For a moment I thought I coined a new word, but then, on googling it, discovered that eclutter is already a recognized word. There are only a few references to eclutter on the internet; it is by no means as widely used as email, elearning, ewaste, ebag and other ethings, but it is a concept that has been explored before.
One of the unintended consequences of electronic productivity tools is that far too many e-items are accumulated. One keeps files, emails, address records, calendar items, phone numbers and to-do entries on desktop computers, laptops, file servers, email servers, PDAs and even on cell phones. The fact that the memory and storage capacity of these devices are increasing all the time does not help one to get rid of unwanted, unnecessary and redundant items; just more space to accumulate eclutter is created.
A lot of clutter often sits on a computer or cell phone. A few years ago I bought something from Peter Simms; he gave me his telephone number so that I could phone him when I would come and collect the purchased item. I have no intention to contact him ever again: but - yes, you guessed it - I still have his number on my cell phone address list.
The problem is that countless hours are spent searching, shuffling and manipulating electronic items. It is estimated that as much as 25% of an office worker's time is wasted searching for information needed to make decisions or to complete tasks.
How can one reduce the amount of time used in sifting through endless lists looking for required information? It is simple: get rid of the eclutter.
For those who are in the habit of making resolutions on the last day of the year: how about resolving to get rid of the eclutter? There are still a few days remaining before the start of the new academic year. These days can be used to declutter all our electronic devices so that next year can be a more productive one.
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With the start of the new academic year approaching, many learners – and their parents – will soon be giving attention to their school bags. Is the bag fashionable? Is it functional? What about its contents? Some schools may have rules regulating the use of bags, but, in general, teachers are not breaking their heads about satchels.
A new term has recently been observed in the literature and on the internet: ebags.
The definition of an ebag varies, depending on one’s point of view, but in general it refers to an environment in which learners can use technology as a learning tool and as a repository for knowledge.
Compare the contents of the two types of bags:
A traditional school bag contains pencils, pens, rulers and other writing instruments, used for recording purposes; an ebag must contain electronic tools for recording information, such as wordprocessors, spreadsheets and databases. Likewise, a physical bag contains physical books, whereas an ebag contains electronic learning resources, such as ebooks, educational software packages and access to the internet.
What about the lunch box? Well … maybe someone will come up with an elunch concept.
There is one major difference between the conventional school bag and the ebag: the former is the responsibility of the learner (with some help of parents), whereas the provisioning and packing of an ebag is the responsibility of the education department, the school and the teachers.
How is the stuffing of our ebags for next year coming along?
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Technology is changing all the time: one of the consequences is the coining of new words. One of these words is mobiquitous – my spell checker does not recognize it and I could not find it in any of the major dictionaries. What does it mean?
Mobiquitous is a contraction of two words: mobile and ubiquitous.
In October 2006 a posting on this blog dealt with the topic of Ubiquitous Computing. It was explained that this term refers (in an education setting) to a situation where computing power is distributed throughout a school, rather than concentrated in a computer laboratory. There are distinct advantages to having computing facilities available in every classroom.
Mobile computing refers to the use of portable communication devices, such as laptops, PDAs and cell phones from a non-fixed location; in view of the fact that the piece of equipment one is using is not physically connected, it allows one mobility to move from location to location.
The combination of the concept of ubiquitous computing and the reality of mobile computing is emerging as a potential new paradigm: mobile devices can be used as teaching tools anywhere and anytime, without the constraints of a physical environment.
This sounds like a wonderful technological solution to the resource problems we are grappling with.
The question is: are we ready for mobiquitous computing? If we make it available to schools, will it be used to its full extent?
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The fact that technology can support curriculum delivery has been firmly established. When technology breaks take place, one must be innovative and grab opportunities that are presented by its new manifestations. This implies that, ideally, state of the art equipments should be made available to schools so that they can capitalize on the increasing number of openings for improved teaching and learning.
Does that, however, imply that schools must always be on the leading edge of technology? This question puts one in a dilemma: on the one hand one wants to provide teachers and learners with the latest in educational technology, but the affordability of new technology is a problem.
The moment one installs technology, it is already becoming obsolete. The cost to stay up to date with the latest hardware and software makes it practically impossible to stay current. But there is also another cost: the equipment is useless unless the staff is trained to use it. Just to keep up to date with training of teachers to cope with the latest operating systems and versions of software is a resource intensive task.
The latest technology is often not completely bug free. In this way the leading edge is often the bleeding edge. Sorting out these problems could be very disruptive in an environment where technology is to be used for curriculum delivery in general, rather than building technology skills.
The task set before us is to improve literacy and numeracy. This means that the target audience of technology in schools must be all the teachers and learners, not just the technologically gifted.
Giving the broadest access to computers rather than the newest and fasted ones should be the goal.
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Email is an inexpensive, fast and efficient means of communication – how did we ever cope without it? Yet, a paradoxical consequence of this time-saver is that it can be very time consuming to keep up with an increasing number of emails.
The Khanya Email Policy provides general guidelines for sensible email use. Its primary target audience is the Khanya team, but the principles of the policy can be applied by teachers and learners to improve their email communication.
Here are a few additional suggestions to cope with the mounting demands of emails.
Keep emails short. This will benefit you, as well as the person on the receiving end of your email; we are all busy people. Cut out unnecessary words and sentences.
Make liberal use of paragraphs. Short and focused paragraphs make it easier to read the email.
Read it before you send it. Once you have sent an email, you cannot fix any typos or other errors. Before pressing the "send" button, read the email at least once to make sure that there are no glaring errors and, more importantly, that your email clearly expresses what you want to communicate. A spell checker is essential – do not deactivate it. However, nothing can take the place of proof-reading.
Read it and answer it immediately. Many people have the habit of waiting a couple of hours or days before responding to previously read emails. This means that the email has to be read a second time before remembering what needs to be said in the reply. A far better approach: read it, and answer it straight away.
Use bridging emails. If, for some reason, you cannot respond to an email immediately, send a brief reply to acknowledge receipt of the message, with an indication of when a more detailed response can be expected. Taking a few seconds to display this courtesy will mean the difference between leaving a positive or a negative impression. Readers appreciate that you’re busy; but never let them feel completely ignored.
If you have any other email suggestions, please share your experience with us.
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