Friday, July 24, 2009

Thing 18

I enjoyed looking through the various Ning groups. I did find Macul and some other education groups. I do like this tool as we used it this year when we couldn't get our district tech team together for a meeting and still wanted to discuss a pilot program for:

EGR Ubiquitous Study

Studying the Power of 1:1 Computing in EGR

This became a convenient way to communicate about the topic. I would say that the downside of this communication piece for educators is that we really tend to be tied up teaching much of the day and while the tech staff can communicate more frequently, this really only works during non class time for teachers.

The other down side to all of this social networking, texting and even email is that a couple of elements of face-to-face communication is lost. Humor is sometimes intended and is not understood through these communication types. And the brainstorming that can go on if people are sitting together at a table and feeding ideas off each other can be lost. While I would hate to lose the team meetings, I believe that these social networking sites are probably the next best thing.

1 comment:

  1. Although you mention face-to-face communication being lost, I believe it is an up side to those with whom you do have an on-going relationship. People you interact with on a consistent basis can benefit from the social networking, because it allows you the opportunity to continue to share with one another between times you are face-to-face. Especially those who are more in tune with blogging or utilizing the technological types of network possibilities. I think in this day and age, we often have to look for more opps to be "engaged" with our peers, co-workers and general public, to foster our relationships on a greater level.

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