Prue Salter’s Blog: Exploring the Power of Technology as a Learning Tool

 What prompted these musings? Wondering how I was going to get the CD-ROM drive on my laptop fixed without being parted with from it for days on end, then seeing a SuperGeek van - we come to you and fix computer problems and thinking, why not?

Anyway, so the guy arrives on time (great start) and proceeds to fix not only the CD-ROM drive but lots of other fiddly things that had been bothering me but that you wouldn’t take to a repair centre to fix - I figured I had to pay for the hour, may as well use it all! Was great value for a hundred bucks.

But it was a short conversation with the guy that inspired this blog.

Me: ‘Gee, they must have to give you heaps of training to do this job cause everyone expects you to be able to fix every possible software and hardware problem.”

Him: “Nah they can’t really train you for this”.

He then proceeded to solve all my various problems, not through knowledge acquired in a series of training courses, but through jumping online, google searches, checking forums etc etc until he found a suggested solution he could try. It was quite incredible to watch. It was a perfect example of why teaching our students navigation literacy is so important. The important knowledge he possessed was knowing what to look for and how to look for it.

PS. Now after listening to ABC Radio this morning talking about how unscrupulous bloggers are paid to promote people, products and companies I just have to say I have absolutely NO alliances etc with SuperGeek other than being a satisfied customer!

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What prompted these musings? A great video provided by a classmate Debra.

We need a fundamental shift in the way we approach text. We are used to thinking of text and literacy from a one-dimensional perspective but now we need to start looking at text as a multi-dimensional tool. Until we embrace this perspective, our use of web-based technologies will go the same way as other technologies like our digital cameras, our dvd hard drives and our mobile phones - most of us know how to use the basic functions but never bother to explore the depth of functionality that is available. While it is not that big a deal if we don’t know all the functions on our digital cameras, it will be a real shame if we as educators turn our backs on the power of this developing medium of Web 2.0.

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 What prompted these musings? An interesting video my current lecturer brought to our attention. 

One of the biggest concerns I see from parents and teachers is students’ use of technology like chat programs and social networking sites at home when they are also trying to do their schoolwork. One of the biggest problems students complain about is how to deal with the multitude of distractions when they are trying to make themselves do their schoolwork.

This video from Prof Michael Wesch’s Digital Anthropology class at Kansas State University is a powerful depiction of the issues students today face in their technology driven world and in a world where our students have changed and our systems are struggling to keep up.

If you haven’t done it yet, watch the video now before continuing to read this post.

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What prompted these musings? The fact that since starting del.icio.us I just can’t leave it alone!

This is a simply fabulous tool to help in the information management problem we face online. I can’t believe I had not embraced it earlier. It took me some time to add and sort all my personal bookmarks as at first I put masses of tags with each link. Then when I looked at my enormous cloudtag I had to stop and really think about how I planned to use this tool. Did I really need a tag on ’students’ for example? Some of the generic terms were not really going to be of much use to me. So I stopped and really thought about how I would use del.icio.us (should have done this at the start I guess but the problem was that I until I had used the tool I didn’t really understand how it worked or its potential). I then went back and rationalised my tags, thinking carefully for each link as to what purpose or categories I would like to access this link from. This took some time as often a new thought would occur and I would have to go back and add that tag to a number of the links. I think with use I will be more effective in my initial selection of tags but I would love to hear any tips from experienced del.icio.us users as to the best way to make use of this amazing tool. I’d also be interested to hear if there are any users who became disillusioned with it - after all, as the photo shows, we all have different ideas on what is delicious!

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What promoted these musings? Further thoughts on Seely Brown and Duguid’s article (1999) and the current information overload I am experiencing as I immerse myself into the world of Web 2.0.

As we move from our obsession with text to a new form of literacy, the way we approach information gathering and information processing will need to change.

As a systematic person, I previously liked to gather all possible sources of information then systematically work through them eliminating those that were not relevant to my purpose. The key is I wanted to make sure I was not missing anything. In days gone by, this approach worked well as there was only a limited group of materials that I had access to.

But with the technology and tools available now a major mind shift is needed. There is virtually an unlimited amount of information. I am plagued by worry that I am missing out on things. Every link opens up another round of endless possibilities to explore. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of interesting topics/areas I would like to pursue yet know there are simply not enough hours in the day to sate my whetted appetite.

So how do we cope with this overload of available information? How do we deal with the stress of always knowing there is so much more out there that we may not have discovered yet?

Two things. We need a fundamental mental shift and we need to harness the tools available (such as delicious) to help us manage the overflow of information. I also feel that this oppressive feeling will fade and that it is only when you are first thrown in the deep end that you sink quickly to the bottom that you feel like you are drowning, as you claw your way to the surface that first feeling of being overwhelmed will (hopefully) begin to disappear.

So perhaps I should just savour this feeling, suspecting it may never come again for me, that this is a unique moment in my development of my skills in this area, and that generations after me who grow up developing information navigation literacy skills as part of the norm may quite simply never experience this feeling.

It is incredibly oppressive, yet at the same time the lure of the unexplored possibilities is frightfully tantalizing.

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