Don't Just Buy Stuff - Do Stuff

I am convinced that the above title is an ad slogan (or former one) for some company that I can't think of. My web searches have turned up nothing so it looks like I may be off track. If anyone knows if it is actually a slogan, or the correct phrase, please let me know!

I was thinking of the slogan while reading the first two chapters of our assigned text where the author lays out his ideas on the "read/write" nature of the web and how that functionality is now accessible to just about any user. It made me think about how in response to an age of automation and virtualization a strong do-it-yourself culture has developed. Whether we are talking about the web and blogs or YouTube or even MAKE magazine. MAKE is an amazing resource that really captures the DIY spirit.

 Before my blog for this class Twitter was my first and only foray into social media. And it probably doesn’t fully count as I never actually tweet and really only use it to follow others. I am really an introvert by nature and just happen to do a job that is heavy on the people interaction. Students, administrators, parents, department supervisors and colleagues are just some of the folks you come into contact with on a daily basis. By the time the end of the day or week rolls around and having gone home and spent time with my family (two little ones and another on the way) my “interact with others, virtual or otherwise” account is usually reflecting a negative balance.

Yet our book’s author makes the case for the power and potential of user created content by challenging educators to experience it themselves first. Not just by digitizing traditional classroom assignments but by stretching their own learning and in the process modeling for their students. Other than my classmates (and professors) blogs the majority of blogs I have been looking at I’ve found through #edchat on Twitter. My favorite so far is Will Richarson's . Check it out if you get a chance.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. (3rd ed.). Corwin Press.