I remember when we didn't have cell phones. If someone wanted to get a hold of us, they would have to wait until we got home or left a message on the answering machine. It would be on our own time when we wanted to return the call. We would go through our day with the peace and quite from the ringing of the cellphone or the buzzing of the pager. Nowadays, I see everyone, including kids with a cell phone in their hand. They're walking and talking, driving and talking, drinking and talking, eating and talking, doing the dishes and talking, and the list goes on and on.
I am going on a trip to Peru and I realized that I can do some of my work there if I need to. I guess I could even work on it at the airport if I bring my laptop with me. So, now I'm attached to another digital domain that could possibly follow me places. I'm really not talking about being an online student but rather the online teacher. If I'm on vacation, I'll be tempted to answer e-mails to help students, or read papers, or something that is going to link me to my class like a ball and chain. I hope that my work is not going to be tied to me like that. At home I try to separate work from my bedroom at all cost. In addition, I try my best to leave all my work at school. There are usually two days out of every working year where I bring my work home.
At school, I see some students entirely tied to their cell phone. In fact, if you e-mail out their progress report in the morning, they'll come in at lunch and ask why they got a B in your class. And when you ask them how they know already, they'll show you the e-mail on their Blackberry internet-enabled cell phone! When students ask me for their grades, I ask them to e-mail me the request. I had one student go back to her desk, take out her phone, sends me the request, walks back up to my desk, and asks me to check my e-mail. What is this world coming to?!?!
I hope that I don't get tied down by the digital world. Making things wireless doesn't really free you from anything!
