Week One: My Perceptions

How do we perceive ourselves (and others) in the real and digital worlds in which we live? I perceive myself as a technology geek. I wake up to my cell phone alarm (Van Morrison's Into the Mystic), roll over and check three email accounts on the same cell phone, and glance at my calendar all before getting out of bed. If I could just find an app. that would make coffee, my world would be complete. I take a shower and sit down to check my Net Vibes and igoogle feedreaders, and yes, my facebook. I log on to my courses, post responses, then get ready for work. I am interconnected through technology to many subsets of individuals. Three of my children text me, my UF classmates post responses that are forwarded to my phone, my co-workers email me with issues, and my principal shoots me emails throughout the day. As the newest member of our administrative team, I am treading new waters as I try to prove myself tech savvy, but am still having difficulty with the mechanics of hooking up the live broadcast and that big, old control board! These issues, hooking up and figuring out how this plugs into that and how the laptop shows up on the big screen tv in the media center, has caused me many near panic attacks. Moreso, I have come to doubt myself. I have great confidence in my ability to manipulate Web 2.0 tools for teachers, find applicable learning objects for classroom use, and collaborate with even the most non-collaborative teacher to bring us all up to speed...but this hands-on stuff is driving me nuts. This question of how do I perceive myself has truly come into play since I started my new job right after Christmas. I know that I'll get it, but the digital me is frustrated! During my masters program, I was floored by a video my professor shared with us. It has been updated many times, however, I will include the original since it had such a impact on my thinking.