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| Baby in Stroller in Forest - Mobile Device in Hand |
Net Generation Baby Out Enjoying Nature and Fresh Air?
This week's project involved creating a video and uploading it to Youtube or a Blog. "What would I do a video about?" I pondered as I jogged along the new bicycle path recently paved, running under the hydro lines along a north corridor of Toronto. It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. Birds were chirping, trees were blossoming, and families were out biking, roller blading, and skateboarding. Inspired by the beauty of the day, an idea hit me. I could blog about how using technology can limit our children's appreciation of nature and restrict their lives as they stay indoors, sedentary, surfing the internet, engaging in social networking, or playing digital games, rather than exercising and appreciating the beauty of the outdoors. I decided I would videotape my jogging journey, capturing the beauty of the birds, butterflies, flowers, and other joyful humans enjoying the outdoors. I saw baby geese with their families, toddlers kicking balls, senior citizens hold hands strolling through the forest, and a middle aged woman sitting on a park bench, swinging her legs back and forth like a child joyfully experiencing a swing for the first time. I was happy with the plan as I took my iPhone out to video the experience. I was joyfully contemplating the beauty of our outdoor world and the impact of technology and I was excited to post my video on this blog. But joyful contemplations soon turned to painful frustration.
Unfortunately, I ran into one technological difficulty after another. Here is just a small sample:
1. After I proudly taped my first video, I looked at my phone - only to discover a message on my iPhone saying it had run out of space and could not save the video. I needed to delete other videos from the phone. Moral of the story - don't take video on your phone unless you have enough memory.
2. I did manage to view the video, only to discover it was a Blair Witch project that was so jiggly that I got dizzy watching it. Moral of the story - don't jog and take a video at the same time unless you have video stabilizing program in your iPhone.
3. After I deleted many of my past videos and pictures, I took another video to upload to this blog. At this point, I had taken a wrong turn on my jogging journey and had ended up in a Mausoleum. I decided to take a break; I sat still and took the video, contemplating the meaning of life and death and the role that technology was playing in the lives of humans at this point in history. I pondered whether it was enhancing or detracting from our lives. This is the video I am uploading to Youtube. WARNING...VIEWERS BEWARE! This may be the worst videography you have ever seen. It helps to have your camera pointing at something other than tree tops when you take a video. Maybe it helps to be able to see the screen when one is out in bright sunlight! Considering I was sitting for most of the video, how did it get so wobbly? Yikes. Sorry. I guess the only good news is that this video is an example of what not to do.
4. When I got home I tried to upload it to Youtube. Even though I was connected to Youtube on my phone, I kept being prompted to put in my password in order to upload. I couldn't remember my password. Moral of that story....people with bad memories should keep their passwords for different accounts in a place they can access when they need the information.
5. I tried emailing the video, thinking I would later upload the video from my home computer. Well that didn't work. My phone said, the video was too large to email. My frustration was building now, but I was determined to succeed with the project goal.
5. When I tried to synchronize my phone to my netbook, I discovered how painfully slow and inefficient that process was. Hours later, the synchronization was complete..BUT WHERE DID THE VIDEO GO? It seemed that the system I was using to transfer my pictures and videos was only transferring pictures. Now I felt really mad. Moral of the story...don't use a netbook with minimal RAM to synchronize an iPhone. Also, learn how to transfer video.
6.. I tried several ideas for how to transfer videos; finally I found a click and drag method that worked, but the videos had numbers that didn't make sense...every video I tried to open was not the one I wanted. You can only imagine how frustrated I was at this point.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Suffice it to say I learned several key lessons from this project.
1. Technology can enhance the lives of human beings. During my run, I enjoyed music playing on my iPhone, I enjoyed videotaping my surroundings and voice journalling on my iPhone as I jogged and also while I reflected in the Mausoleum While running in the forest, I also appreciated being able to connect with distant friends and family so that I could solidify plans for the day. I especially loved being able to capture many beautiful moments in still photographs.
2. Nevertheless, technology can also be very frustrating if you don't know what you are doing. Being a digital immigrant, clearly I am missing many skills that I assume our digital natives already have (or at least will acquire more easily than I have).
Technology is changing the way we interact with nature and with each other. Importantly, our next generation is starting at a very early age to navigate the benefits of technology. What do you think about the picture of the toddler above who is out for a stroll in the forest on a gorgeous sunny spring day, but who is focused on his technology gadget rather than the gentle breeze, the chirping birds, the colourful butterflies, the blossoming flowers, and the sweet baby geese? Will technology enhance this net generation baby's life or will it limit his enjoyment of nature, face-to-face human interactions, and the appreciation of real versus virtual experience?
The video link is below. Heed the warning above....the videography is poor. If I were you, listen to the message and avoid the visuals.
Mind you, now I am curious. Youtube said, "We detected that your video was shaky, do you want us to fix it?" I said yes. Now I am curious. What kind of a new monster video has been created by asking technology to fix what was already a bad video. Hmmmmmmmmm. Well, one hour later, I see the video editing is still in progress. All I can say is, "I hope I have uploaded a video for this project - Yikes"
I am directing you to the link rather than embedding the video since the "editing in progress" may never stop. At this point in this video project game, technology is not enhancing my quality of life. Humbug!
http://youtu.be/edoEZYbGFvk
P.S. I returned to this post and am now embedding video....much to my dismay.
Please comment. Do you think that overuse of technology is preventing students from being active and enjoying the outdoors? What are the best ways for students to use technology to their benefit rather than to be enslaved by it?
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