Somehow, in the span of about a decade, it became normal to be able to be able to click a few buttons and magically see and speak to someone in real time hundreds of miles away. For free.
Using the magic we call Skype, Jenn and I had quite the discussion last night. We spoke of many things, and I got to meet her adorable daughter, who is determined to become an artist. (Or so it seemed.) And during this video chat, I was amazed, as always, that we can even do such a thing.
It is good to be full of wonder.
You see, I'm not only old enough to remember rotary phones, but when I was a kid we actually had party lines. And I'm not talking about Democrats and Republicans. Nope, a party line was shared by several people, which in my case, all lived on the same street in my small hometown. So when the phone rang, which wasn't that often, you had to listen to how many rings, as they told you who the call was for.
But last night I clicked my heels and was magically transported to a den in Pennsylvania, watching a mother multitask, and remembering how hard parenting can be. (My youngest is 25, it's been a while.)
And while Jenn managed keeping her darling little one entertained, we spoke of distance education. I am interested in facilitating online courses, so was very interested in picking Jenn's brain. It struck me that we were doing a kind of professional development. We were sharing some experiences and helping each other envision new ways of doing things.
It's a far cry from the party line.
You make me smile--thank you, Jim. It was nice talking to you too, and I also remember rotary phones (my parents still have one). And I even remember my aunt & uncle having a party line--once, while at their house, I picked up the phone and heard voices on the line that didn't belong to anyone in my family! The concept of party lines was explained to me, but I didn't really understand it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school studying Farenheit 451 (and other science fiction material), I recall the discussion of video telephones and what it would be like to talk to someone while seeing them on a video. It blew my mind--never in a 1,000 years did I want to worry about someone seeing me while I talked to them on the phone. What if I was in my PJ's???
My, have things have changed! I would really love to work with someone via distance learning (as I mentioned on Robin's blog), and speaking to you last night reinforced that desire. You'll have to let me know if you ever want your kids to work with my kids on something! :-)
Your most recent skype experience sounded like a party! The best part, the party did not have a “cover charge.” As teachers we need to build an arsenal of free tools.
ReplyDeleteProfessional development can come in many ways and "connecting" via skype is one more intriguing possibility! I also can imagine that children may someday have playdates via skype! Can you imagine the possibilities that could come with this? Why, your child's best friend may live in another country and speak another language! The learning may be so informal that it's not perceived as such, but holds the potential for language and customs of others to be shared in a new way. It is a long way from the party line, but oh what a party it could be!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I enjoyed reading your account of moving from the clunky party line to the transportive Skype call and felt like I was right there. I can be a bit of a skeptic when it comes to considering the trade-offs we make by introducing more technology to our already very digital lives, but I think Skype breaks through a lot of that by allowing us see expression and hear intonation. Thanks for sharing and for transporting us through your Skype call account.
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