by Harold Shaw, Jr.
Well back at it today...I basically took the weekend off...I didn't respond to any Blogs or Email. I finished our taxes, used the snowblower and shovel both days and played a lot NWN-2. I just needed a break from everything. It seemed to work...I feel fresher today than I have in a while.
It seems to me as though with everything that you can do on the web and life, that we can quickly become overwhelmed and overloaded if you focus too much time at any one thing. Sometimes we just need down time, to watch the snow coming down and the birds coming to the feeder.
I notice that since January I have spent waaaaaaay too much time on the internet, researching education related material, reading blogs, RSS Feeds, and haven't spent enough time getting away from the "job". That is a worry for me...I tend to go full speed ahead for a period of time and then crash, then I don't keep an interest in the things I was going full speed ahead on. Which in this case is integrating technology into my professional life as a teacher. I enjoy using the computer, but feel that the computer is beginning to rule me???
When do we decide when enough is enough and turn it off? We are creating all these online relationships, but at what cost? Are we ignoring our "real" relationships, the ones that count? Are we still involved in our local communities or have we become too involved in our online communities? Is it easier to maintain online relationships than face-to-face relationships with others?
I know these are big picture questions and I certainly don't claim to have the answers, but I believe that many have these same questions and thought that I would put them out there and see if anyone responds
In response to your blog. I am right there with you. I spend a good part of my day on the computer at work (I'm a School Technology Specialist in Utah). Then I typically spend about a hour on-line at home. I am also in an Ed. Tech. Masters program that requires quite a bit more time on the computer. The burn out it totally there. I look forward to summer where I can spend two months in the yard working (I have a acre of land with 16 fruit trees and some turkey, chickens, and ducks). Technology is nice, but at what cost? When was the last time you sat on your porch for a evening and talked with a neighbor? I am one who is supposed to advocate technology in the schools and frankly sometimes I wouldn’t mind walking away from it. You’re not alone. Well back at it:-)
ReplyDeleteFYI, my instructor is from Main and had a link to this page.
Thanks for the comment. I understand what you are saying! Well the neighbor is a bit down the road and if I yelled they probably wouldn't hear me :), but sometimes even getting home to simply do something with the wife after work, without working on the computer for at least an hour or two. Well Valentines Day is Thursday, I will take the Misses out and have a no tube/video night.
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