Horse Sense

This week, the assignment in an online classwas to visit assorted podcasts and vodcasts and blog about the experience. There is no doubt that a wealth of information exists on the web. Students and teachers have access to an unlimited amount of thought provoking resources - many of them with accompanying audio and video.

I wonder if the ease with which high quality resources are available to teachers and students diminishes the experience and thus the impact in some ways. Does it lead to a careless attitude rather than an appreciation that focuses attention? Are we taking it for granted and thus the information as well? Do those producing for immediate distribution take the time and care that former productions required? Is the experience as valuable?  Does the act of viewing the story of acquiring a water buffalo of a family in China, the discovery of Mayan glyphs, and space exploration seem as big as they are when viewed individually on a small computer screen? Are the experiences connected with anything?

Gone is the need for a teacher to plan ahead to show a film or even a film strip. No need to reserve a projector and build toward the time in the unit of instruction when clarification would come in living color with narration. No need to check with the office to see if the film ordered from whatever service had arrived. No noisy rustling of chairs and desks as one class made room for another to march in, chairs carried squarely in front of each child, and found a place to sit down. No murmuring between teachers as the balky projector whirred into action only to find the film was discharged instead of pulled into the numerous wheels and slots with the sound of celluloid flapping against the large spool of film. No giggling from expectant students as the teachers fiddled with the machine and tried again. No collective drawing in of air as the film fed correctly, the lights were shut off and teachers took up positions strategically around the room. No students drawn together to share a large format learning experience. No big deal.

Web 2.0 - the phrase itself makes some people weep. Some of the interactive, participatory web makes me weep, too but probably for different reasons. The things about web 2.0 that make me sad are often the same things that others extol. One of those things is photos on the web.

I love photography and have been a photographer for most of my adult life. I still use my 35mm and love the sounds of this type of photography. I love the darkroom and the control of developing my own shots. I have a really nice SLR-ish digital camera, too. I play with digital images in a variety of applications. I print my photos, I have folders of digital photos, I post photos on my personal web space. I purchase photos for presentations from an online service. I love to look at others photos on sharing sites such as Flickr. But they also make me sad.

It seems to me to be one thing to post photos of places and things and perhaps even pets and another to post photos of family. The family beagle has been online for years and many of my son’s friends love to “see” how he is doing. I am sure he has brought many smiles to people over the years. But finding photos of daughters and sons posted for the world to see makes me sad. I get the same feeling that I get when I find a family photo album in an antique or odds and ends shop. These people smiling into the camera held by someone they love and trust should be viewed with equal love in intimate family settings rather than viewed by anyone in the world - literally. The ease of it somehow cheapens what should be treasured. It feels both voyeuristic and exhibitionistic at the same time. It makes me queasy.

I have for some time felt the pressure to “get on board” with Web 2.0.While I am not a total novice, I haven’t been an active creator of web content beyond a website and a webquest. I use del.icio.us and know that many of the sites I visit harvest data in a variety of ways. I use a Moodle and am conversant with many web-based applications. I read some blogs and have attended many workshop sessions on the topic, some with the top gurus of the 2.0 trend. I lurk and read and wonder. I know it is a new virtual world out there, folks. Does it have to be incompatible with the good, old, real world? Are they mutually exclusive? Will education continue to survive? Will it be culturally supportive or distructive?

My difficulty is with finding a reason to express an opinion in a forum beyond my professional, face-to-face life. As a colleague said to me recently, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

The title reflects one of my guiding principles with technology and other things.  So this blog will be an effort to find a reason to blog in a meaningful, common-sensical way.