WiAOC

I am multi-tasking. While listening to the Q&A following Teemu Leinonen's keynote address at the Webheads in Action Online Convergence (WiAOC) 2007 and volunteering at the Tapped In helpdesk (where it's very quiet), here I am updating my blog. I am not particularly skilled at multi-tasking. I am afraid it is Teemu's interesting observations that are getting short shrift here.

This is the webheads' second convergence; the first was in 2005 and is still available on the web. It's my first experience with an online conference. I was on the planning committee, although I did very little, and I presented yesterday on Engrade, the online gradebook I use to record my students' grades, attendance, and homework assignments. With Moira's able help, I presented at DiscoverE's Interwise virtual classroom. I think it went pretty well, although I haven't tried listening to the recording yet. This is how it showed up on the schedule:



The Convergence schedule, so empty a month ago, has filled to the point where there is a presentation, keynote speaker, or "unconference" (at Knowplace) at almost every hour of the three days. Vance Stevens, webhead extraordinaire, seems to be everywhere all the time. How does he do it? It's only halfway through and I am already losing focus. Starting Friday evening at 6:30, I have attended all or part of 4 keynote addresses and 11 presentations! And it's only 3:00 Saturday afternoon.

Digital Discipline

Wesley Fryer writes about "digital discipline"--the act of limiting the time one spends in the virtual world (he is specifically writing about Second Life but generally applying his idea to all computer and television use) in this post to his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

Fryer concludes that we need to consider how the time we spend in front of our computer screens is affecting our f2f relationships with family and friends. I constantly complain about how much time my daughter spends--or wants to spend--in front of a screen, yet I have to admit that I am nearly as addicted as she is!