The IT Advantage October 30, 2009
Posted by Ria Keen in life issues, singing stuff, teaching stuff.Tags: education, internet, life, singers, social networking, teaching, worcester, work
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I’ve recently been on holiday, spending many a happy hour taking in the sights and sounds of Devon and Cornwall. A particular favourite of mine is Tintagel, which has the most wonderful atmosphere, and of course some of the best views that the UK coastline has to offer. Every time I visit the countryside or our beautiful coastline, I think how much I would love to live a quieter life, away from the city.
As I’m originally from Beckenham, which is either in Kent or in South East London, depending on which newspaper you read (it’s in Kent. The end), 20 minutes from Central London, and now live in Worcester, which is a small city, I am used to city life. But as I have got older I have wished more and more for ‘my little cottage in the country.’
People often ask me how would I manage my very busy working life if I made such a move. Well, it’s easy isn’t it? Assuming that there’s an internet connection and that I have a car, I would manage in the same way that I do now!
As a lecturer, I spend a lot of time in the car, driving to the drama school where I teach as a freelancer. As Principal of VIDLA (Vocalist International Distance Learning Academy), I work from my handy computer – at home! The head office of the Academy is in SW London, but as all of our business is (currently) conducted online (it is a distance-learning college), there is rarely any need for me to make the trip to SW19, unless it’s to watch some tennis in the summer……..
I love technology, and recognise that, used efficiently, it has opened up our working lives in ways which I would never have thought possible as a child, when computers probably existed, but certainly not in the lives of ‘ordinary’ people. In fact, I didn’t see a computer until long after I left school, and found myself vaguely terrified of these strange new beasts. “But”, I argued, “I am an intelligent and capable human being, and if other people can learn to operate these things then so can I.”
So these days, I run my businesses from a variety of computers. I’ve learned (slowly) how to put a website together. I run an online network for my students, I record AV resources on my trusty and wonderful Mac (yes, I’m a converted Mac bore). I teach via skype – not that I like it much – I’m much more at home with a student in front of me! But that aside, Skype has proved invaluable for conducting meetings when one person is in the United States, one in France, one in Greece and one in Scotland. Technology has in some ways created new constraints, but it has also created boundless opportunity. So, little cottage in the country, here I come.
Meanwhile, it continues to sadden me when I encounter 18-year-olds who don’t know how to open, never mind set up, their email. Come on guys, catch up! If I can do it, I promise you anyone can – and it will open up your world if you just let it.
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