The term “connected self” has left me thinking/staring blankly at the ceiling although I know the answer isn’t up there, for a good ten minutes now. It is one of those terms that can be looked at in any number of overly confusing ways. Or, it can just be taken literally. As with our discussion today in class regarding the ‘social life’ of information, you are the only one in charge of yourself, and so ultimately, it is your own responsibility to either connect yourself or not.
To be a strong connected self when it comes to technology and information literacy, I feel that it is important to have a strong grasp of what those terms mean. In our group, we looked up a couple of definitions of info lit. Anne-Marie found one that rang true to all of us. We were surprised when we looked at the year of publication and found it to be from 1989: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency#ildef
But, when we really thought about it, it isn’t information literacy that is new, it’s the way we use it in terms of technology that is changing minute by minute.
In terms of my professional development when it comes to technology and information literacy, I only really push the boundaries when I have someone to push them with me – whether it be a class, a teacher, a colleague, a student, or a friend. Although it is the connected self, couldn’t it also be the connected-self-in-connection-with-other-selves? This, after all, is the basis for social media – which brings me to my next point.
Today was great. I had those ‘someones,’ as mentioned earlier, to push through the barriers of the unknown along with me. I had signed up for Twitter months ago, while my boyfriend and I were stuck in an hour-long traffic stand still on the way back from Whistler. About a week later, I got hacked, had to change my password, and never used Twitter again – until today. Since my friends and I have recently become avid Insta-grammers, the learning curve for Twitter was more like a flat Prairie field than the steep mountain slope of the Pearltree introduction.
But, steep learning curve or not, the best part of today was that we were all doing it together, and learning as a big group. I have always thought that the saying “two minds are better than one” is very true. Today we proved that saying exponentially – there were people helping people, learning, teaching, and discovering all over the classroom. As Jenny pointed out, there are now that many more teachers using these social media sites. Let’s get our voices out there loud and clear!
Kate, your comment regarding only pushing the technological boundaries when you have someone to push them with really resonated strongly with me. I’d be curious to know how many people don’t push themselves if they feel unconnected to anyone else. I myself am more of a contrarian – I like pushing boundaries on my own, but don’t necessarily want to be pushed by anyone else. I didn’t buy an iPad right away (although now love mine so much that I’d be willing to fight to the death ala Hunger Games over it), didn’t read the Harry Potter books until at least the third book was out, and am refusing my friend’s urges to play Candy Crush. In thinking about it, I do take cues from my students – I watch what apps they use, what sites, and then try them out myself. Although, I much prefer being ahead of the game and cooler than they are. 😉
I think perhaps that you might be undergoing development when I see you’ve already tried out Mindmeister to amazing extent! Seeing as we didn’t have to do so yet, you’ve shown that you’re willing to plunge deeply into unknown waters, without anyone holding your hand! I’ll be interested to hear more of your reflections regarding the use of it.
I think the biggest challenge with considering our connected selves is reshaping our paradigm of individuality – an outdated concept that positioned us as separable from each other. I agree about terminology – there are many concepts from previous decades that remain consistently important. I was amazed when I read John Dewey and he was writing in the 1890s! Information literacy has been used prior to the advent of digital technologies. For some reason, with the proliferation of digital technologies, there has also been a proliferation of literacies: digital literacy, social literacy, cultural literacy, media literacy, etc. I love that idea, the connected self in connection with other selves – empowering each other to broaden perspectives and deepen understanding, and, ultimate change practice as a result of new discoveries.