considered wikis? SO, what are nings? Nings seem to be the same things as wikis, but that couldn't be possible. They wouldn't create two totally different names to refer to the same thing, right? Or is the universe just torturing me?

I think wikis are my favorite, because of the collaboration factor. They have proven very useful for the group projects I'm currently participating in, and are much more convenient than emailing attachments back and forth. Sure, they have bizarre quirks and gliches (I had to re-make the same flowchart 3 times last night because the stupid thing couldn't figure out how to insert it -- or could that have been me?) but they have so many uses in both the education and corporate worlds that they are definitely worth a try. Erin brought up some awesome corporate uses for wikis in her blog this week - http://techtechgoose.blogspot.com/. I love the idea of using a wiki for a company handbook. Everyone could add to it and share their ideas and advice. I wish the places I have worked would have adopted something like that.

I found a really awesome blog from McDaniel College that talked about the use of wikis in higher ed. I couldn't figure out who the author was, but it was at http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/InTech/blog/. The blog mentioned using wikis for research. I hadn't even thought about that one, but it's a great idea. I know for group projects, it would make finding and sharing sources so much easier. For me, the research phase is usually the most frustrating. It would be nice to have each group member find so many sources, and list some information about each one. This would probably be good for high school students, too (though I have very limited knowledge of what teenagers like - they scare me senseless). I know they are using wikis for the Flat Classroom Project, and I think it's a perfect use for them. On a side note, I just figured out how to make words link to a certain website (Flat Classroom Project). I'm smart! My education dollars weren't wasted! Woo hoo!!!!!

Oh yeah, this was insight blogging.