.. we just haven't noticed it.
I had a fairly normal working day today, but I reflected on how technologically infused it was. This posting isn't meant to be smug and purvey how modern my life is, since I'm aware that (strange though it may seem) some people are not working in educational technology, and so the working day of, a plumber say, may not be so affected (but probably more financially rewarding). And also there are people who live a far more technologically enhanced life, but it struck me that we have these small incremental changes and occassionally we have to take stock. Below is my day, and I like to think that had I seen such a diary in 1990 I would have thought it was the restricted to science fiction or at least some kind of techno-eltite:
- 8am. I was working from home, which is in Cardiff, and my workplace is 150 miles away in Milton Keynes, so I start the day with email.
- 8.30 I do a blog post on the wiki tool wetpaint.
- 9.00 I have a conference call with a team at the OU working on Learning Design.
- 10.00 I have a Flashmeeting with partners on the Flosscom project who are based in Milton Keynes, Greece and Germany.
- 11.00 I have a Skype video chat, with 2 colleagues at the OU library where we haven't been able to synchronise diaries for a face to face meeting.
- 12.00 I share a document with some colleagues via Google docs
- 2.00 I start preparing a presentation for a blogging workshop. I find images that other people have created via Flickr and a couple of excellent video clips via YouTube, and look for ideas from Powerpoint presentations shared by strangers on Slideshare.
- 3.30 I update my Facebook profile after being invited to be somebody's friend and not having used Facebook for ages.
- 5.00 I meet my wife and go down the pub (okay, not much technology involved there).
Sometimes you take all this stuff for granted and it's worth stopping every now and then to really appreciate the changes that have taken place. And while all of this has been possible for a few years now, the point is that it all worked (reasonably) seamlessly and the technology was almost transparent - we just used it. When it is this pervasive in your working life you have to say that a revolution of sorts has taken place - you just haven't acknowledged it.
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