Stop Number #2 on my blog surfing spree was the blog of Liz B Davis . Her blog title was the first things that grabbed my attention: The Power of Educational Technology – Demonstrating the power technology to transform learning, energize communities and inspire innovative thinking. This statement represents for me the overall goal that ECMP 355 has set for me to aim for as I continue learning about and using technology in my personal life as well as bringing this knowledge into the classroom. Time and time again I am reminded by a story here or there or a lecture in class how powerful technology is when students get a hold of it and how, it in turn, transforms their learning process.
One of Davis’s posts, Foursquare & Buzz: Building Community or too Close for Comfort? really struck a chord with me. She describes how recently she started playing with two social media applications, the first one was Foursquare , an iPhone application where you “check in” to different places when you visit them. If you are the first to check in, or you check in the greatest number of times, you can become the mayor of that location (just like how Alec is or was a one time the mayor of the University of Regina). Davis goes on to say how she DM’d the mayor of her local Starbucks, Kevin Palmer , a social media blogger who she not follows on Twitter but also lives just a few blocks away from her to meet up for coffee.
The second social media tool mentioned was Google Buzz which can be described as a new Twitter like service that is integrated into Gmail . An iPhone application displays who is buzzing near by and will give a person’s approximate street address.
Davis’ point of view on these two social media applications is as follows:
-[She is excited that she could connect to people in her neighborhood, however it also] pushes her privacy boundaries.
-“These might be great tools for my community, but they also scare me a bit. For the most part I've gotten over my fear of making virtual connections. I remember when that was pretty terrifying. Now it is just a way of life. Maybe the logical next step is to bring those virtual connections full circle, back to the real world. That is still a little outside of my comfort zone, but I'm willing to give it a try.”
Because I do not have an iPhone, I can’t say that I have had any first hand experience with these two applications however, I can relate to having to get over a fear of making virtual connections. I have definitely progressed from the beginning of the semester however; I still have a little bit more to go to officially say that I am not afraid of virtual connections. I really like the point Davis made about bringing virtual connections full circle, I am no where near that point yet, but maybe in a year or two.
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