7.29.2009

Finding the time for technology

As I've felt busier than ever in the MAC program this week, my internet usage has been reduced to email checking. I feel overwhelmed that my Google Reader has accumulated nearly 600 unread posts, that I haven't tweeted in (gasp!) 7 days, and that my Delicious ain't lookin' so scrumptious. It makes me wonder how I will actually be able to incorporate the new online tools we've been exploring in class this summer when I'm even busier as a teacher. When will I be able to interact online when my days will be filled with planning, instructing, grading, and hopefully satisfying my physiological needs, to reference Maslow's "hierarchy of needs." (Thanks to the presenters yesterday for refreshing my memory on Maslow!) 

I guess my question is, where will technology fit on my hierarchy of needs as a teacher?

The funny thing about all this is that the tools we're getting acquainted with—Twitter, Delicious, Podcasting, Wikis—are just that: TOOLS. They're supposed to help me organize information and filter the web with my preferences. If I am going to incorporate technology into my day-to-day juggling act, I'll probably just have to develop my own strategies and routines between logon and logoff.

Ironically, one online tool that I haven't mentioned in this post is blogging. Yet through the act of blogging my concerns right now (and hopefully eliciting responses and insight from readers!), I think I just might be authentically discovering the usefulness of blogging for the first time. Blogs are a place where teachers can write down and return to their thoughts in the dense thickets of digital information...before those thoughts get lost in the dense thickets of their ultra-busy minds.

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1 comment:

  1. Liz Kolb, Ph.D.July 30, 2009 at 10:54 PM

    Jenny
    Thank you for your honest post! I think that many other MACers must feel the same way as you right now. The MAC program is intense and you are learning new ideas and tools at warp speed! Thus it is reasonable to feel as though you don't really have time or a grasp on these tools. We are not going to be introducing nearly as many tools in the Fall, just looking at and using variations of the tools that we are already using and experimenting with. What you might find is that one or two of the tools really stand out (eg..blogs right now) and those are the ones you end up really integrating your teaching. But the bonus is that you are aware of the capabilities of these other resources and somewhere down the road you may draw upon them again.

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Thanks for taking a look at my blog. I appreciate your feedback!

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