It depends on what you want out of it

Hi (better late than never?!)

Like Klaus, airing my thoughts publicly or/and to an unknown/more or less familiar audience doesn't interest me (facebook is far too high maintenance), especially thoughts relating to sensitive, complex issues: it's too easy to read and interpret these superficially when you are viewing them online (e.g. between checking your email and finding songs on spotify).

Essentially, the use or non-use of technology has to do with your aims; just as the use of anything has to do with what you want out of it. Students can enhance their autonomy if they know what they want to be able to do. They, like us, have to be clear about whether they are using technology as an end in itself or as a means to something else. In the latter case, they have to be very selective and focussed and discriminatory.

The Internet, and all of its Russian-doll boxes, can be very addictive, dispersive, pointless, aimless.

How am I managing studying using technology? At the moment, it feels like an added chore - too many access points to remember: the Blog, iweb, WebCT, our extensive reading lists ... I feel obliged to access. May aims are unclear. I feel that I need to establish my role and commitment to it in relation to outcomes and assessment ...

How do my experiences/feelings etc. as a student on this module influence me as a teacher? I imagine some students may feel the same, perhaps not. They are almost a generation younger than me, perhaps they have learnt to assimilate, process and produce information without ever picking up a book, a pen, without sitting in a quiet room which has no Internet access.

My late, blurred and tired last thought is: how does technology affect the pace and quality of our learning, compared to the old 'reading a book and taking notes' method: on your own, losing track of time and not having to be accountable to 'the group' or 'community'...