Going Global

It's been awhile since I've blogged--a spring break trip and family visits have taken up my time.  However, I've been thinking about this blog even when I haven't been posting.  I think I may change the settings so that I open it up to strangers.  Which scares me.  I feel so vulnerable thinking that people I do not know will read my words and comment on them.  And it makes me scared to think that no one will read my words and comment on them.  So I'm just going to try and see what happens.  Perhaps no one will have any interest in my thoughts on technology, teaching, and life in general.  It has certainly not captured the interest of many of my friends.  And my own mother still cannot find even find my blog--although she's found Jessica Simpson's several times.  (My problems with technology are evidently genetically linked).

Speaking of genetics, my father made me laugh recently.  He called my home phone, and when no one answered there, he called my cell phone.  I was at the gym and didn't realize that he'd called until thirty minutes later.  He did not leave a message.  The entire experience worried me for two reasons:  one, my father rarely calls me, and when he does, it is often with bad news.  Two, he didn't leave a message, so I feared that he didn't want to tell me bad news in a message.  I called him back and got his voicemail.  So I called Mom, and then their home, and stopped short of calling my brother.  Two hours later, my father called me and said, "Hey, Jess, I was calling because I wanted to know how to put my Blackberry on speaker phone.  But one of my collegues showed me how."  After breathing out my worry, I laughed.   I asked, "What's the matter, Dad?  Not a Digital Native?" refering to an article I had discussed with my parents about the differences in technological savvy from generation to generation.  Dad responded:  "I'm no native.  I'm not even a digital immigrant.  In fact, I'm a digital alien."  We laughed, but I have thought about his words for several days.

My father is a brilliant man, and he has always been fascinated with technology.  We had one of the first Atari's and the first (and likely the only) Betamax video player on our street growing up.  My mother gave him an IPod as a gift for his 65th birthday.  Nevertheless, he lags behind my brother and me in intuitive technological skills.  I have thought about how, no matter how many classes I take and how well I do in them, I will still be behind my students in terms of technnology.  My own children help to keep me more up to date, but I still learn far more from them than they do from me.  For example, I did not know how to add sound to a PowerPoint presentation--my 9 year old showed me. 

How do I keep up?  And do I need to keep up?  Questions to ponder.

Jess
ps I still haven't figured out how to put my own Blackberry on speaker phone!