I don't know why I was thinking about this book this morning. You probably know that one that follows the cute progression… if you give a mouse a cookie, he's probably going to want to have a glass of milk. If you give him a glass of milk, he's probably going to want … and on and on it goes, getting more involved and silly as the tale unfolds. I guess it is like this in a way with my ARP and the tech review assignment that the more I look into something, the more I see it all around me. It was always there, but it's just that now I am much more aware of it. This happened last year when I painted all the doors in my house. They were just bare wood doors and for some time we thought they looked cool. But I woke up one morning and noticed that they were really dingy and needed paint. Well … that started this chain of events that began with painting the doors which made the walls look dull. I painted the walls, which made molding look old, so I painted those and before I realized what was going on, I had painted half the house. These were all things that I "saw" every day, without actually seeing them.
In my ARP, I am researching the action of the impact mobile technologies have on learning and communication. Like everyone on the planet almost, I carry the cell phone and or the iPad everywhere but only until recently did I realize and "see" the impact these devices are having on us. As I have mused in previous blogs, we just don't need to remember each others numbers anymore, because the phone stores that info for us. We never need to give or get directions to some location because our mobile device can easily look up that route and give us turn by turn directions. We expect to have a wireless connection everywhere and are shocked if we find ourselves somewhere that has no wireless signal. And even at that, there is almost always 3G or 4G. The social media wave that is so closely tied to much of our mobile technology use is just beginning to hit education with disruptive force. None of this happens all at once and … just like the mouse who just wanted a cookie, the gradual changes dramatically affect the situation when no one else is looking. The impact of these mobile devices are a mix of blessing and challenge. As is always the case, it's not what happens to us that is the difference, it is what we think about what happens to us that makes the difference. So yeah … take a look around and notice how we are gradually changing to a much more connected and at the same time disconnected society and if a mouse actually asks you for a cookie … maybe make sure you have enough milk and crayons on hand before you give him what he wants.
In my ARP, I am researching the action of the impact mobile technologies have on learning and communication. Like everyone on the planet almost, I carry the cell phone and or the iPad everywhere but only until recently did I realize and "see" the impact these devices are having on us. As I have mused in previous blogs, we just don't need to remember each others numbers anymore, because the phone stores that info for us. We never need to give or get directions to some location because our mobile device can easily look up that route and give us turn by turn directions. We expect to have a wireless connection everywhere and are shocked if we find ourselves somewhere that has no wireless signal. And even at that, there is almost always 3G or 4G. The social media wave that is so closely tied to much of our mobile technology use is just beginning to hit education with disruptive force. None of this happens all at once and … just like the mouse who just wanted a cookie, the gradual changes dramatically affect the situation when no one else is looking. The impact of these mobile devices are a mix of blessing and challenge. As is always the case, it's not what happens to us that is the difference, it is what we think about what happens to us that makes the difference. So yeah … take a look around and notice how we are gradually changing to a much more connected and at the same time disconnected society and if a mouse actually asks you for a cookie … maybe make sure you have enough milk and crayons on hand before you give him what he wants.