On Thursday, ds106 got the very special honor of video chatting with former UMW professor and personal cyberinfrastructure trailblazer Doctor Gardner Campbell! It was really a special class because he discussed how he came to reach his idea of promoting a personal space for students, made by those students, on the internet and how that came to be the basis for the ds106 class.

One reoccurring idea that came up in Doctor Campbell’s essay, video presentation, and in our discussion with him, was the resistance that many people have to learning about and creating their own cyberinfrastructure. Campbell likens this to being offered a bag of gold, but turning it down because you would don’t know what to do with it and don’t have the time to think about what to do with it. Because people would have exerted effort to learn how to use the tools necessary to create their own space on the internet, they turn the opportunity down. The complete freedom in this unstructured environment is also too overwhelming for many. The potential for open creativity without any rules is paralyzing for many.

I really could relate to this, because from the moment I started this class the open format and creativity that the class encourages scared me. I am still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that my website is mine and I can do whatever I want with it. There are no rules, and I must push myself to do something new and different if I want to make a unique website. Doctor Campbell’s bag of gold analogy helped me to realize how ridiculous my fear is. Why is this so scary?! Just do it and have fun! Duh crazy!

Another topic that we talked about was the potential for educators to start this process with their students even earlier than at the college level. I think this would be great! Because like a foreign language, it would be enormously helpful to instill this idea of open creativity from a young age for it to effectively take root. However, I immediately started thinking about how my 88 year old grandmother could really benefit from her own personal cyberinfrastructure. She first started using a computer about 5 years ago and has really embraced it in an amazing way. I know she would love the idea of creating her own place online and with the potential to connect with people. I think if there were classes to help teach the elderly how to make their own websites, we could all really benefit. The elderly themselves would have a way to share their perspectives and life stories with each other, helping them to build networks of support with people even if they physically can’t travel. Younger generations would be able to learn about their perspectives and life experiences. I think it could be really mentally stimulating for all generations.

Reading Doctor Campbell’s essay and listening to his video presentation really made appreciate what this class ds106 is doing and got me excited about being a part of the class, and having the opportunity to talk with him and hear his opinions was really energizing and encouraging. Yay ds106!!!