What surprised me the most after reading A Personal Cyberinfrastructure by Gardner Campbell and watching his talk, No Digital Facelifts, was discovering that I actually have pretty strong opinions about the internet and online world.

As a Computer Information Systems major, I understand the importance of learning how to make your way online. Modern technology is rapidly advancing, and it’s important to know how to navigate the internet, which is where a lot of the advancement is taking place. That being said, is a student having their own personal cyberinfrastructure necessary? I don’t think so, though it is a good secondary tool in eduation. Creating and maintaining a personal webspace teaches you skills and gives you a platform for your thoughts and opinions. Campbell advocates transforming the way we use the internet to enhance future learning experiences.

The internet is a wonderful resource that anyone can use, whether they’re searching for something or sharing something themselves. In his article and presentation, Campbell is pushing the internet onto students and their professors, urging them to use the tools they have at their disposal to enhance the learning experience. Those tools, the “bags of gold,” are, essentially, the internet. What the internet can’t help us with is people skills and socializing, which are some of the most important in things in education and future careers. People are naturally resistant to change, but perhaps an emphasis on in-class interactions rather than an online presence isn’t something that should be completely restructred.

“They would become, in myriad small but important ways, system administrators for their own digital lives.”
    – A Personal Cyberinfrastructure

Now with the concept of millicomputers, we could have an entire webserver in our pocket. With smart phones becoming the new cell phones, having a portable millicomputer is undoubtedly a thing everyone will want. Technology is taking over people’s lives. People can get too obsessed with their online identity and suffer a sort of identity crisis. Maintaining both an online presence and being present in real life can be challenging. When choosing between the two, real life should always win. The same can be said for online classes and educational online interactions. If everything you need to know and do for a class is on the internet, there wouldn’t be any point in going to class. Even Digital Storytelling has an essential in-class component that requires interaction and can’t be entirely online.

All of this being said, having my own personal webspace has been a good experience so far and I really am enjoying this class and learning a lot. I just don’t think it’s necessary for personal cyberinfrastructures to be something incorporated into the foundation of an educational system.