So I made it to my hotel in Pensacola at 1 am CST last night after the pilot of the plane I was supposed to catch in Atlanta announced, and I quote, “Sorry ladies and gentlemen but the plane is broke.” That was my second broken plane of the day…not a good trend. And I almost didn’t even make it to Atlanta as I had to go back to security in Philly to get the full pat down treatment when the boarding gate guy said my pass hadn’t been punched correctly. Not a good day for traveling all around.
But today has been better. I spoke to and with a very enthusiastic group of library media specialists about the new technologies of the Read/Write Web and while I think they left overwhelmed, I also think they left really excited about going home and trying to dive deeper into what I’d showed them. Now this was a 2.5 hour talk, no hands on, and by the end we were pretty much all mush (especially me, working on about four hours of sleep.) And now…free wifi at the Pensacola airport! Despite the thunder clouds brewing over the tarmac, maybe my luck is changing…
Anyway, here the most interesting (I think) observation of the morning: Just about every person who came up to me at the break and at the end introduced themselves by saying “I have a 15 (or 13 or 18) year old at home and he’s (she’s) always on the Web…” It was really striking. The ideas were resonating with them on a parent level almost more than an educator level, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me at all. But it does remind me that these ideas need broad understanding, that parents really are just as much of an audience as educators. And more and more I’m thinking if we don’t teach them as well, we’re missing the boat.
And, as always, I’m left with much to think about, many great questions and concerns to mull over as I try to make it home to Philly, which I see is “experiencing delays…” Go figure.
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