Technology in general boggles my mind. I suppose it is time for me to accept technology and put myself out there into the cyber world. Gardners presentation was just another awakening as to why the internet, web 2.0, cyberinfrastructures etc. are so important to the world today. I understand that our world has become more technologically advanced and that it will continue expanding, however, I guess being brought up in a more traditional mind set in my schooling, I never thought I would come to this. But now that I have come to this realization and I must become a part of this world indefinitely if I want to be a successful teacher. Students today are all about the internet, video games, youtube, facebook etc., so the more we integrate this into our classrooms, and the more we promote every student having their own infrastructure, the more success stories we will have within the classroom.

The concept “Bag of gold,” that Gardner uses actually confused me quite a bit. Clearly people don’t want a bag of gold these days, because what would one do with it? it is like sticking with the old and never developing to the new. He states, “We have to do things that don’t happen naturally,” such as finding a bag of gold. I think he means that moving forward in learning and in the cyber world is essential to the present and the future. It isn’t natural for most people to make this happen, therefore it is an obstacle in the process of making ones own cyber-infrastructure.

The concept of a “digital facelift” falls back on what everyone thinks an actual facelift is. He gave examples of brazilian women getting facelifts, causing them to become crazy looking or even causing death. A facelift to me, is changing who you are by pulling the skin on your face back and supposedly making your face look younger. I don’t think it works, and I think women who gets facelifts look disgusting. When it comes to a digital facelift, this means that instead of making changes in the world, people are using what they used before and just putting it on the web, they don’t use different ideas, different portals, or critical think in any way. We need change instead of this facelift. Gardner gives his 3 recursive practices of promoting change within the cyber world: Narrating-thinking aloud with students/teachers, curating-how to arrange the information, and sharing-putting it out there because we all should know that meaning happens when people connect.

Once I figure this personal cyber-infrastructure out for myself, the benefits can change the world in a positive way. I would definitely use this in my unit plans because what better way to get students engaged than developing and building their own infrastructure?  Students love basing learning on their own lives, so after a long unit rather than doing another essay, why not base a part of the unit on personalizing a website of some sort? This is beneficial for them and their futures. The technological world is becoming greater, and the more people ignore it the worse off they will be. I know that I put off teaching myself about what the internet has to offer, however I know now just how important and essential it is for myself, and for my future students. It is a genius way to collaborate with other educators online and much more. I think a major downfall would be people scared to put their lives on the internet, and the issue of trust. Also people enjoy the traditional ways of learning/teaching, but they need to realize this is a huge step in the right direction.

We discussed in our 307 class, the importance of learning right along side the teacher. I know that when I become one, there is still so much I will be learning from my own students. That reciprocal relationship is essential in learning, especially in the technological world.