July 24, 2007
I was reading from the Fischbowl, one of the “must read” blogs for class. Karl Fisch is an educator who works with per-service teachers, presented at NECC, and seems to be pretty “with-it” when it comes to technology. He talks about a recent experience in an online chat: “I’m still learning how to be comfortable in real-time online conversations; they definitely don’t feel natural to me yet. It’s still hard for me to translate what’s in my head into relatively short sentences in real-time, and to keep up with multiple questions at the same time. And I do still feel somewhat at a loss without the face-to-face contact to get a better feel for how the conversation is going.”
I found this to validate what a lot of teachers are feeling. We’re told that we should participate in this chat or that webcast but for many people that is a huge, uncomfortable risk. It brings me back to the whole digital native/immigrant idea that adults are more comfortable talking face to face or atleast through some mode of audio. The fact that Mr. Fisch is recoginizing that he’s still a little uncomfortable with real-time online conversations makes me feel a little better about myself.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
This is so true. I feel the same way as you, Carl and many teachers about trying to keep up with posting and the f2f conversations. SEED was so powerful because of those conversations. So there has to be a balance. Maybe the posting is a start and/or a reflection of the work.
How did you do your Upcoming Presentations? Very cool!
July 26th, 2007 at 3:24 am
I totally agree that comfort level will make all the difference in how many of these tools I use in the classroom. I WANT to use all of them, but realize that that’s not humanly possible. So we end up tailoring our use/learning or our needs (the point of the final project I assume). On a personal note, before my daughter went to Europe for 2 months, I bought her several international phone cards, but it was to much of a hassle to use them. So, she introduced me to AIM and on-line chatting. As a result, we’ve been able to have lenghty conversations and keep the lines of communication open. It has made such a difference in my Mom worry meter this summer. “Necessity is the mother of invention.” (Ben Franklin?)
July 28th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Okay, who’s saying it’s a “must read” blog? And where do I send the check?
I think it is very much a digital immigrant/digital native thing. The students at my school are much more comfortable using the tools (not all of them, but most) – and they seem to be able to move from one medium to another fairly seamlessly.
It is a huge, uncomfortable risk for many of us – but I think that’s a risk we need to take. After all, don’t we ask students to take huge, uncomfortable risks in our classrooms every day?
July 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Karl: You can send the check to me!
http://alicebarr.edublogs.org But seriously, I have been reading your blog for awhile and ask my graduate students to do the same. Your topics hit at the points that we technology integrators have been working at for awhile. We are asking teachers to move out of their comfort zones and take risks with their practice. Not easy when there is nothing to guide us. But so powerful and worth the effort when they do. Thanks for commenting on Stephanie’s (a technology integrator) blog. I know it made her day and worth the risk of talking about yours! Thanks!