Okay, so after reading the article and watching the video from Gardner, I love the idea of Personal cyberinfrastructure! Today, everything revolves around technology.  My 4 year old niece knows how to maneuver and iPad, probably way better than I do.  It is crazy how at such a young age, kids/students are developing a sense of technology.  I know playing with an iPad is far from having your own domain, but I think that is the first step.  I want and am going to be an elementary school teacher.  I believe there are so many advantages to having a teacher, as opposed to a computer, but I also do not think that the cyber world/technology should be shut out.  So far I really like having my own blog that I can design to fit my personality, I’m still really new at it now but I can only imagine what it would be like if I started as a freshman, rather than a senior.  I think it is so important to be able to maneuver a computer and the online world.  All revolves around that now.  I think that through this course and creating my own blog and the daily create, I will become a better teacher because I am learning how to be creative,  a detective (figuring things out), and solidify an online identity that can continue and grow as I do.

Back to the article! Why do people not want a bag of gold? Well I think the reason is that the internet and the programs/domains are not the norm to people.  They get on it do what they need to do and get off.  The don’t do much of anything in the realm of exploring and creating unless it’s facebook or something like that.  But with those you can only make it your own so much.  Also because they have little time to explore, create and communicate with people online.  In this world everyone is in a rush and it comes down to nobody wanting to be bothered with taking time from their busy schedules to have their own place in the web.  Also, they don’t want to take the time to learn how to do it.  The lack of knowledge scares them and it’s just easier to question, be skeptical of it, and ignore it.

What is a digital facelift? A digital facelife is where you take what you were doing and just putting it on the web and calling it new. But their is really nothing new about it.  It is the same thing, same information/idea just digital.  There was no upgrade.  I liked the example Gardner gave in his article, how the schools switched from the different alphabets (HTML, etc) to an easier to use LMS, but it still didn’t help the students grasp what they were doing.  In fact, it made it worse because students didn’t have to use alphabets and so their lack of skills were covered up.  I think a big idea for students, is that mistakes should be a learning experience.

Where else does this happen?  This happens in schools, teachers post notes on the internet instead of having students have a hard copy.  This occurs with textbooks.  The occurs with companies-instead of having paper brochures they put their information on a website. It occurs in many situations.

What are the potential benefits/drawbacks of these Personal Cyberinfrastructures?  Benefits include students understanding the web.  They get to create an identify for themselves.   One quote I really like from Gardner’s blog is “new modes of communication change what can be imagined and expressed. ”   There are so many ways to be creative and expressive on the web, but it is knowing how to do them that is the key.  This is so true as new ideas are being developed, new ways are being used for individuals to make their mark.  Another benefit is that student’s are guided through the steps of how to do this before they are unleashed to do it on their own, so they are prepared.  This can be carried out for the rest of the individuals life. Its a way for people to share ideas and connect with others.  Drawbacks are if that individuals decide they are not a fan of having a domainor they end up not having the time to keep it up.  But both of these drawbacks can be overcome if the person actually puts forth a little effort.

A Personal Cyberinfrastructure… definitively and idea to ponder!