Cogs in motion: Amazing ways to collaborate at work and in learning.

 

Photo by ralphbijker

While none of us want to be "cogs in the machine," grinding away at mindless tasks and not being valued, there is something to be said for the way cogs all work together to accomplish the end goal. Some cogs are little, some are large, and they all do their part.

Wikis are a perfect example of how cogs, no matter how large or small, can contribute to a body of knowledge. Maybe I don't know a darn thing about aerospace engineering, but I'm a stickler for good punctuation and can help proofread an article for typographical errors, then write my own about good punctuation! As a class, we'll be using a wiki to share the cool information and resources we find for using technology in learning, and hopefully lots of neat ideas of HOW to use them as well.

I also love the applications for Google docs. Imagine a committee meeting via conference call where everyone can work at once on difference aspects of a document. Or even not at once, but at least not having to send back and forth via email, trying to keep track of whatever is the most recent.