“So the big deal about blogs is that they gave people like the power of the media, and created the personal kind of news that appeals to a high number of small audiences...There is likely a group of people out there who want to hear what you have to say" (Lefever, 2007).
I always knew there were a lot of blogs out there, but actually thinking about the sheer number and complexity of this vast network is like being a grain of sand and trying to conceive of what the French Riviera is like. Technorati.com alone counts over 1.2 million blogs currently available on the Internet, and I'm sure a few more have been created in the hour since I found that statistic (2011). However, in my first post to this blog, I mentioned that the only reason I hadn't made one before is because I couldn't conceive of anyone really being interested in what I had to say. However, now that this class has given me the opportunity to spout on and on about the education system – something I feel quite strongly about – I have hope that I can provide some helpful and possibly even interesting information out to the web at large.
“The World Wide Web is the Gutenberg printing press of modern times" (Shelly & Gunter, 2010).
I love this statement. Found near the end of Chapter 2 in our textbook, I'm truly struck by how simple and true it is. Information is now more extensive and accessible than ever before, and now students do not have to be passive receptors of that information. Instead, they can create and share and even influence the learning of others. Each new day, week, month and year brings more and more outlets and inputs for information. Data upon data, and format upon format. This chapter, as well as the two videos in our Module, made me truly examine not only the Internet, but how I interact with it everyday.
To start with, I love Google Reader, and I don't mean that lightly. In fact, if Google Reader was a man, my love for him would be the kind to inspire Shakespearean-like movies starring pretty but untalented actors. Ahem. Moving on.
Besides my classmates' blogs and educational one of the sort, I follow about a dozen blogs on my other favorite subject: food. My favorite food bloggers are a joy to read, but a pain to keep up without my Google Reader. Also, whenever I open up my iGoogle – where I keep my email, calendar, feeds and personal notes to myself all together in one handy-dandy, multi-tasking glory page – and my Reader tells me I have a new recipe from a spunky chef/photographer in New York, I get a thrill. The Reader plays beautifully right into my personal style of organization, otherwise known as “little piles”.
It wasn't until watching "The Networked Student" that I realized that my use of Google Reader was just one portion of my very own Personal Learning Network. Mind you, this network was mostly focused on my personal interests of books, food and crafts, but a network just the same! And now, with Graduate School and the wealth of resources and ideas floating around waiting for me to collect and utilize them, a new network is born. I can have my Firefox browser up with a multitude of tabs arranged with blogs, bookmarks, scholarly articles, and directories, while at the same time pulling up recorded Webinars to watch and reference in my own projects or online lessons.
The only downside to this arrangement is the very real possibility of multitasking gone too far. The situation is all too common: a savvy technology user has lots of media open and is surfing through a smooth rating, taking and applying information at an astounding rate, until the point is reached where they can no longer focus on just one thing at a time and everything begins to blur and productivity takes a dive. Thankfully, with a trained teacher to act as their "Learning Concierge", students can master the idea of “Information Management” to avoid the pitfalls of too much stimulus (Networked Student, 2007).
"By providing a variety of learning tools, the Internet and the Web are transforming the way teachers instruct and the way students learn basic skills and core subjects. These changes have brought the Web to the forefront of instructional strategies in education in a very short period" (Shelly & Gunter, 2010).
The Internet and the World Wide Web are an ideal tool for teachers and students, providing the kind of options never before available. It is our job as we serve both these positions to learn, grow and be ready to make the best possible use of whatever we have and whatever new comes next.
References
Drexler, W. (2008). The networked student. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA
Lefever, L. (2007). Blogs in plain english. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI
Shelly, G.B., & Gunter, G. (2010). Teachers discovering computers. Boston, MA: Cenage Learning.
Technorati.com. (2011, February). Blog directory. Retrieved from http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/
Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteThis is going to sound terrible, but I don't even know what a Google Reader is! Does it read out loud to you? Is it something on your SmartPhone? And I have never heard of iGoogle - is that an app for your iPhone?
So much to learn!
I thought it was interesting that you mentioned YOUR Personal Learning Network. I had a V-8 moment (hand slap to the forehead) DUH! In the reading, it never even occurred to me that I have my OWN Personal Learning Network of blogs, websites, podcasts, etc. I am a student, too, and in the readings and watching the video, I was only thinking about how I could help my students develop their own Personal Learning Networks. Thank you for enlightening me!
~ Christi S
Hi again Julie,
ReplyDeleteI just posted to your blog and thought of something else I wanted to add. You mentioned "multitasking gone too far". I totally agree with that statement. I saw something on CNBC the other day called "Crackberry'd" or something like that. It was talking about our society's information overload and how many of us are living our lives multitasking and our health and our work results are suffering. Although we CAN multitask, we are not giving any one thing our best attention, and therefore, there is a ripple effect on everything else. I went to their website yesterday, but the video was not yet available for viewing, but I'll post it when it is.
Thanks!
~ Christi
Christi,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could enlighten you! As for Google Reader, it's my way of subscribing to updates from blogs, such as the ones from this class. It's a free service of Google on your regular web browser, and you simply tell it what sites/blogs you want it to keep track of and it automatically tells you of new posts. They talked about it in the video and in the lesson, using a thing called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). Here, take a look: http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlereader/tour.html
Also, iGoogle is a similar service that allows me to bring in my gmail account in and organize it with other information I want to keep together on one web page (like my Calendar, Reader, etc) using my normal web browser - though you can access it anywhere you can get to the web, like a phone or mobile device. You can also personalize however you want, which is really neat. If you have a gmail account, I'd recommend taking a look: http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en
I hope this helps you! :)
"I realized that my use of Google Reader was just one portion of my very own Personal Learning Network."
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of quibbling over technicalities and being "that guy," some would probably differentiate and say that Google Reader et al are part of your Personal Learning *Environment* while the people you connect to via these resources are your Personal Learning *Network*. That being said, I really appreciated your vivid depiction of your own experiences as a self-directed learner (formally and informally). :-)