Disconnected

What is Connected Learning and WIIFM?

After developing a nice workflow over the past few weeks in creating and responding to posts for the #youredustory challenge, it all fell apart for me last week. I decided to change internet\telecommunication providers which resulted in some issues with our phone line. Given they could only send a technician during business hours (when I happen to be at work!) I had to make arrangements for them to be able to get into my house to make the repairs. Juggling the repairs meant a wait and going without the internet at home for a week.

That was a long week.

Being disconnected made me realise how much of what I do both professionally and personally now revolves around being online.

Being without a connection made me also made me more aware of how much 'work' I casually do at home. My computer rarely gets turned off. I often will sit down and clean out some emails, check Twitter or Facebook, and read some articles someone has forwarded to me. I liked being able to 'dip in' when it suited me or I wanted a distraction from something else.

During that week I found myself staying back at work (where I had internet access) to catch up on these things. I was far more efficient during this time - after all, I wanted to get home.  I didn't have time to get lost and absorbed in what I was doing.

Even simple things like the running of the household relied on an internet connection - I had bills sitting on my desk at home that needed payment. How did people pay bills before internet banking? I don't think I've ever paid a bill any other way. I went to go and watch something on our Apple TV and later remembered that I couldn't do that either.

Fortunately, I still had internet on my mobile phone and iPad which kept me connected to friends and my PLN via Facebook and Twitter, but I was conscious of the amount of data I would be using up on my plan. And I'm still one of those people who likes to do "real work" on a computer.

So, my week of disconnection taught me how much I have come to rely on the Internet as a tool; I would now consider it an essential service like electricity or water. It made me more aware of how I like to work. It made me conscious of how much of my life now lives online.

So with my connection now restored, it's back to work for me.