D.I.Y.
- What
is a concept (not a tool) you learned in this class that you will be able
to incorporate into your teaching?
I
wouldn’t say it was a concept I learned, so much as re-discovered, but the
concept of D.I.Y. has been really cool in this class, EDUC 932. Equally as
cool, has been the spirit of collaboration which has made this concept
possible.
For
personal reasons, I had eschewed technology hoping to live in a world of
‘low-fi’ until my dying days. Sorry to bust on ya Ben, but this
might give an idea of why. Try and toguess…
However,
it’s been cats like Ben, and Igor, and Ryan, and Andrew, and Dirksey, and Todd,
and Dru, and Gareth, and Liz, and Robyn, and Mathieu, and Natalie, and
Stephanie, and LML who have really taken time out of their lives to help me
help myself.
I
honestly did not know how to hyperlink before this course began, now, with the help
of others (mostly by Googling it themselves, and walking me through it, or just
saying, ‘Dude, just Google it’) I have learned how to do that and so much more.
I’ve
always had a D.I.Y. philosophy in regards to my classes, with the caveat of me
trying to ‘lead’ the process. However, I liked how Steve put it in our final
lecture, if I might paraphrase, ‘By the way you came together and worked out
the technology, it’s how it should be. Had I tried to walk each and every one
of you through it, (INSERT APPLE SNOB JOKE HERE) there would not have been
enough time in the week.’
That’s
the thing, it was a bouncing of ideas which really helped me take my ideas and
explore things which I had disregarded, ignored, or even opposed. Steve, and
others, have seen a few of the 1st things I have done through this
course, in regards to using technology.
I
want to take that spirit of D.I.Y. and convince my students that it might seem
like a lot of effort, but when you get to a point where you are wondering,
‘What is it we are doing, and why am I here doing it?’ that they, too, can
wander through (enter your own physical dystopic analogy) to s point where they
say, ‘I have an idea,’ and run with it.
Gary, this post got me thinking a lot about the D.I.Y. ethos and it's interesting that you’ve made note of it here. I don’t know where it comes from, the idea of staying off the grid, being ‘low-fi’ or whatever. I mean, I get it. The digital library will never replace the feel and mood of a parlor bookshelf. I know for myself that the D.I.Y. ethos is heavily prevalent in the eco-consciously minded region where I’m from back in the Pacific Northwest but… I don’t know. Maybe it’s a generational thing with guys like us, but the D.I.Y. ethos doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be synonymously technophobic or Neo-Luddite. Perhaps that’s my own take. But for whatever reason, it makes more and more sense to think that these tech tools and apps that we've been learning in class are rather punk rock. Perhaps that’s a crude comparison but what is more punk rock than eschewing the system and creating content outside of a corporate publishing house, etc. I mean, not to overstate things or fluff you, but in a lot of ways, apprenticing with these various multimedia tech tools and apps this last couple of weeks has really been an exercise in becoming a digital pioneer of sorts, or young digital Jedi’s. Well, I’m getting carried away here, at the very least, the creative freedom to begin brushing strokes on the digital canvass; as amateurish as they might inevitably be, it does feel good.
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ReplyDeleteGreat post Gary! I'm glad to hear that you're breaking away a little from the analog life. You are right about the DIY way of thinking. A good friend of mine, one who was excellent with tech, had a great answer for anyone who asked him why he was so good with tech. His answer was always the same: I'm good at tech because I grew up on a farm. When you live on a farm you have to solve your own problems. I became good at solving my own problems and I apply this skill to everything I do in life, especially anything to do with tech.
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