Recently I was contacted on LinkedIn by a very precocious high school student from India expressing an interest in “connecting” with me. More recently, she has started an internship that involves blogging with a psychologist who, it turns out, earned his Ph.D. under the aegis of a former roommate of mine when I was earning my Ph.D. at Ohio State. (It is a small world indeed!)Her blog pieces reminded me of some of my first attempts to blog and of my earlier attempts to introduce students to blogging. Below are some of my thoughts from 2007, many of which still are germane.
I am looking at my computer desktop cluttered with Web 2.0 tools waiting for me to fully master, evaluate, and teach. Doggy (Robin the Newf) is snoring by my feet.
Comment: Some things in my life never change – my desktops today are more plentiful and more cluttered and the perennial foot-warmer, a Doggie, though different in name (Rollie) and breed, nurtures me.
My First Year Seminar students are sending me their first formal blogs as I type this. So far I am pleased by their efforts.I’m pondering whether I should request release time of two courses next year to more fully develop my mastery of these Web 2.0 tools and to promulgate their use to other faculty and interested students. Every day I discover a new application which has high potential for learners. There are so many NEAT and potentially useful widgets, gadgets and apps.So much to learn. Should I write a book? It’s a tempting idea since time is such a precious commodity. I think that I now have the knowledge base, the momentum, and the student talent. Carpe diem?
Comment and advice to junior faculty: Follow up on your ideas. I had a history of NOT following up or following through because I had a habit of giving that needed time to others or being too easily distracted by other ideas.
I believe that the potential readers of this blog actually know that if there is a hypertext link, they might be rewarded by clicking it! Here for example is a way for students to search for Psychology topics on the Social Psychology Network. They might even find evidence of me there!
Comment: One of the “mistakes” I made in my history of blogging was becoming overly enamored with hyper text links. Though I made each of them lead to a fascinating topic, I am reasonably sure that few readers took advantage of those additional learning opportunities. The Social Psychology Network link above is, however, invaluable to anyone interested in the discipline of social psychology. I thank and admire Scott Plous for developing and maintaining it.And it “connected” me with the delightful student from India!
