Stretching Our Thinking -- Checking In

A couple of weeks ago, we blogged about a shift in our blog reading and our professional thinking. I thought I'd check in and let you know how that's going with me.

One of the shifts that seemed likely to happen while we were at NCTE was that I would become a 21st Century cellphone user. I was around people who text, tweet, chat, and check email by phone. People who would be lost without their cellphone. Me? Oh, I have one. It's off most of the time unless I'm traveling. I can't pull a signal in the empty part of CO where my mom lives. I can text and talk, but nothing else -- no email, tweets, or even photos. So it was obvious: if I was going to participate in the 21st Century literacies of cellphone usage, I would need to ramp up my phone.

I did a bunch of research over Thanksgiving break, and here's what I found out: connectivity costs. Big time. About $70 per month (for the two companies with signals strong enough to get to my hometown), and that's not counting the $50-$200 for the new phone. I'm thinking it's a lot healthier to use all that $$ for my health club membership. 

You see, currently I pay $25 every three months for my GoPhone plan and I regularly roll over most of my balance--I don't even use $25 every three months. 

So much for the cost comparison. Now, what about making the shift in the way I use my cellphone?

Only a handful of my close friends and family are avid cellphone users. The rest range from those who function just fine with a land line, thank you very much, to a few mavericks whose heels are dug in in resistance to the very idea of cellphones. So with whom would I be talking or texting or emailing when I got a fancy new phone and a super-duper plan? Hmm... And when would I be talking to them? Not in the car while I was driving. Not at home when I could be talking face to face with my man and my cat. Not in restaurants. Not at work. Not while walking around in the grocery store. (These are examples of cellphone usage that drives me CRAZY! Maybe I have more in common with the mavericks in my life than with the avid cellphone users!!)

Bottom line: no new cellphone for me. I'll stick with being ahead of the curve for people of my age group on blogging. And ahead of many teachers of ALL age groups on the amount of technology my students use on a regular basis. (I'll save that for another post.)

Here's my one positive move in terms of "stretching my thinking"--I'm no longer on the verge of Twittering. I tweet. This is something I can do with the computers I already own and the Internet access I already pay for. And Twittering can be used to make the world a better place.