Bombarded

Everything I seem to do anymore has just a little bit to do with technology. Math class - document camera. Library - automated system. Title I - Accelerated Math. Writing Research - Moodle/Digital Citizenship/Paperless if Possible. Home - Facebook, Plurk, Twitter, delicious, Diigo, iPhone. Hmmmm. That looks like more than just a little bit to do with technology; it seems to be part of just about everything I do. I know that sitting here searching, social networking, blogging, checking Moodle and email means that I am not doing the things I used to do. Where is the exercise, the Y, the knitting, the sewing? I still read, but that's about it. I'm usually keeping up on everything things else except what I used to do. Technology has become my new lifestyle. Seriously lacking balance here............

Encroaching on my life - technology

Ok, I've got a million things to do today, but what am I doing? On the computer, writing. It's not even what I'm supposed to be writing, either. I just got back from Moodle Boot Camp, where I was supposed to be learning how to create online classes using Moodle. The connectivity sucked (I'm still convinced it was those darn astrobiologists taking away our bandwidth), and so of course I got behind because I got distracted by my iPhone, Facebook, and other things that were more interesting than waiting for a connection that stayed connected. Where was I going with this.......? Oh, yes, technology. Sitting in a room with 50+ people all working away, I had to ask myself if I have what it takes to be a 21st century teacher. I mean, I truly believe that if I can do anything for kids, it's to better prepare them for their life as a 21st century citizen, and frankly, that means being able to use technology is ways now that they will use later. It will mean working collaboratively, either in person, or online, it will mean using programs, tools, and all of that that I never dreamed I would ever use. And for them, to quote Ian Jukes, of The Committed Sardine blog http://www.committedsardine.com/, they will have an astonishing number of jobs in their lifetimes - 7 - 9 - while I have had basically two jobs, both in basically the same field! Am I actually qualified to get them to where they need to be?

So, what's a mid-century educator to do? Is it this? Keep plugging away at it, read about education and technology, play around, try blogging? Guess so... If I'm lucky, one of these days I'll actually be able to put a hyperlink into a document. More Moodle, please.....

Moodle Boot Camp

I'm sitting in a darkened room at Pack Forest, outside of Eatonville, WA. I'm in the midst of being overwhelmed by the information being presented, and am feeling behind, so what else can I do but write about it? We've had connectivity problems (a word that never made it into my vocabulary prior to this day), and while sitting with my back to the screen, and not being able to log on - and stay on - I've missed a bunch of stuff, like the basics. I hope the book I bought, Moodle 1.9, will help me. Wow - it's cool, but right now, it's too much.....