June 26, 2007

Pulling the ideas together

My blog friend, Scott Schwister, who I have now met in person, once again inspires and informs my thinking.

While I have been using my blog as a way to collect notes from the sessions (since I have been basically going from session to session without much time to reflect or connect my ideas in between), he has highlighted some key questions or ideas from sessions he’s attended, that inspire me to try to pull some of my thoughts together.

Of course that reflection is what blogging or writing is really all about, as Karl Fisch’s workshop that I mentioned earlier, was all about.

I think for me this conference has been different because I went there with this mental idea of a lot of the writers that I read, who I knew I would meet here.   So seeing what it was like in person, or trying to make those connections since I missed the edubloggercon, was a big part of this experience.  I’m also not a “technologist” per se, though that has long been my interest.  I straddle this strange sort of biosphere between libraries and technology sometimes.

Also it’s been a little stressful since  my colleague Vicky and I have been having a lot of distracting travel experiences so it’s made it a little more difficult than usual to collect my thoughts.

I’ve concluded that meeting people via im versus blogging is somehow different.  I met a lot of people via instant messaging in an earlier time of my life, and they were all very much what I expected. 

As Vicky pointed out to me, blogging is written and it’s mostly professional, so there’s a different resonance to it than to instant messaging and most of my experiences there were for simple idle conversation, not professional.  But because blogging is more composed,  and because it’s professional, perhaps we reveal a different part of ourselves.   Some writers are more transparent than others, I think.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting experience and something to ponder.

I’ve met some great people and had some good conversations.  While talking today, I realized that I was most challenged and inspired by the keynote this morning.

I’ve realized I personally get a lot out of putting disparate ideas and people together, because maybe that’s a little of how I also think—I like pulling random, seemingly unrelated ideas together and trying to find something new in them.

But I also realize that my preconceived notions are limitations.  Elizabeth Streb challenged us on that notion this morning—to leave our ideas behind when we are trying to answer a question.   If we don’t create boundaries for ourselves, then what can we create and open ourselves up to?

Vicky and I were talking about the week tonight, and the theme she really heard was that the content should drive the technology use, not the other way around.  I met Lucie from Vermont in the blogger cafe, and she said her director’s motto was “technology in the service of learning.” That was spot on.

I think also, at a conference like this—the question is how to gather all the information you can—but also make space for yourself to think.  If you are wired and reporting and networking all the time, then how can you have the time you need to ponder things.   I know most people may not have this problem, but I can get overly wound up in my thinking and learning and have to remember to keep things balanced.

I’m joking here, but maybe NECC should sponsor a session next year every day that is in the middle of the day that’s a nap or a mental yoga session ;)   Of course, it being on the San Antonio Riverwalk next year will help since you can slip away, go outdoors, and wander a little.

Lastly, I want to thank Scott—because somehow his pulling of these threads out tonight was the trigger I needed to stop and try to pull a few of my own thoughts together.  So thanks, Scott, and nice to meet you!

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