Seriously....did you? Well, before I get into some of the "new" technology I used this past year and some of my favorite forms of technology, let me give you some quick updates:
1. House sold, house bought. Move in date still June 29th and still the house from my last blog.
2. Potty-training Abby this week. Reagan figured Jack did okay with me as his potty teacher, why not let me try Abby. Not going as easy as I would have hoped....she can't seem to pee standing up. Will have to read the manual again.
3. My school-issued laptop is back in my hands and life is good. Hence, why I am writing on technology this week. Also, due to TIME magazine's cover story on Twitter. Okay, here we go....
Seriously, did you ever stop to wonder about how quickly technology is changing? I didn't until TIME magazine's cover story on Twitter, Facebook, and the way we communicate. I have been to workshops and incorporated some cool technology into my classroom, but never really, really sat down to be amazed at how far we have come. Think about it, I am 31 years old and in my lifetime the computer moved out of an Iowa State Labratory and into our homes. In fact, the "green screen" computer that I grew up on is basically still around...its at my Uncle's house! The ol' Apple IIe. Then I started dating Reagan and the Internet was "invented". So, I have been with Reagan for half of my life and the Internet has only been around for the same amount of time. But in that time, computers moved from our desktops to our laps to our watches to our ears to our glasses to our calculators, etc., etc. We won't even get into how my Number Munchers Math game evolved into Halo 3 or "Car-Jack and Kill Innocent People for Fun 9"! Although, I suppose counting your ammo and kills could help math skills some. But since this is supposed to be a blog to help you all catch up on my life, let me tell you about some of my favorite forms of technology I learned or "joined" this past year.
Facebook: Most of you are reading this blog due to Facebook. Why? Well, duh, I posted a link to this blog as my status. My true friends likely went back to read the first 40 blogs that they missed (Hint, hint!). Joining near the end of 2008 changed my life as I now have a way to stay in touch with almost half of my graduating high school class. Okay, that is only about 13, but still that's cool! I also stay in touch with my teaching staff and even some former students. Not current students though....I am not stupid. Facebook may be great, but it does have its downside. Oh, and most of my family is on facebook too, just not my Dad or Mom. But they are easy enough to get a hold of by IM, email, text, or cell phone. More technology....
Internet video: Did you know you can search your favorite websites on an archive site to see what they looked like 5-10 years ago? Check out this version of espn.com from 1999: http://web.archive.org/web/19990420125538/http://espn.go.com/
Yeah, no video. Now, most websites have videos and commercials that pop up. In fact, latest research shows almost 10% of the U.S population watches a majority of their TV on their computer. Sites like hulu.com, youtube.com, and your network sites will play almost every episode of every show you like. For a family like mine with kids, this is great in case we miss our favorite episode of LOST, 24, or "Jon and Kate plus 8 plus paparazzi plus marital problems plus insane lady who doesn't get that money and fame is ruining their lives". My middle school students love days when they come into the classroom and see Youtube up on the wall even if they know I simply found another educational video stuck between "man gets hit in the junk by a bulldog" or "2-year old girl sings the Star Spangled Banner and now has life ruined by Youtube stalkers". On demand video has changed the way we live, but also changed the way we/I teach. I rarely order videos from the AEA anymore as most videos can be found online through sites our school subscribes too!
Two of my students' favorite youtube class videos:
Inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY
research done by ISU professor: http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8
DVR: So, why don't I watch my shows on my little computer screen? Well, that's because we also added DVR to our house. Thank you, DISH network! I heard a lot of people saying "Why would NBC sign Jay Leno to do 5 show a week at 9 o'clock? Why not put shows on at that time?" Well, DVR is your answer. The most watched channel at 9 o'clock in the U.S. is no longer a channel, its a lifestyle. You see, more Americans are watching a DVR'd (or TIVO'd or "tape-recorded"...do they still make VCR and VHS tapes?) show than watching any one network show. Amazing! I thought so until I looked at my life and my wife's life. We watch about 5 network shows, none of those on at 9, but we watch most of our TV from 9-11 p.m., all on DVR and all without commercials. In fact, on good nights, our kids are in bed by 8:20 and we watch our 8 o'clock show from 8:20 to 9:00 by cutting out the 20 minutes of commercials and by 9:00 we are caught up with Live TV. Thinking about catching up to live TV just sounds weird to type, but with kids DVR is a must, simply for the fact that you can pause and rewind to see what you missed during the "I was playing with the plastic measuring cup Daddy gave me as a present first" fight or to rush a kid to the potty before our carpet gets another stain before an open house. Wow...I love my DVR and its going with me to the new house!
