Dis-connectivity!

I’m writing this post offline because I have no Internet and no telephone connection at the moment. They are having some technical problems and cannot say how long this will last, of course.This is not a good time guys! I wanted to attend the life event set up by Carla and Cristina, who wanted to interview Mike Coghlan for people and places.

Interestingly enough my last post on Twitter yesterday was this: “I wonder sometimes how life without Internet would be …” Now, is this coincidence or what?

So, how does it feel? Well, I feel kind of disconnected. I have been relying on the Internet a bit too much lately. Most of my friends and business connections are in other countries. Then, there are my online communities. My online classes are about to start; students are signing up and there is a lot of e-mailing going on. And my Second Life has been kind of busy lately, too.

So, after realising this would take a bit longer, I was very upset first. Then, I made myself a decent cup of Turkish coffee, sat down to enjoy the unplanned break and mused on technology, the Internet, teaching online and life without all of this.

I have to admit that I love technology, I always have. When I travel, I usually carry more equipment (laptop, cameras, lenses, palm, mobile phone, etc.) than clothing with me. But on the other hand, I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio and like it quiet. And I love going for walks and listening to the birds and observing butterflies and other little insects

But back to teaching. I have decided to become an online teacher and have been busy exploring ICT, Web 2.0 tools and Second Life for teaching. I’ve been pretty excited about the possibilities and a bit overwhelmed by the endless stream of new tools, too. Now, that I’m slowly getting to grips with all this, this “technology outage” gives me a pause to stop and think about the other T — teaching or teacher.

What would teachers do without technology, without the Internet, without IWB, or even a photocopier? Well, the competent teacher would not be be bothered by this and would continue to teach and be their best, as always. DOGME , a pedagogy of bare essentials originally described by Scott Thornbury, is what comes to mind here.

Having said that, I believe there is also a DOGME approach in teaching online. As an online teacher, we can use all the whistles and bells of Internet technology available or we can use the bare essentials, like one communication tool (e. g. Skype) plus e-mail. Combined with the original DOGME approach mentioned (reducing handouts, files, etc), this would make a new “DOGME online teaching pedagogy of bare essentials”. Whether we use this approach or not will also depend a lot on our students’ internet literacy, there needs and wants.

Enough musing but still no Internet. Well, the garden needs some attention…