Here's part of my response to the group (interesting to note, no comments were made!)
Let's face it, we have a limited resource -- 24 hours in a day and we need
to decide how we want to allocate our time to meet our needs and wants.
I've noticed that on a 'good day' I'm taking over 2 hours of my time to
check all my e-mail accounts, look at Twitter, read my two Blogline accounts and
various other social network sites. It is becoming more and more like
'work' and I'm NOT liking it.....
I'm also experiencing 'information' overload in terms of all these new,
free, 'gotta have/gotta use' apps. I tend to grab the url and throw it
into my ikeepbookmarks account with the intention of weeding thru it over
the winter break (unfortunately winter break is almost over AND at last count I
had over 130 'tools' in one minor folder alone!).
The French had a saying, 'Les mals du 20eme siecle' which roughly
translates to the ills imposed on individuals due to the times and circumstances
(and supposed 'time saving' devices from the 20th century). I'm convinced
that we are facing the same in this digital age. We have too much coming
at us too fast and are, quite frankly, not able to keep up in a way that
contribute positively to our health and well-being. I see a new profession
resulting from this -- Digital Psychologist.
My goal for the beginning of 2008 is to REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE in terms of my digital experiences.I mean really, how many online photo- editing websites MUST I use?
How many screen capture programs can I have? How thin must I stretch
myself over all the social networks I belong to? And yes, I can already
here all the arguments about the wealth of knowledge that we are acquiring, but
let's face it guys....it almost feels like we're running from fast food chain to
fast food chain, gobbling everything down. Frankly, I'd rather have dinner
in front of the fire, with friends I can reach out and touch, and savor every
last morsel, and swirl every last drop of wine, leisurely contemplating the
wonders of the snow on the lawn leading down to the lake........aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
And next time you're offered up a tantilizing new app, try saying 'I'll
pass', then get up, go take a walk outside and let Mother Nature touch your
soul......
I'd be curious to hear what others think of this......
1 comment:
We agree on so many things but here is one where I must disagree. I think it comes down to the "all things in moderation" line.
To pull back away from moving forward is maybe the wrong way to look at it. One of our charges for us as teachers is to recognize that the kids we teach today are going to be inundated with even more information than we are right now. How are we best going to equip them to handle it? By saying enough is enough or by learning and teaching new ways to manage and wrangle the ever increasing flow of stuff coming our way.
Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.
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