Texting: Yes, I did it, I finally got unlimited texting to my phone. Although I resisted at first, being through counseling classes I realized I must be open to all opportunities. I gave myself 2 weeks to attempt to use texting for whatever I could to see if I could find a purpose outside of loud bars or rock concerts. With 2 kids, a decreased alcohol tolerance, and my only concert ever being a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert, I needed to find other uses to justify this purchase. Turns out, I like it and have found uses. Maybe not always good ones or ones that have a point, but I did find uses. And I no longer get charged 25 cents when my cool friends/family text me. So I guess this means I luv text mesgs n havn fun doin them win the time is rite! :)
and if you need help with text acronyms: http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php wow.
So, what does this all mean? Well, I never even got to Twitter and that was what TIME magazine wrote about. I really didn't see the point in Twitter until reading the article. They talked about an educational workshop with a big screen. All workshoppers (is that a word?) logged into Twitter and during the conference could Twitter their thoughts and questions as the workshop continued. Like writing notes and questions for all to see. Then those questions and notes were answered or led to new questions. Then people from around the world who were not even at the conference started twittering with those at the workshop after finding this twittering online. Next thing you know, this little workshop had educators from all over the world working together and having a "discussion". This same philosophy is being used in churches, governments, corporations, and yes, even in the college and high school classrooms. Our school may not Tweet yet, but we do Moodle....a whole other story for another day! But what does this really mean? Am I out of a job since my job is all about listening and "being there for another person". Well, yes and no. I need to learn to use this technology both in the classroom and in my counseling. I need to understand the technology and how it can lead to problems in my students' lives (cyber bullying, sexting, YIKES!) But the beauty of counseling is that counseling is most successful face-to-face, human to human. And that is the best way to communicate still this day, face-to-face, human to human. Technology is great and the methods above are fun, but we must remember that humans communicate 80% by body language. Without seeing each other's bodies (almost done...keep mind out of gutter), we cannot truly communicate. With that knowledge and lesson, I will sign off until I connect with you again by blog, email, IM, text, call, Twitter, social network site, etc. :)
Love&Prayers,
Ben
Three things to leave you with:
1. Favorite technologies I hope to experience in the next year: Itouch (getting it later this summer), movie theater systems (in new house), more touch screen tech. in our life. See youtube to see how this will change our future yet again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5y7yp06n0
2. Favorite current touch screen technology: REDBOX movies. If you are not renting from Redbox kiosks, you are crazy. $1.06 per movie. Quick. Easy. Free and discount codes in case you don't want to spend a $1.06. Simple. Love it.
3. Favorite websites of past year: http://www.pandora.com/ (online radio stations you create yourself. Currently listening to Green Day station), http://www.protrade.com/ (sports stock trading site that is funding my Itouch as a prize I earned), http://www.google.com/ (duh, always my favorite), http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ (movie review site and commonly known as the #1 movie review site online now), http://www.comingsoon.com/ (movie trailer site for people like me who love movie previews but never get to the movies anymore to see them. Check out the preview for "Where the Wild Things Are", my favorite movie trailer of all time!)
3 comments:
Good stuff, Ben. New Google-Wave coming out this fall has the potential to be a wonderful learning and collaborating tool for educators and students.
After your description of twitter, I'm thinking of trying to set this up during our district wide PD in Septemeber - we are all in small groups around the high school and discussing data and progress. Would be interesting to have an ongoing conversation between groups during this time. I'd have to map it out but interesting.
I do want to leave your readers with this though: NOTHING beats getting a letter in the mail. Always remember to send thank yous via the US mail. We need to teach our kids this today.
AGREED! Heartfelt and genuine thank yous are nearly impossible to do with new technology (maybe video phone?). Thank you letters, whether it be for birthdays, job offers, or just to say thanks are vital. And face to face communication is still a must no matter what field you work or play in if you want the true/actual message to be clear.
I like the idea of twittering in large districts during PD. For a school district like ours where we routinely have 4-6 PD sessions going on at 4-6 different sites, keeping all connected by Twitter on big screens at each location would be interesting. Hmmmm.....
Amen on the real letters... I appreciate an email thanks, or even a quick twitter one, but a letter in the mail is tangible proof of sincerity to me.
Having said that... I'm a total TWIT. I'm not on twitter constantly, but when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, there are friends there to chat with and distract me from pain or whatever. Technology has been amazing for me!
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