Closing Metacognitive Journal Post

Well, it has been a long semester and honestly a very informative one. I’d like to make this post informal as this is characteristic of the medium of blogs and internet dialogue (thanks David Crystal!)  I think that big picture idea that I learned was the scope of which the internet has changed life as we know it.  It just seemed like something that we did because it was easier.  We shop on Amazon because things come to our house, we buy music on iTunes because it goes on our computer and we can then transfer it to our iPhone(portable computer), we bank online because we don’t like waiting to deposit checks, and we entertain ourselves on YouTube because, we love all of the silly things that animals do.  But I don’t think that I actually realized what it really meant to be networked and digital.  My preconceived idea was that if I became “networked” I thought that I’d be staying in a hole, growing a beard, and peeing in jars (sorry that was gross but it’s something I've seen in movies and television shows). 

What I've come to discover is that it actually does the opposite.  It allows us to become more worldly, more informed about the world around us.  And I mean like allll of us, not just our little town, or city or state.  It allows us, at an instant notice, to see the forest fires in California, see headline news in a small town in Alaska, watch demonstrations in China, then see who is running for office in the neighborhood the next town over.  The world is our oyster, and the internet is the closest thing we have to a perfect machine.  The more information we put in is the more information we can get out of it.  Talk about efficiency! 

So how does this affect my own life?  I've found that the audience I would like to focus on in continuing my studies is theater production students.  It combines my love of building things and creativity with the aggravation of getting students to actively and positively participate.  I've found that my biggest goal is the “how to draw students in to learn and be efficient” and the answer lies in technology.  So there is my problem and my solution.  The real quest is how to make it happen.  I feel like that could be like the game Othello, “a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.”  But I already have a leg up.  They already use it and feel comfortable.  It has the capacity to educate and create motivation. So I’m beginning my journey.  I’m supplementing the real life and physical experiences with augmented reality to move toward my goal of creating productive and motivated students in a theater production program.  I know there are going to be some ups and downs and there will be some stumbles along the way but I’m looking forward to it.  I've already come up with some ideas and when they are perfectly crafted or at least imagined, I look forward to getting your (yes you, global villagers!) input. 

Until next time, stay classy WORLD!