U need someone breathing near u

our class could not finish our work during the stiputlated 2 hours. so the various groups gotta meet and complete homework. this is the first collaboration work i have since stepping into nie. my group actually met twice. once was immediately after ict lesson, basically to specify what to do and to arrange next meeting. some of them had lessons after ict. we met again on thu to share our input and to upload into wiki. we had a good time of sharing and fellowship. no matter how advance technology is, we still need that human touch. yeah, i find it thrilling at first when i had msn and could talk to so many people at the same time. but nothing beats the personal contact: the look in the eye, the intonation of the words, the body language, the accent and lingo ... you can tell so much about a person just looking at these. how do you do that with technology?

i see my daughter cyber talking to her contacts every night, contacts ranging from her cca friends, classmates, ex-classmates, church friends and fanfic followers. she can yak for hours and laughs out loud at their antics. yet, in school, she is quiet and similarly in church. she doesn't behave like she talks with them every day. or like she is close to them.

during my time, the telephone was the only means of communication with friends after school. and we talk only to one at a time. and we would continue our conversation when we meet in school and the rapport and camaderie is obvious.

i am no amish who resist new technology. i adore the visualier, and would love to use the interactive white board. and i am also dying to use the junglebyte software in school next time. and the ict module has given me more confidence and opened my eyes to try new things, albeit with trepidation. i am not there yet but i am willing and will try. i just don't wanna see my students or anyone treat human contact as superfluous. we still need social skills to interact with one another. and the art of talking with someone. why then do world leaders make the effort to visit one another? that handshake, the smile, the pat on the back, even the outfit, can make or break the politician. they could easily just tele-conference, ain't it?

no one is an island.