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The Constant Connection
(Apologies for the late-ness of my thoughts on Week 1)
I skimmed through most of the articles, but the ones that really stuck with me were Steven Levy & Brad Stone's article and Wade Roush's article. What I found most interesting about them both was that they were written a few years before the world found itself riding on the current Web 2.0 wave. They do an accurate job of describing what Web 2.0 is and how it my impact the way we all interact with each other.
Roush especially touches upon how connected everyone is thanks to wireless connections, handheld devices, and technologies like RSS feeds, just to name a few examples. I particularly loved the example he opened with: banning the wireless connected at a conference about wireless technologies because of fears that no one would really pay attention if they were able to constantly check their emails and their favourite blogs. It reminds me of situations in my own classes at FIMS: professors have complained about students using their laptops for entertainment rather than learning during lectures. There was even a huge, campus-wide debate about the issue in the student newspaper, The Gazette, which stemmed from a King's professor being upset about laptops and banning them from his classroom. Some students said that many buildings on campus were actually equipped to ban wireless and Internet connections entirely: Ivey School of Business buildings in particular are apparently equipped so that a professor can choose to have Internet cut off from that particular room for the duration of his or her lecture. It seems odd to think that we can be cut off from the Internet in our current connected world, but I find that we all get very stressed when we do in fact find ourselves without a connection. I know that I do, and am currently frustrated with my own connection here at the moment!
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that we've become used to being constantly connected, and that we experience anxiety when we cannot even check our emails. Web 2.0 I think encourages us to remain constantly connected, thanks to things like RSS feeds and updates, and thanks to the very nature of blogs and social networking sites themselves.
Is it a good things that we're constantly connected? I'm not too sure. Perhaps I'll reach a personal conclusion at the end of this term!
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In my head I think there's a push pull going on between the people who value having connection to virtual communities and information at their fingertips in all situations, versus those who value concentration on the event/task at hand with the least distraction as the better way to absorb and critically reflect on a particular topic. The counter-argument to the latter opinion would be that it is possible to concentrate on the topic (for example a lecture) and sift through other materials (for example looking something up on the internet) and it actually enhances learning instead of detracting from it.
I think that particulary in the context of classrooms and conferences this could a debate about learning styles. On the other hand, if people are using these technologies to entertain themselves (eg. watching movies during class) instead of engaging in the material, it's obviously detrimental to the learning environment.
Personally, when I hear people saying they have to be "constantly connnected" I can't help thinking what they are doing as well is constantly disconnecting themselves from their current situations- the people and environment that are physically immediate.
Kristen/Amy,
Just caught your conversation from week one - and noticed you both picking up on a theme that is running through a lot of my responses - and it's about preference, how we like to receive information, whether we like to be constantly connected or more focussed in our attention. A number of people have mentioned the need to keep 1.0 working alongside of 2.0 and I agree, especially in an educational context. There has been a lot of pedagogical research spent defining different learning styles, and finding ways to accommodate students who are more visual, more kinetic, more hands-on etc. Educators/librarians have to keep a balance. It's not just about who has access and who doesn't, but what context works best for different people.