Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Let’s Zoom.
Who knew that “let’s Zoom” would become a thing.
I and my work group have been Zooming for years! Well Zoom for a few and GotoMeeting before that, but at any rate, we have been working via the internet using collaborative tools … 3-5 people across several time zones.
Sometimes we connected and worked with occasional questions, “could you look at this”, work sessions just as if we were all in the same room working and interacting.
The very cool thing that we all discovered … long ago, was that we could work in our own workspaces, sharing screens and asking questions as needed … and HOLY COW!! … we got a LOT done as a group. PLUS. PLUS!!! It was enjoyable :)
Fast forward to the COVID Pandemic. Now, many are using Zoom. So many, that for a brief time, our work group looked to see if there was an alternative. But the Zoom people stepped up VERY fast and we (work group) continued on Zoom.
It is a GREAT collaborative platform.
And not just for work! Families and friends all over the world used Zoom to meet and share and be together. Zoom get togethers alleviated feelings of isolation in all age groups.
And this week, I happened on Zoom can help older people stave off dementia . VERY Interesting!
I have preached the importance of technological competence to many. The thing is, if we (a collective we) do not embrace current technology, we get “left in the dust” and risk feeling isolated … especially as we age and maybe become limited in mobility. It is no different than refusing to be “on the phone” circa 1930’s-40’s.
I am so very fortunate that I have many blog readers, Instagram friends and my work group … we learn from each other and teach each other and ultimately relate to each other in a way that keeps us connected.
Zoom, zoom, zoom :)
***Edit 5/20/2021 2:00 P.M. (-7 UTC) Please read comments. Reader and Internet friend Margaret, made some excellent points about challenging use as well as varying equipment and infrastructure.
Also, although I featured Zoom in this post, there are so many technological tools that make life easier … even with something as simple as a smart phone: banking, text alerts for so many things (severe weather, credit card use, shipping/delivery, other information that is important [to me/you], the ability of text to go “through” when voice might not (safety). Wearables that detect falls, heart rate issues and increasingly more health issues … and then communicate to the wearer as well as the wearer’s list of emergency contacts (this is HUGE for me, living alone and rurally).
4 Responses to “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom”
I like technology and I like learning new things. But, online teaching, unlike online business, is very stressful for several reasons. The first and worst for me is the poor equipment and the poor infrastructure. Slow Internet, overloaded platforms, lack of PC or laptop meaning lessons done on a phone. That means a bad picture, terrible sound, being cut off constantly by ‘poor connection’ and so on. Very few families here have more than one PC, laptop or tablet in the house, so if there are several children plus parents needing it, there is a problem. Secondly, engaging the interest of younger children or bored teenagers is very demanding when they are not under your watchful eye. And lastly, it is very tiring staring at a small screen intently for an hour without a break and for four or five hours with just five minutes between each lesson.
So, although I agree that Zoom and other platforms are great for many things, I think most teachers would prefer to be in a classroom. That’s just my opinion, though ?
Oh Margaret … I am so sorry about the challenging conditions with teaching. I believe you are correct that most teachers would prefer a classroom … even with good equipment and internet … I am only going from reading articles. But most all that you wrote seems to be somewhat common experience … maybe mostly better equipment and internet here in the U.S., but not always.
And kind of interesting timing. In our work group, one of the group has taken a full time permanent job. He still attends our meetings when he is able and does some tasks that are his expertise. In his new job, there are a lot of long meetings with 10-30 people and he happened to comment this morning that he really appreciated our small meetings AND that we have an agenda (most of the time). I don’t know why so many people and such long meetings for the new job but not important.
As with all tools, technology or otherwise, they must be used appropriately in the circumstance. I don’t think that any tech tool is good for every situation. And I think the pandemic has brought to light those areas where internet service is lacking … even in parts of the U.S. I hope that one of the silver linings of the pandemic is better infrastructure worldwide, although I know that takes time and money.
I also believe a bit in that old argument about “finish your food … think about the starving children in _____________” applies with a bit of a twist. Those of us that do have equipment and infrastructure need to be campaigning for better deployment worldwide. I feel strongly about that because I think it is important and helpful in understanding that people everywhere, of every race, ethnicity, economic situation, etc. … have the same human issues. Just like currently, I interact with people all over the world which I hope has given me more understanding of differences.
And a very simple example is on cooking sites where measures and ingredients and terminology differ around the world and so commenters help with questions and how to adjust.
I hope that you can get back in the classroom soon!!
Since I wrote the above schools have reopened!!!
And I agree with you 100% about better Internet and technological equipment for everyone. Greece is not the worst country but we are struggling with low incomes and lack of infrastructure. My friend who is a teacher in a small village 45 minutes drive from here, found that none of the families of the children in her small one teacher school had any kind of computer at home. Finally, she got help from the Government to provide tablets for them to do the lessons.
And you have touched on a subject that we in our house battle with daily….my husband loves cooking and is the cook of the family. We have only metric measurements here and he’s always using American and British recipes which have strange kinds of ‘cups’ ‘oz’ etc. So he is always online converting. And even in knitting, the US has different needle sizes to the rest of the world!
Not to mention the heights and weights of people… In New Zealand we changed to metric measurement and currency in 1967 so I remember Imperial measurements and £s shillings and pence but I find them hard to visualise now.
I am so happy to hear that your school(s) have reopened – YEA! And kudos to your friend who obtained tablets for her students – that cannot have been an easy task!
I have converted to scale/grams mostly for baking, but also ml and liter for liquid volume … but still use some cup/spoon measures. Then C and F temperatur, pounds and kilo, crochet terms are different as you mentioned knitting … it goes on and on, doesn’t it?? As a cook/baker in a one person household, I am often decreasing recipes. Those that are in metric are so much easier to work with. I wish the U.S. would go metric but I don’t see it happening. Just the other day a commenter complained about a bread recipe in grams (and most serious baking sites now use grams although they might have cups in parentheses) saying: “no one in the US measures in grams”. There was a lot of push back from US bakers :), but there are always many complaints about gram only recipes …
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