Thing 6

My ramblings about technology

I remember years ago going to MACUL conferences and MAME conferences and listening to keynote address speakers talking about the future.  It all seemed so far away.  I would hear how quickly information was going to change and my head would spin.  Now my head is spinning faster and faster.  How can the human brain soak up all the new technology quickly enough to process it, learn from it and teach someone else about it?  Yet, we move through our days using technology to it's fullest when we need it.  Like everything else, we need to have a bit of background and some interest to focus on the next thing.  I never used a computer until my senior year in college.  I was scared to death that my paper would disappear if I left the room. But I was soon on my way to not being able to do without a computer.  Now I wonder how I managed to type a paper on that IBM selectric!  Perhaps this time next year I won't be able to do without flickr.  I've been using Shutterfly for the last couple of years and it's changed my life.  My photos are more organized, I make photo books to remember a trip, and share my photos with family and friends.

Thinking about blogging and flickr, I thought how I could have the English students set up blogs for their poetry unit in April.  They could add images from flickr to create visual images.  Kids would love that.  This year our science students are doing all of their tests online.  Instead of dreading the exam, they think it's cool to have a laptop in front of them.  The teacher has it easier in grading them, too.  Everyone's happier.  There's so much more we can do to creat a high interest learning environment for all of our kids.

Then, I do worry about privacy.  I have no interest in creating a facebook page.  I think it's ridiculous.  I don't need anyone to get into my private life.  I feel that they can call me!  Perhaps it's a generational thing.