I have now read through the Reader 1 pdf about Web 2.0. I am definitely no where near done with this section…reading it through has sparked a lot of questions and things that I want to look into. I have written down a lot of names and books and links that I want to spend time browsing through and gathering more information about.
My ship is currently in South America, I was in Guatemala yesterday and Nicaragua today…not the best places to go hunting for a quiet internet cafe. And then we have 3 days at sea coming up as we cross over to the Caribbean. I have been making the most of my journal to jot down the things that I want to spend time looking into when I finally get the chance to get online!
Being out of touch and not having the web constantly available at the touch of a button has made me realise what an important and useful tool it really is. It is definitely something that our generation seems to take for granted, and its being without it that you start to understand what an asset it is…especially when you are looking at trying to develop yourself professionally. I can do without checking up on my Facebook newsfeed for a couple of days, I am sure I won’t miss out on anything life changing there! But when you are trying to push yourself, learn about new things, and develop thoughts and opinions on new and exciting topics… not being able to access the web and spend hours browsing through blogs & articles and search engines makes things really tough!
Web 2.0 is something that most of us use every single day. We browse through things & get lost following link after link as we find things that interest or excite us. Whether it be something personal like internet shopping or something more professionally related like browsing for upcoming auditions or reading articles relating to our practice. Either way, we go onto google or any other website of our choosing, just expecting to find answers for what we’re looking for, and rarely taking the time to appreciate what a remarkable tool it really is.
For most of us the web is so easily accessible. But being on a cruise ship where this is not the case, I have realised that I don’t always make the most of the internet. There is so much out there, so easily available, that I should spend more time using this to my advantage to grow and gather as much helpful information as possible. Especially while trying to develop myself professionally.
(Shearlaw 2014) said that connectivity is a basic human right. Personally I agree. I think that we should be connecting with each other, making the most of communication and connecting in any way that we can. And for me this is the key thought…any way that we can. The web may not be so easily accessible to everyone (as I am experiencing myself right now) and there are so many other forms of communication & ways of connecting with each other that can be utilised too. The web is definitely one of the most time effective ways; it is quick and easy to connect with someone on the other side of the world which is a huge advantage, and there is so much information available if we make the most of Web 2.0. But what if we don’t have access to the internet…to blogs, Facebook, google? How can this affect our learning and development? I plan to spend some time looking into this to see if anything has been published or if anyone has similar ideas…looking into what other forms of communication are helpful when the big web is unavailable. Which ones work better than others and why. Also…is it necessarily a bad thing if we don’t always have access to the web? Shearlaw’s thought about connectivity being a basic human right got me thinking. What if by interacting with people mostly online via blogs and comments and written discussions we hinder our ability to interact with people in the most basic way…talking face to face. We spend so much time connecting via written words, do we risk loosing our confidence to be able to approach people in person and debate about our thoughts and ideas in that way? Speaking with the people around us, asking their thoughts and opinions and having an exciting, passionate face to face discussion. I think that this can be very beneficial too, especially if you make an effort to meet and talk to people out of your usual group. People who have different interests, different backgrounds, from a different profession or a different generation maybe. Do we need to make more of an effort to balance the use of Web 2.0 with other forms of communication too?
I am not doubting the abilities of Web 2.0, I appreciate every way that it helps us to learn and grown professionally and personally. But do we need to balance this out with other forms of communication to ensure that were not limiting ourselves to only one resource? I don’t know about you guys but if I want to know something my first thought is to google it. Is this a good thing, or something that has become a habit due to the web being such an ‘easy’ resource?
I would love to hear your opinions about this and whether you have come across any published work that may be helpful with my thoughts? Ill keep you posted if I find anything!
Meg
Hi Meg, a great post and good timing for me to read as I have also just worked my way through the Reader 1 section!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about potentially losing our abilities to hold face to face conversations (without looking at our phones part way through) and making them engaging and interesting. I had an interesting thought that when we communicate online through Facebook or blog posts etc. we are in control of certain things such as spelling, being able to re phrase something, deciding when to reply to someone, ability to re read what we want to say - all of these things are taken away in 'real life' and if something comes out the wrong way then you can't take it back (although sometimes we wish it was as easy as hitting delete). Think about it, how many times do you go over something before you send it and change it up a little? I've done it multiple times just in this response to your post...
Hey Laura!
ReplyDeleteYes I totally agree, you make such a good point and it is something that I have been thinking about too. When we communicate online we can double/triple check things to make sure it is exactly right and we are getting our point across correctly. We can re-phrase things and edit just like you say. But in person its a much more raw, natural form of communication. There are definitely pros & cons about each and I think it depends who I'm talking to and what I'm discussing as to which I prefer. I definitely think we need to make more of an effort to balance the forms of communication that we use so that we are always approachable and easy to converse with whether it be online, in person, over the phone, via email etc.
Thank you for your response! I'm heading over to your blog now to check out more of your thoughts :)