The world does cartwheels for new.
The problem is it’s hardly ever that.
Most “newness” is just an element of it’s overall offering.
Just like Pinterest—the latest social media wonderkid (although it’s been going for nearly 4 years).
The idea is not original.
It’s a visual Delicious, a more ordered Tumblr / Ffffound / We Heart It / ImgFave, a girly Reddit / StumbleUpon… the UI/X is cleaner, more intuitive and due to this the user numbers has really ramped.
The fact is we’ve all been scrapbooking for years.
Now we just aggregate digitally.
Faster.
Tidier.
With more people.
Over wider topics.
New is rarely something monumental but rather a quiet shift and addition. A gentle increase to the discourse. And by adding in multiples of time and people, it appears more than it is.
This is replicated in the (misplaced) discussion about social media and how it’s constantly changing and morphing, when it should be about the fundamental skills not the platforms themselves. Seeing it as not a mountain to climb but a wave to catch totally shifts the thinking and approach.
Be careful of the smoke and loud voices because it’s what’s behind the curtain that counts.
Focus on what’s best not what’s new.
A redux.
A mashup.
Nothing is new.
Same conversation happening in our school at the moment. Forward plan to make maximum use of digital tools in ALL classrooms. Discussion should always come back to pedagogy and purpose as opposed to the tool itself…
Appreciate the comment Claire – thank you – would echo your thoughts about using the right tools for the job (and that’s all they are).
Fabulous tools but just tools.
Love the ‘Room 9 Einsteins‘ blog – the title alone is lovely plus the content is lovelier!