The Connected Self

I am not really a sporty girl (I’m much more comfortable with books than anything athletic) but I’m going to give the metaphor a try:

I feel like a tennis player practicing with a ball machine.  New terms and ideas are coming at me rapid fire, and I have to be on my toes ready to switch direction when a new one presents itself.  I am switching between tabs, apps, and devices as fast as I can; opening links, adding new blogs to my RSS reader, jotting down questions and ideas for blog posts and future projects.  My mind is going a hundred kilometres an hour, but I know I am good at this school “thing”.  I am on my game!

The connected self was not a term I had heard before today, but I liked the three facets of cognitive dimension, cultural dimension, and technological dimension.  I think it is easy to get caught up in the technological dimension (“We need iPads!” “How do I use a SmartBoard?” “The wifi is down!”) and forget about incorporating the cultural dimension.  Knowledge is meant to be co-created and shared between individuals.  We are fortunate enough to have access to the knowledge of other people– Will Richardson talked about the abundance of knowledge and information available today in “Why School?”.  My favourite part of taking university courses is sharing ideas with other teachers.  When I first started my diploma I worried, “What will I do when my courses are done?  Who will I turn to with questions?”  That fear is being put to rest as I build my personal learning network.  I have started following several library and technology blogs, to get ideas and to stay current with new technology and books.  Following these blogs gives me the same feeling of being connected to colleagues as participating in my LIBE and LLED courses.

If you are interested, here are some of my top blog recommendations.  I’m hoping to discover some more good ones throughout this course.

• Media Smarts – great tips on media literacy for teachers and parents
• Free Technology for Teachers – reviews of free apps and websites, as well as tips for using them
• Nerdy Book Club – book reviews of YA and children’s lit, I’ve found some great reads here!
• Stephen’s Lighthouse – Stephen Abram shares ideas and articles about various library topics, not always relevant to school libraries, but a nice Canadian perspective
• CM Magazine – reviews of new Canadian literature for children and youth
• Van Meter Library Voice – this librarian in Iowa does some great things with technology to connect kids with books and authors