Twitter, Knitting, and Football

Knitted Shawl

First you are probably “thinking how can anyone connect those three things in a blog?”  Well folks, I’m going to try.  Many of you who know me know that I enjoy knitting.  Okay, that statement is a lie.  I LOVE knitting.  If I weren’t working on my D. Ed in Curriculum and Instruction I would probably be working on a MFA with a concentration in textiles and fiber.  Maybe in my next life.

Anyway, I had this afternoon free so I was able to spend sometime at my LYS (Local Yarn Store/Shop for those of you would don’t speak yarn).  While there I remembered that today was also the big Penn State vs. Nebraska game (or as my relatives would say “The Nebraska game”).  I have a few friends at the game today and also know that there are mixed emotions about the game and what has happened on the Penn State main campus this week so I was concerned for their safety.  Also just wanted to know how the game was going.  With my new iPhone handy I searched Google for the score.  This gave me a few choices but there was a bit of a time delay as most sites where writing small postings about the game.  As the game was quickly coming to an end I wanted up to the minute and second reports.  That’s when the great idea hit me.  I have access to Twitter and I’m sure many people are tweeting about the game.  #PennState was listed under trending now and without having to so much searching I could find out about how many seconds were left in the game, that Nebraska was still ahead but Penn State had a chance, and then that Nebraska had won.

This whole scene is a strange juxtaposition.  Here I was using a very old form of technology with a very modern.  The most shocking part was that the world did not end, one activity did not take the place of the other, but both were used, at pretty much the same time, and while I can’t say my life was enriched I can say that I was able to inform my other knitters with the information they wanted to know.  If I was able to use both and not be injured why are some teachers and school reluctant to use technology with their instruction?  One reason is the fear that it takes too long to learn how to use it and incorporate it into the school day/lesson.  Another is that other teaching tools they have used will be deemed unnecessary.  Some teaching tools we have used have and might continue to become obsolete but many will remain important items of use because it is the best way to teach something.  There might come a point when the best way to teach something is using a computer but sometimes, you have to have the real object to learn.  For this reason I am sure that while I will continue to find new uses for my new toy, it will never replace the yarn and needles I use for knitting.