I use technology all day long, but yesterday afternoon I kind of chuckled at how easy and useful it is to me in my daily life. Take my afternoon for example. I had a planned iChat meeting with a couple of educators from a local district. We were all three at different locations, using the video portion of iChat to discuss the topic-at-hand.
In the not-so-recent past, I would have probably driven to the school (35 minutes or so) to meet. Then the return trip back to home or work (another 35 minutes), 70+ miles, gas, time spent driving, probably would have stopped and had a snack Sonic...probably a smoothie...mmm, Sonic. [Pause for dramatic effect] I would have ordered a Banana-Strawberry smoothie....
...But I digress. Back to the topic of living digitally.
Through tools like iChat for the Mac, Google Talk, Skype, FaceTime, etc. etc. Time and money can be saved!
Where was I? Oh yes, my video chat. We share, we work, we plan...via video chatting. So just about as our discussion ends, I have another person, from another district altogether, contact me via iChat. this person has a quick "tech question". I answer it and I move to my next task. Parent-Teacher conferences!
Well since I'm at work, I can't make it to parent-teacher conferences in person so I video chat with the teacher and my wife. It's as good as being there! They held up my son's scores, we discussed his progress. I also conferenced with my daughter's teacher in this fashion as well. I must admit, it was pretty slick.
So?!
I've used video chatting for years now it seems. I guess it just struck me yesterday again that...wow, this is awesome.
I flash forward to today as I'm working...
- I'm using my Mac server to upload and share video.
- On the same Mac server, I'm using a wiki and blog to plan an event with a school
- Posting video to YouTube
- Uploading items to iTunes U
- Blogging
- Asking advice of others on Twitter
- Using Skype to both text chat and video chat.
- Emailing a school to schedule a time to visit
Get the picture?!
What did we do prior to this? What did we do?
I have to go now. I have another video chat with a tech person and a handful of students to plan an event...Need I mention I'm not traveling to do it?
Immediately after that I will train staff at my workplace to create a PDF portfolio...but in my presentation, I'll direct them to the previously made videos to help learn the task-at-hand.
Immediately after that I will train staff at my workplace to create a PDF portfolio...but in my presentation, I'll direct them to the previously made videos to help learn the task-at-hand.
So...I'm going to sit right here in my nice cozy office and get it all done.
All I need is a fireplace and maybe some slippers. I'll settle for a space heater and my jacket.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When I'm done with this post...I'll share it on Twitter and then Facebook.
I sit in awe of it...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When I'm done with this post...I'll share it on Twitter and then Facebook.
I sit in awe of it...
I love my job.
INFO:
1: YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/coreydahlesu8?feature=mhum (but this won't work for you if YouTube is blocked)
2: My blog: http://esu8techstuff.blogspot.com/ (but again, I've embedded my YouTube videos into my blog, so if it's blocked, that won't work)
2: My blog: http://esu8techstuff.blogspot.com/ (but again, I've embedded my YouTube videos into my blog, so if it's blocked, that won't work)
3: Go to iTunes U: Nebraska Department of Education - Corey Dahl's Tech Stuff http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/nebraska.k12.edu.1904348227.01904348230 (This should work)
4: Look here: I've uploaded it to my Mac Server http://podcast2.esu8.org/groups/esu8tech/blog/ (This should work)
5: Twitter - http://twitter.com/coreydahlevent
2 comments:
How insightful Corey. I too can't believe how easy technology can make our jobs at times....or how complex(-;
Great post Corey. How soon we forget how great the tech can be. And to think I'm about to give all this up!! Roger
Post a Comment