Where are we going?

Yesterday, I chatted with Kathryn about all the different devices we all brought. Most of us are juggling smart phones, laptops, and tablets, all at once. I myself brought my laptop, iPad, phone, digital camera, and my Kindle. When I packed for this trip, I just couldn't decide what I would need. My iPad is great for its versatility, but I can't lie on my side in bed and read it without it being cumbersome, so I'd definitely need my Kindle. I can do most of the same things on my iPad as I can on my laptop, but I can post to Blogger and access my email with much more ease on my laptop than I can on my iPad. I've been really impressed with how well my Galaxy has worked in the few months I've had it, but I can't export video from it without plugging it into my laptop. And of course, I would be doing injustice to my minor in digital photography if I neglected to bring my camera on such an important trip.

When did all of these things become essential? As a self-proclaimed Luddite, I find myself throwing my hands up in the air out of exasperation as it becomes increasingly hard to ignore the importance and prevalence of mobile technology in our society. I resisted getting a smart phone long after my husband had one. When I needed to replace my 10-year-old laptop last fall, I bought a fairly cheap HP, telling the salesman that I only needed it for the internet and Microsoft Word. I even feel guilty toting my Kindle around. I love how much money downloading books saves me, but I also feel obligated, as an English teacher, to be found with a heavy volume of Proust or Faulkner on me at all times, just to keep up with appearances.

I guess I'm from this digital native generation, but some days, I sure don't feel like it. I even feel like a bit of a dinosaur as I look back at how much has changed since I was in high school nearly ten years ago (and I know that's nothing compared to how much has changed since some of you were in school). When I first started dating my husband, text messaging wasn't nearly as common. Facebook was a way to meet new people at college, but now I've deleted all those random people and only give my real-life friends and family access to my page. I only just started tweeting last week!

Today, Dan Gillmor gave an interesting history of the progression of media.  The 21st century information flow is a completely different beast than what so many of us ever could have imagined. He made a very important distinction for me about access versus distribution: "Now we make stuff, we put it somewhere, and people come and get it."

This struck a nerve. I've been so focused on creating a publication to distribute that I never considered how much easier it would be if I used all these free or relatively inexpensive tools at my disposal to post what my students create and allowed our audiences to "come and get it," so to speak. This means, though, that I will need to let go of my increasingly old-fashioned ideals of delivering a paper fresh off the press to the community.

My reservation with using exclusively web-based publishing is one of the other important points Gillmor raised: I tend to be skeptical of everything I see on the internet. Now, I know that most of my readers will understand that they are reading a high school publication, not the New York Times, but I still worry that we will be losing some merit. Is this silly? Are my fears unfounded?

I have learned so much in such a short period of time. Our sessions in different programs have been intimidating, but I've made it through each one with at least a basic understanding of the technology at my disposal. I'm excited to go home and start playing with InDesign on the new Macs my district wrangled up for me, but I'm also scared. I'm scared to help my district write a social media policy. I'm scared to be responsible for broadcasting our morning announcements. I'm scared to put a paper out to the entire community, with my name on it as adviser. I'm not scared that I will be unable to accomplish these things. I'm scared about the kind of responsibility and power that comes with both being a journalist and being a journalism adviser.

And most of all, I'm scared of where media is headed. Gillmor said it's an exciting time to be starting off in journalism, and while his words are true, I can't help but wonder how far we will go in even just another five years. I don't ever want to get to a place where I can't unplug from all of my personal electronic devices. I don't want to rely on my phone or my iPad to get me through the day. I don't want to be replaced at my job by an online course that can't provide students the personal care and attention that I can give.

But here I am, diving in.

Lisa Biber
Brodhead High School
Brodhead, Wis.