Alec Couros is one of the great cohort of “Canadian Content” folks that I follow regularly. This post is one of the reasons why.
Digital Storytelling Resources — Couros Blog.
With a well-established network of educators, it seems easy to solicit responses from educators who are willing to share favourite resources on various topics.
We’ve talked about Twitter in this class before and I regularly hear questions like “Why?”
I have trouble answering that because I think a lot of these “Why?” questions really depend on what you’re trying to do. Sometimes “Why?” is related to “I really just need to play with this to see what I might be able to do with it that I couldn’t do before.”
The problem comes when we don’t have enough time to play – or think we don’t. It’s sorta like saying, “I don’t have enough time to eat.” Sure, sometimes you have to eat peanut butter toast while standing over the sink because there’s just not time to cook anything, but a solid diet of that will soon have your body doing unfortunate things to you.
If you don’t take time to play, then your mind starts doing those same kinds of things.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am
My “Why?” is definitely related to the latter of the two. The only way that I can truly understand something is to play around with it and learn. However, I am spending a lot of time on various topics, so I probably have not spent enough time on Twitter. So I am still asking why. By the time I find an answer, there will probably be something better than this…
February 6th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I am guilty of thinking and saying that I don’t have enough time to play around with new things. I am also guilty of being totally consumed by something new if I do take the time to try it. I have been exposed to a lot of tools and things that I had not used prior to this class, and since we are required to do so I find time to try things. I think this is a problem in education and is a problem for me. I think about some of the more experienced educators that have a system that is effective or was effective and they won’t steer from their ways. The quote “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten” applies here. Some of us take on so many responsibilities at school it is very hard to find time to experiment with new things, I guess we have to learn to find time in order to reach our goals.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Honestly, I am not very familiar with twitter and probably haven’t taken the time I need to research it. Much technology requires you to ‘play’ around until you learn. I definitely learn better by doing so I guess I just need to work with this concept to understand it better. The great thing with all of this is you never stop learning. There is always something to keep your mind at work!
February 6th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
[ don’t have enough time to eat.” Sure, sometimes you have to eat peanut butter toast while standing over the sink because there’s just not time to cook anything, but a solid diet of that will soon have your body doing unfortunate things to you.
If you don’t take time to play, then your mind starts doing those same kinds of things. ]
I like this comment because I use the excuse of no time all the time. Then I think of the time I spend watching this show, taking a nap, or talking on the phone. I have more time than I think I do, but sometimes I don’t have the desire to use my time wisely. In terms of the peanut butter at the sink. I think it is a good point that to much of something can be bad or the lack of can cause you to miss out. I think we need to take the time to explore and talk about new things. Our minds can’t build knowledge without play.
February 6th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I like having clear concise directions and step-by-step instructions, for most assignments. However, as a teacher I know that to learn new things sometimes you just have to “play around with it” (quote/joke in my school). With assignments that are based in creativity and/or use new to me programs taking time to fool around is the best way to learn and then, in turn teach someone else. That is not to say that I did not need help from time to time to figure out how to do specific tasks. Playing with a program allows me to see and do things I wouldn’t have touched otherwise.
February 6th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I agree. I’ve always told myself (and others), if you don’t use your brain you’ll lose it. Seems similar to taking time to play around with resources to see their benefits. If you don’t take the time…you’ll never know what it can offer. Makes perfect sense!
February 8th, 2009 at 6:57 am
New technology is something that I think everyone has to ‘play’ with to learn exactly what it can be used for and ‘why’. I like the point that you made by comparing this time with eating. I always take the time to eat, sometimes just a sandwich, but often I feel that I don’t have time to play around with new things (to me), like twitter. However, the only way that I’m going to learn these new technologies is by actually using them to see what they can provide for me. After all, this is how I have learned new technologies like using the Smartboard, TappedIn (still learning), etc.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
First, I am still laughing at the peanut butter comment.
Now, I think that you are right about your mind clogging up if we don’t try to play with new things. I guess people are just busy learning or doing other things. I would like to play around with more new things, but I guess when I am not required to in a class or for work, then I just don’t explore. That has been the best part of this class because I am exploring things that I didn’t know existed. Once I play around with the programs I think of ideas for my classroom. For the most part, I think that I will incoropate many of these new things in my classroom since I now know about them and know how to use them.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I agree with Jamie. I am the same way. I have to jump in and hang on with learning how to use things and just learning the main jist of things. Sometimes playing with different things can be a great learning experience in the class and students sometimes don’t realize they are learning.