I have stared at this blank space for weeks now with an odd kind of writer’s block. Every time I sat down to write something I’d ask myself not “What to write here?” but “Why write here at all?” There were several possible reasons but they boil down to two:

First, I had started SITS as a place to get into discussions around questions I had about emerging technologies and education, but those never really went anywhere. It’s not uncommon to criticize blogs as weak platforms for conversation and for good reasons (see BBC’s The Blog is Dead; Oh No It Isn’t and RWW’s Is Blogging Dead?). Blogs lend themselves to making declarative statements, even in the comments section; their architecture makes dialogue difficult. I suppose it could also be that my posts were boring. Some say conversation has moved to micro-blogging platforms which was largely the case with me. Twitter has nicely satisfied my thirst.

Secondly, I had a couple unformed thoughts that needed some work before they merited a post and June, as any teacher know, affords little time for contemplation.

But here I am again; for better or for worse.

I’ve set up a reading group on the Canadian Association of Independent School’s Ning where we can have a go at Heidegger’s The Question Concerning Technology. I’ve read it before and think that whether you agree or disagree with Heidegger, he will get you thinking about technology in new ways. But, he is a difficult read; his writing is obscure, elliptical and dense, so I’d welcome another go, especially with others off whom I can bounce ideas.

Membership is open to anyone with a Ning account. We’re just getting the group together now, so the reading schedule hasn’t been set up yet. I’ll post a note here when we’re ready to get going.