Social/Digital Exhaustion
In general, more and more people seem to be reevaluating their social and digital existence. Even the SOPA battle is revealing some unforeseen schisms. The Stop Online Piracy Act is a bad idea, not because piracy is good, but because of the plan for enforcement is wrong and dangerous. That said, no one who creates content can deny that the digital revolution hasn’t forced them to rethink how they create, sell and distribute content. There are no easy answers here and 2012 will be a year of introspection; one where we possibly rewrite the rules of content, copyrights and social interactions.
...whilst ploughing through the NME's best albums for 2011 on Grooveshark. This is after spending most of Christmas reading and not doing much techno stuff apart from Twitter, a bit of surfing and the very occasion Facebook commentary and not really missing it, Now I am wondering whether I am suffering from Social/Digital Exhaustion. Also, the earpiece has gone again on my Sony Ericsson w595, which is no way near a smart phone but I can get music onto it at half the speed on my nano - it synchs in the way I want - it's ok for Twitter and Facebook and a bit of surfing - I also, like my little speakers that I can use in the bathroom and hotel rooms and I am really trying to resist being pulled into the smartphone debate, and contributing it landfill. So it looks like another £20 replacement earpiece this weekend until I drop it again.
But when I see the synergy between the NME site and Grooveshark I suddenly feel a bit rejuvinated. My research into various smartphones just in case I needed one has made me a little bit smarter. I still think RSS feeds are brilliant way to navigate the mass of resources out there and my iGoogle page is the start and end of most things. Google docs is still an excellent way to collaboratively author. I know there is a big debate about the control of Google but as a pragmatic eLearning practitioner I have seen little that competes and integrates, I, also notice it is number 3 on the C4PLT Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, after Twitter and YouTube. The Best of Breed for Learning 2011 is particularly interesting, for me my etoolkit components featured, Blogger, Google docs, Google Sites, iTunes, Slideshare, Gmail, Skype, Tweetdeck, Evernote, Drop Box and Google Reader but my W595 did not feature and no Captivate. Seeing Firefox dropping off the 100 list seems to reflect the recent trend in Chrome, although, I was also surprised not to see Google Scholar and not to see Wimba Create
So what will I be trending this year for me mainly practice driven - 5 at the moment I may come back it:
- OERs - for particular easier navigation
- eLearnesque - must do more regular updates
- eLearning Webinars - to encourage staff engagement
- Video case studies - to share best practice
- CMALT portfolio completion
....and my secret number 6 Scandinavian electronic music
