I started a new class this week called Digital Media. It is a class that encompasses several apps of Web 2.0 especially blogging, Wikis, podcasts, nings, etc.. The question I need to ask myself each week is how I can apply what was discussed/examined in class to my life in and/or out of the classroom.
This first week presented an overview of the class as well as provided some time to explore the social network created for this grad class. http://cedu534-k-1008.ning.com/
Being that it is the first week I really don't have much substance to ponder, nor is there any real connection to my life. Yet! That is an important three letter word!
So, I use this first post to pose questions I ask myself.
Do we really need to stay connected to the world all the time? Is it necessary to use technology, as it exists today, to always "be in touch"? Has humanity come to such a point that solitude begins to evaporate and people can no longer seek solice in " being alone" for a period of time? Do we really need to bring our laptops on vacation? Can't we turn off our cell phones for a week? Do we need to be followed with Twitter? Does it really matter that someone responds to thoughts, opinions, and beliefs through blogging? How important is it to constantly need reinforcement through social interaction and connectivity? Have people gotten to a point where their psyche is is dependent on others and their affirmations?
Now having posed those questions, I know and understand we are social creatures and NEED the comfort, support, and interaction of others in order to really "be human". But, are we losing the ability for an internal locus of control through technology and the spores it ejects? If we are who we are from what we have, then what happens when we don't have? If we are who we are through the bolsterings of others, then what happens when those others are gone? If we are who we are by what we do, what happens when we don't do that anymore?
Now, it will be interesting if anyone responds to my musings. If you do, great. If you don't, well, perhaps you are taking some of the questions I have posed and are digesting them for a bit. Then again, perhaps you are simply not responding because you are not bolstering my need to see if people really care about what I think. Then I am the one left wondering!
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2 comments:
You ask questions that man seems to have pondered for a long time - Thoreauand his musings on Walden being one of them. A persons search for order and meaning are ongoing. Whether we connect via technology, letter writing or face too face - it is not the way we connect but the quality of what we do while connecting.
Each person needs to see out their own comfort level for this connection. Every journey is unique. Your post reminded me of reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A persons journey never ends.
Ron, I have to say that I enjoy your ramblings, especially when I know that it is not BS but really thinking and questioning what it is that you want what is best for your students. Way to Go!!
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