So why does technology change you?

One of the complaints about integrating technology is that there is too much to learn and too little time. I agree with the summation of 'too little time', but the fact that there is so much to learn is what produces such amazing results.

When I think about the time that I invest in my own professional development each week, the total time expended is staggering. And I'm sure that I don't spend anywhere near the amount of time that others do in PLN's or PLC's.

At a glance for the week:
* About an hour looking for new applications, conferences or thoughtful links on twitter;
* At least three hours reading through and commenting on the educational blogs to which I subscribe through Google Reader;
* An hour or two at least signing up for, or downloading, or trialing some kind of new software;
* Probably an hour fiddling with the tools of an application that I'm already using, trying to get a better effect or do something more efficiently;
* Maybe half an hour looking over an upcoming conference (or even more time submitting a proposal);
* At least an hour conversing with colleagues about how best to use an application, or which application is more suitable;
* An hour writing my own blog posts;
* And, of course, an hour in conversation with someone to explain what it is exactly that we do with all of these web 2.0 tools.

When you do the sums, it's at least a day of extra work each week. And that's a conservative estimate, and doesn't even to take into account the many, many hours spent actually using these applications during my work.

It's little wonder then that those who are exposed to educational technology have accelerated learning. If I took all of that technology out of the equation, I'm sure that I couldn't claim to have been learning this much if I was just concentrating on my teaching each week.

The constant movement forward is very tiring, but when you look back it's truly startling to see how far you've travelled.