I’m an “expert”! Not that I’m so knowledgeable, but that’s the way I think and work. And it’s okay that I do, while others think and work differently. This understanding explains a lot of the differences between my wife and me (perhaps that will help avoid some misunderstandings in the future), but my best example is when a lawyer friend of mine and I were working on a letter for the leader of an organization. Both of us did extensive research leading up to our collaborative meeting, and when we met, he asked if I would record notes from our discussion. Thirty minutes into the meeting, which I would have called preliminary brainstorming, he asked to see what I had down so far. I could only show him a blank page. I was soaking it all in, organizing it and formulating a response in my head. He was aghast! He took over as note-keeper, fired off several pages in the next few minutes while I continued to ruminate. We parted with an unfinished product and some tension between us. I appreciate the lesson he taught me – record what you have, as you go, because you don’t know what might occur. Remember, he is a lawyer, and he was accustomed to being called to present a brief at a moment’s notice. However, that’s not the typical way I operate. Sometime late that night, it “clicked” for me. I (finally) started to write. 20 minutes later, I had my suggestion for the letter we should send. I proofread it once, and emailed it to my friend. His humble response was, “This is perfect. Let’s send it as it is.” I think he would have gotten there too, but we had different paths.
The above instance shows little reliance on modern technology, but that is not typical for me. I have used a laptop in classes and at work for over 17 years now. When I started, I thought it awesome to be able to take my computer to each class and record notes electronically, which were searchable and editable anytime afterward. That was especially helpful at the end of the term, for exam study or for writing a paper. A most recent example shows how far I’ve come. I took my work laptop to a week-long seminar. With Internet access, I was able to keep up with my job, complete assignments for this course, watch streaming movies in the evening while I “camped” out in my van, and, during class, I could verify information the presenters were offering. One example is that I uncovered a multi-level marketing scam which was being promoted (while others were giving up their credit cards!). The best though is that, in the middle of class, I emailed my wife the Latin name of an herb (she is an environmental biologist) and asked if she knew of any natural sources close to our home. She responded within a few minutes (we don’t have IM, but it would have worked out almost the same) that, “Yes. There is a patch of that across the street from us.” I, of course, shared with many in the class, bragging about my wife’s knowledge.
If I were more of a social learner, I see how easily I could have IMd, Tweeted and Blogged almost constantly, not just sending new material, but getting real-time/real-world feedback, which I could have turned around and shared with my brick-and-mortar acquaintances at the conference. If had a ‘smart phone’ it could have been 24 hours a day, instead of the mere 10 hours a day in class with my laptop. Maybe it’s good that I’m not that much of an “expert.”
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