What is in my bag
In the picture above is the bag I would take with me to work every Monday to Friday before the pandemic. What is missing from this picture is my personal laptop I would often carry. During my lunch-break and after work hours I would often open up my personal laptop and work on my school work or complete some marking for my part-time teaching position. I have always found that changing the tool I am working on helps me change my mindset and separate the work I do for school versus the work I do for my full-time job.
I also didn’t include my cellphone in this picture as it was acting as my camera, but upon further reflection I realized that this is probably accurate as I often have my cellphone in closer reach. If my cellphone is not already in my hand, it is likely in my pocket on my way to work. Before the pandemic, I used to primarily communicate with family and friends through texting, but now we are communicating much more with audio messages or phone calls. I think the lack of socializing from the pandemic made hearing people’s voices so much more valuable. Maybe due to the pandemic there will be more emphasis placed on oral communication moving forward.
I laughed a little pulling out all of the pens from inside my bag, but this accurately reflects how I constantly need something to write with. I have always found I remember much more if I have written it down, even if I don’t need to refer back to it. Writing is still my preferred form of note-taking and I prefer it to taking notes on my laptop. For important meeting notes that I think I may need to refer back to on a later date, I have little stickies to mark those pages in my notebook. For this same reason, I keep a printed agenda instead of a digital one. I remember what I have written down on my to-do list in my paper agenda far better than any to-do lists I have made on my phone or computer. I also haven’t found anything quite as satisfying as being able to cross out the work I have completed with triumph like I can with paper and pen.
The paper agenda, sticky notes, message pad, and pens all represent tools that help me produce text, but I think the most interesting piece is the cleaning cloth with the ecampus logo. The logo is an example of text being used as a means of promotion. This is an example of text changing the message. No longer does this cloth just represent a tool to help me clean my glasses, but it represents the technology I learned about at that specific conference and the presentation I gave. I also carry around various promotional pens, but since I have acquired many of them quite randomly they only act as promotional material, not as reminders of a specific time or event.
I also have a file folder with some notes from a presentation I went to a few months ago that is still lingering in my bag. The speaker printed their presentation so we could take notes as he presented. I also have hand lotion in my bag and upon further inspection, it is actually quite amazing how much text can fit on a little bottle to indicate the ingredients in two different languages.
I tend to use my cellphone, laptop, pens and agenda daily. Since I haven’t included any digital technology in this picture, it could be a bag from 25 years ago. In truth I do use digital technology far more than the picture illustrates, but it just so happens that I use digital technology so often that my laptop and cellphone were serving other purposes as I embarked on this assignment.
“I laughed a little pulling out all of the pens from inside my bag, but this accurately reflects how I constantly need something to write with. I have always found I remember much more if I have written it down, even if I don’t need to refer back to it. Writing is still my preferred form of note-taking and I prefer it to taking notes on my laptop. For important meeting notes that I think I may need to refer back to on a later date, I have little stickies to mark those pages in my notebook. For this same reason, I keep a printed agenda instead of a digital one. I remember what I have written down on my to-do list in my paper agenda far better than any to-do lists I have made on my phone or computer. I also haven’t found anything quite as satisfying as being able to cross out the work I have completed with triumph like I can with paper and pen.” This whole paragraph I was just frantically nodding to. It is interesting to see how many people in an Ed Tech program still feel this way! Seems like there may be something to it…
I was about to type a reply when I noticed Jamie commenting on the same part I was about to comment on…except…
I am fascinated by the idea that you have both your computer and your phone with you, and yet you tend to work on your computer and you write notes physically on stickies. I normally keep nothing with me. My personal laptop I leave at home, and my work laptop I leave at school. Every file I need I throw on cloud, and I keep my smartphone with me. I made a similar comment in another classmate’s blog as well, that if I have a need to write or jot down notes, I tend to do voice notes or take photos. If they are meetings I have to schedule, I throw them into my calendar app and invite my wife to them… so she can remind me. HAHA. If I have to write notes, I either type or write with the stylus from my phone into OneNote so I can access the notes later via cloud.
Most phones are as powerful as laptops for word processing and accessing the web. After reading many classmates’ Task 1, I am surprised to find that many carry laptops around to do work, when many smartphones are designed to be able to do exactly that. 🙂