Our scissors are now digital

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School of Information Studies

Week One in my new full-time job at Charles Sturt Uni, and I have discovered the challenges that a few years of change ‘in the cloud’ have wrought!   The ‘work’ challenges are being met thanks to the welcoming support from all my new colleagues. They are an amazing team, spread around the world, and in my online environment this is a wonderful extension of my already robust PLN.

However, as I settle into my preparation for working with students in courses online through Charles Sturt Uni, I also have to set up a whole swag of new equipment. Am I lucky?  You think about it…

What do you do when you have to prepare a new lot of equipment for your online interactions.  It should be easy – right?  It used to be dead easy – load up a few software applications, add a couple of browsers (maybe) and then you’re away.

Well, if you are really working in an online 21st century kind of way (I’m sure you know what I mean), you’d find that you  have to set aside loads of time, and would have to keep tinkering constantly for a week or two to re-establish your online tools, and favourite ways of managing your work productivley, collaboratively, creatively, and uber efficiently. I haven’t got the systems down pat yet – and am using this opportunity to review some things, so am keen to get some feedback if you have favourite tips and tricks that I’ve not listed.

I’ve been keeping a list as I chug along setting things up. I’ll remember more of them when I get back home from Wagga Wagga (loved seeing the kangaroos on campus!).  Interestingly I find that I do different setups on different computers depending on how I ‘bend’ that particular tool to my needs.  But without going into specifics, here’s what the list is looking like after one week…and I’m not finished yet.  I found it incredibly frustrating initially to have a browser window that did just that – browse!!  There are many tools/options, and some that I choose not to use, though I realise that they just might be amongst your favourites.  Of course, it’s also about tools that synchronise, or work in partnernship with my iPhone and iPad.

I wonder how I ever used to work without the additional speed and flexibility that these tools provide me.

I wonder how YOU manage, if you don’t have a similar looking list?

Here’s my running list of core tools  so far:

Can’t wait to see how the list ends up!  Tell me what I have missed too please  …

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5 thoughts on “Our scissors are now digital”

  1. Some thing similar happened to me Jude when they changed my computer here over to Windows7 and stuff just disappeared. Some things you won’t realise you’ve forgotten until you go to use it, some is just not ever going to come back.
    I was lucky as I have admin rights over my own computer – some don’t!

    Reply ↓

    • Kerrie, you’ve raised a really really important point that perhaps I should have commented on in the post. Of course, it’s the issue of admin rights. So many schools have laptops and computers that are ‘locked down’ – in effect providing teachers with a limited tool. I wouldn’t want to be driving around in a double-clutch car any more – but in effect that’s what technology is in the hands of many with the restrictions – rather than a wonderful automatic cruiser, sedan, or racing car!

  2. Hi Judy,
    Hmm your drawer is fuller than mine though I’ve got a fair proportion of Google Docs in mine. I’m also becoming increasingly aware of the way apps whether mobile, browser or Mac based are shaping how I do things. Thanks for the share I may need to increase my drawer size :).

    Reply ↓

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