Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, has had a profound impact on my thinking about what it means to be alive in the world of technological interconnectedness within which we find ourselves now.
“Once the technology is sunk deep enough into the culture the social effects that get built on it simultaneously require the technology and aren’t about the technology” – Clay Shirky
"It's not about the bike" - Lance Armstrong, 7 time winner of the Tour de France
This thought runs through my mind as I sit on a bicycle, worth more than many cars, whizzing through the countryside of Nagano. If my bike wasn’t so spectacular the ride wouldn’t be enjoyable or even possible in the case of certain roads. At the same time what I enjoy most about the experience of cycling isn’t the machine but the experience of embodiment and nature. I love the physical suffering on the 18k 10% grade climbs. I love the thrill and danger of 60kph plus descents. I love the sound of the birds and water as I idle along a high ridge winding my way through trees past streams and meadows. I love my bike more than any other single possession, but I love it more for the experience it gives me than in and of itself.
It is the same for me with technology. This past weekend, Chris Betcher presented at an EARCOS weekend at YIS and I had a great time learning mainly a few new tricks on how to use certain technologies more effectively. The theme was “connection” which was perfect for me since like cycling, I enjoy certain aspects of the technologies but it is really the connection that is the carrot on the stick for me. While we focused on the tools, the end aim was far beyond the tools themselves.
During the weekend I discussed my five years or so on Twitter and how it wasn’t until a certain critical mass got going on it did I become authentically interested. During our speed geeking sessions I presented my framework and shared my experience of getting my students set up at the beginning of the year with their blogs, diigo, and twitter. The crux of my presentation was the tradeoff between class time invested to prepare to connect and learn vs. diving right into the first actual lessons of course content. In many ways, it felt like it was an exercise in deferred gratification focused on the long-term connections that could/should result but quite honestly haven’t yet.
We spent a lot of this weekend discussing and learning about “the bike” but without it, the connections that require the technology but aren’t about it, are not possible. Now that my students have good bicycles to ride and a slightly more knowledgable “mechanic”, the future of connectivity and learning opens like the top of a mountain pass. – AC
Posted On: Monday, September 19th, 2011
Posted In: COETAIL, Technology
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Comments: One Response
Your statement:
In many ways, it felt like it was an exercise in deferred gratification focused on the long-term connections that could/should result but quite honestly haven’t yet.
really rings true for me. In my experience with Twitter (and other networked learning experiences), it takes some time before the point of the connections make sense. It’s not an immediate gratification kind of experience, but so much of how we interact in the classroom is that way. So at first attempting to set up a networked learning environment can seem pointless or a waste of time. It takes appropriate, enthusiastic and engaged use to make the most out of this kind of learning. Won’t it be nice when it’s happening in every classroom so that students see the relevance immediately?