My 89 year old mother declared that she used to have a typewriter too, but she didn’t sit and look at it for hours on end!
A colleague remarked this week that she doesn’t like sitting at the computer more than necessary, the way I do.
A co-teacher said we shouldn’t be encouraging kids to sit at the computer, they should be out playing.
See the common theme? Sitting at the computer is a passive activity. None of them is even beginning to envisage what’s going on here…
In the past few days, these are just a few of the things that I did, while ‘sitting at the computer’ …
- Kept in close touch with my son and daughter-in-law who are currently volunteering in India.
- Published a blog post in which I shared a wonderful global collaboration between 5 year olds, the result of a chance meeting while ‘sitting at the computer’ with a like minded educator in the US
- Interacted with children in India on Skype through the SOLES and SOMES project, which I found out about ‘sitting at my computer’.
- Actively participated in the blogging conversation with people in Australia, USA, the UK, Brazil, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Singapore and more.
- Established a connection with a PYP teacher in Thailand, whose Year 6 students have offered to share their PYP exhibition experience with students at my school in order to assist with their exhibition unit.
- Interacted on Twitter with educators from all over the world, learned from them, followed links to new learning, gave and received help and encouragement.
- Engaged in conversation with my friend in India, whom I met ‘sitting at the computer’ and have since met twice in person.
- Maintained my connection via Skype with a co-teacher who’s studying in Israel for a year and collaborated on a project for students at my school.
- Learned more from my online PLN than I have ever learned in any professional development session or course that I have ever attended!
That’s just a taste… I’m sure there’s a great deal more I could add. But I don’t want to sit here at my computer for too long! Going for a walk around the park 🙂
What Ed Said 
touche!!!!!!!!!!!! need i say more : )
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Hi Edna. Great post – but think how much more you could achieve if only you didn’t spend all that time sitting at a computer! 😉
Seriously though, isn’t it amazing how things have changed? Our sedentary activity can open up the doors to so much learning and enlightenment.
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I am new to blogging, and this is my first reply to a blog. I usually spend my time accumulating the websites that I think are important and save them using pagekeeper.teachingmatters.org (user name LODuncan if you would like to check them out). Don’t get me wrong, I have tried following a few bloggers, but I never thought they were worthy of my time. However, I feel like what Edna has to say is good stuff. So, sitting on the computer and writing her thoughts has touched my life and inspired me to do great things like volunteer in India; therefore, I think she is achieving a lot. I love the recommended links given in this blog – I feel like I can make a change and connect with so many more people in so many different places.
Getting to the meat of the issue, I can understand both sides of the debate. I think that students need to understand how they can educationally use the computer, but also run around and play outside. The computer, like everything, is about how it is used. I think the PYP learner profile word “Balanced” pretty much sums this one up. On this issue, I believe that you can have your cake and eat it too.
If it wasn’t for computers and the information age that we live in, I wouldn’t be where I am, which is teaching at an awesome PYP international school in China. I am grateful for all the opportunities that the internet has to offer and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.
Keep changing the world, one life at a time.
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I am honoured that you have chosen mine as the first blog to comment on, Lynn and amazed (but thrilled!) that ‘sitting at my computer’ and reflecting I have made a difference to others! Welcome to the blogging conversation. I learn from it all the time!
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