Two years ago, I purchased a 'Smart' phone, mainly for the purposes of checking and replying to emails, especially useful if likely to spend any length of time away from my usual laptop, as a means of communication. I also am a 'Facebook' user, which almost sounds like a contemptible form of addiction, however in my defense I have tended to use it for following the pages that fulfill my interests and as another vehicle in which to be contacted. Occasionally I will actually spend time keeping in touch with my phone 'apps'.
The negative effects of using mobile technologies is the compulsion to be actively using it all the time! I feel as though I am sometimes failing to really experience the moment, that the reality of space and time become warped somehow. My environment diminishes into a kind of oblivion. This of course is a slight exaggeration, though the point raised in an earlier blog about whether being interminably accessible is making us more or less sociable or able to embrace the reality beyond mobile technology, I suppose is a matter of choice and self-discipline.
On the plus side, checking facts on 'Google' in an instant, during study time or when a new kernel of thought precipitates another line of inquiry, perhaps in transit between destinations, instantly satisfies the growing insatiability to know everything that peaks the personal and professional interests. Like it, love it or not at all, it's not leaving anywhere in a hurry!
As I continue my professional development in education, I can foresee a future when M-learning and mobile technologies will play a more creatively enhancing role in the lives I share with the post 16 community. Recording and sharing their creative experiences and in support of field studies, there I see the real value of this technology.
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