I never considered myself a true Luddite; it was more of a posture. Now, the older I get, the more I fear I really am one. That's not a good realization at the beginning of BOLT 101.
Let me clarify "Luddite." I find myself preferring to not use technology, find myself steering away from it. I find myself with a short fuse when I use it. Thus, the tone of voice used by the blogger tutorial almost caused me--yes, it caused me; it was not a choice on my part (emoticon)--to shut my computer and go home for the day. I suppose this should give me pause and alert me to the fact that, when I use videos to connect to students I had better--what?--be myself behind the camera.
Which brings me to another issue of technology: self-awareness. I dislike conference calls, video chats with anyone I don't know, etc., because the technology makes me feel very self-conscious and self-consciously aware that I'm once removed from whomever I'm talking with. That and, like my children--this is not a good sign--I'm very tempted to make faces into the camera. Isn't that what cameras are for? "Say cheese" "Now do a funny one."
All these things make teaching in front of a computer somewhat counter-intuitive for me, which means I'm starting this with an uphill battle.
Then again, I've been trying to imagine doing all of this via written communication. I write better than I speak, so on one hand that's good news. Then again again, I can't imagine writing everything to everyone, so the idea of being able to record what I want to say makes me think, yeah, that makes sense.
In short, I've begun plodding along but I have hope that my plodding will become a more leisurely but directed stroll.
