Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Keep Connected

I didn't realize how easy it is to get lost on your own computer! I have spent hours just browsing around those sites.  I think I have bookmarked most of them - I just hope I remember where I put them in my folders!  I don't trust the Private Note site!  Right - the note "blows up" like something out of MI?  It is retrievable somehow - so never write anything you don't want others to read!  That's what I tell my kids when they are texting!

I thought it was ironic that the Yuguma site was making a case for their collaboration model.  There is so much competition out there that these site are having to get a "commercial" in somehow in order for the consumer to switch users.  Interesting how the "market" takes on TV-like model of advertising although the consumer is the one who has to choose the site to view.  We are no longer sitting back and subject to whatever the programmers want us to watch.  We are in control of what sites we visit online.  I do see the advertisements on my Yahoo, etc. but I really don't pay much attention to them and I am only on that page for a few seconds.  I wonder what the marketing analysts are predicting for the future?  

I never considered collaboration as being structured or fluid.  It makes sense.  Structured collaboration is found in education all the time.  We are not used to giving students the control or relying on spontaneous interactions to occur.  In thinking about our 2025 classroom, I am inclined to believe that the learning we engage in will be more discovery, spontaneous, and developed over time (as Yuguma points out).  Just the few hours I have spent "surfing" the site in our assignment has caused me to think creatively, expand my knowledge and start to link resources for future use.  I can't imagine what you could do with a collection of "students" in a particular area!

I also liked the idea of collaboration on Yuguma as following our natural working pattern.  Not interrupting the flow of work or ideas.  I think that works for some, but not for others.  Not everyone is comfortable being on their own to explore, learn and grow.  There are people who prefer the structure, direction, and list of requirements to check off!  There is nothing wrong with that thinking, it's just different than mine!

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