How We Communicate in 2012

I am not a digital native, being born before the late 1960’s. We did not grow up with the technology that kids do today. I love technology and have picked it up fairly easily. I have facilitated many technology sessions and created cheat sheets to help my fellow digital immigrants. When computers became popular and easier to access, I could never have imagined the way they would change the way we communicate.

While working in a public school, I did a lot to promote professional development. This involved finding many sources that teachers could access at their own pace, and at a time that was convenient for them. At that time I attended many webinars, which are learning sessions on the computer. You would log in and a screen would come up on your computer with some sort of slide show. Sometimes the voice would come through the computer and other times we had to call in.

I also created an avatar in Second Life and attended many learning sessions. This was very interesting because your avatar is actually in a virtual world. People, usually businesses or higher education groups purchase space called islands. When you are logged in you can travel to many different places. I used to meet with folks from Orono on Black Bear Island. Discovery Education has an island with a conference room to present various topics. Fellow educators could also present various topics.

My most recent employer often held conference calls, did video conferencing, and most recently offered sessions in Adobe Connect Rooms. The Adobe Connect rooms were very interesting. We were working on a state grant and were using the room that the state had available. We would log in and call in while the facilitator had the screen set up with several sections. We were finding websites and resources that met the Learning Results and Standards for the State of Maine. They were called Open Educational Resources. These are sites that are free for anyone to use. We were trying to set up a directory that would be helpful and cover all standards.

It is hard to believe how far we have come and the variety of resources that are available. There are many more I do not have a lot of experience with but thought it was fun to show the growth in our communication.