Given the learning curve associated with all things technological and the time it takes to master and effectively employ new technologies in any aspect of our lives . . .
- Where do we find the time to explore the bleeding edge, mining and mastering new technologies, and
- How do we fit teaching these new, non-subject specific skills and their attendant issues (see prompt #8) into our already overburdened instructional time?
- Finally, how do we avoid the time sinkhole computers can become?
Deadlines have served as my greatest tech-project motivation--and not necessarily in a good way. Oh, sure, I got motivated to learn Blogger--really learn Blogger--when the ATI2007 kick-off loomed, but you know what works even better? A stack of papers. Or an annual report. Any big task I really don't want to perform will send me scrambling online, compulsively checking email and combing listserv archives for something--anything--to do other than score essays or write reports. I also lurk on tech listservs and talk to techies. You folks inspire me, too, with what you do and links you share. Then I file interesting ideas: listserv discoveries in an email file, conversation gems in the PalmPilot, of course, and, when I remember, links/descriptions on our wiki and blog. And then I wait until I want to do something: find a way for TAs to communicate remotely, for instance, or spice up a presentation/workshop. That's when I hit the files and then work at whatever technology I've selected until I make it bow to my wishes. I'm stubborn. I figure I know what the thing should do, so I keep pounding and cajoling until I figure out how to make it perform. In other words, I dive headfirst into the sinkhole. I'm still working on how to feather in the non-subject-specific skills. Once I feel fairly proficient, I write up directions and hope the students with whom I work will understand and use them. I've also been known to teach--really teach--one student the skill and rely on him/her to set his/her colleagues on fire and support them. Mostly, though, I try to link the non-specific skill to something writing related. I start to talk about graphic design, especially the search for images, as prewriting, and I equate page-layout strategies to essay-organization strategies. It doesn't always work, and I'm a looong way from good at this, but I keep plugging away. I'm stubborn.
I don't know how to avoid the sinkhole, Mauro. I don't. I spend waaaaaay too much time on the computer. I turn it on the minute I unlock my office in the morning, and once I get home, I turn on that computer before I change out of my work clothes. I swear, if a burglar were to break into the house, I'd probably reach for the damned mouse! I am blessed with an exceptionally gracious partner who lets me work but who also takes me on tech-free vacations. I have a dear friend who walks me three times a week. Mine is not a lifestyle I advocate, but I know other tech-geek lifestyles exist. I know they do. I just don't know what they are or how to achieve them. The good news is that despite my unhealthy obsession, I really do love this stuff. I think I'm a better teacher for it, and I am grateful for the opportunity to keep learning.
Two things. One, when I remember (not often enough), I use the teach one kid to teach others things. It spreads like a virus and empowers the students to be teachers themselves. In fact, it's just good teaching. I don't do enough of that. I'll save the excuse for sometime over beers... Two, I too spend much of my time deep in the sinkhole. In fact, I just became the proud owner of a slightly used laptop, which means I can now take my own personal sinkhole with me wherever I go. In fact, I am sitting on the couch in my living room typing this. So good for my posture... ~Mauro
Karen McComas, one of the original NWP tech movers and shakers, once sang the praises of laptops in the living room. I was horrified. "But that's diluted time with family, never mind permission to spend even more time on the computer!" She just smiled and suggested that half time with family is better than no time. She's right, of course. A laptop has since been foisted upon me, and I've been known to lug it into the living room. It's especially helpful in conjunction with in-law dinners. Now when I need to check out of the conversation, I power up the computer. I know I'm a terrible person, but it's better than skipping the weekly dinner, and I never work while we eat, and it's not like I ever run out of things that need doing. How's that for crappy justification? Tracy
First, allow me to be extremely defensive and say that just because I don't use technology in the classroom doesn't mean I'm not a good teacher. Just kidding, really! I've learned enough classroom technology to get me by, and I don't feel particularly uncomfortable that I don't use more. I feel like your alter ego, Tracy. I can quickly come up with fifty different things to do that don't involve using a computer. Also family time with adults can be diluted. Two-year olds are an all or nothing-at-all proposition. And my granddaughter is more interesting to me than anything on any computer. That being said, she is a grandchild, so I don't spend the time with her that her parents do leaving me free to pursue the other forty-nine activities that come to my mind. However, I am resolved to learning more classroom technology this year if I'm not voted off the island for being a reluctant and slow learner. I may still be slow, but I've really been working on my reluctance, and part of it may have been the fear of falling into the sinkhole leaving all that I really love to do undone.
And now one last word about justification. Justification is another dimension. It's our reality. It's different from an excuse because when you justify your actions, you're not asking for forgiveness for them, just letting others know why you do what you do.
Frankly though, one of my favorite lines in a movie is when the father demands that Mary Poppins explain herself, she replies with her nose in the air, "I never explain anything." That's why the line is in a movie; we couldn't get away with that in real life, but justifications, by their very nature, can't be crappy.
LL
Jeff Goldblum (Goldbloom?) has a great line in The Big Chill: "Justification is more important than sex. Have you ever gone a day without a justification." Or something like that. Tracy
