PLEs: A tool for self-regulation in social communication?

A caveat:  This post is going to discuss an idea about coaching individuals with medical, social, psychological or whatever diagnoses.   I am not a professional in this area but, being a person with ADHD, I've picked up, through informal learning, some information on coaching.  

I'm also thinking while blogging - not something I'm comfortable with, but a phenomenon that has been pointed out as one function of blogging.   So... here goes.  No virtual rotten tomatoes please.

While reading Dabbah and Kirsantas description of a framework for supporting self-regulated learning in PLE's, the progression from Level 1, a personal, private online environment to Level 2, a socially open environment,  jumped out to me as a way of supporting social development in learners with what I'm calling "social impairment" for lack of a better term.

Learners with many different cognitive/intellectual deficits, such as autism, ADD/ADHD, Down's Syndrome, as well as social anxiety disorders, display problems in managing the social act of communication, the temporal aspects of speaking and listening, appropriate affect, balancing monopolizing a conversation, etc.

I wonder if allowing a learner who would benefit from learning/coaching in social communication would benefit from being guided and encouraged to move from a safe and private online environment, (Zimmerman's "forethought" phase) in which the learner prepares tools for communicating effectively, to a gradually more socially active, conversational, perhaps collaborative environment (Dabbagh and Kitsanta's level 2, Zimmerman's performance phase).  Would this be an effective opportunity for coaching?

This is what I'm wondering about now, the role of mirror neurons and social media

There are these wonderful little neurons, mirror neurons, that seem to convince bone and muscle tissue that it is acting, while the individual is merely observing an action.  Perhaps there is a variety of mirror neuron that would function similarly with Web 2.0 interactions.

Hmmmm.....

A few minutes later...

Bless Google's heart, there is a body of information on mirror neurons and social media.  

One nifty article is, Of Mirror Neurons and Social Media, which gives mirror neurons a place in social media.  Contrasting that is How Social Media Affects your Brain, which denies mirror neurons any place in interactions via social media.

A blog post for another day.

How Digital Media Helps Me Love My Job

That EME6414 Instagram challenge just about killed me.  

I was doing OK with Instagram, until I created a second page.  Sorrow and woe ensued.  There was some nonsense about taking a picture in one account, and sending it to another account, and where to put it, and if it came from a message.  

I tried looking for directions, but nothing seemed help.  Not even my next-door neighbor who told me she knew Instagram.  (More sorry and woe; now she is confused, too.)

The issue, I believe, is that I didn't know enough to define the problem, and so was thrashing around, randomly pressing and clicking and eventually making SOMETHING happen... Sometimes even the right thing, but... because it came from random thrashing, I couldn't remember what I had done.  

I was so distraught about what to do with the image that I just didn't take the </explicative> shot at all.

Linda Blair Head Spinning Dummy,
from the Exorcist

You may be familiar with Quality Matters (QM), a systematic method for evaluating online courses.  The QM rubric provides a detailed framework for scoring components of a course.  A seemingly nit-picky standard.  A standard that at times can make your head spin around 360 when you are putting together an online course.  


Case in point: A crucial set of points goes into explicitly making sure that your learner always knows exactly where to go and what to do.

"Surely," one might say, "all this is not necessary.  They are (fill in the blank) students; they can figure it out."  

You know what?  Sometimes, for one reason or another, they can't.  Perhaps its an off day.  Or the kid is sick and the learner is up too late.  Or the learner may have any number of neuroatypical glitches that require support.  (Like adult ADHD, like me! 👩)

More importantly, learners shouldn't have to expend energy figuring out where to go.  An individual's capacity for taking in information at a single point in time has limitations.  Would you prefer that a student get what might seem like an overly detailed course map and/or set of instructions, or to be spending energy wandering around lost in an online course.

So, I don't love Instagram quite yet, but my experience has left me happier to expend the energy in making sure learners don't have to wander in an online wilderness. 

Gotta love the unintended consequences of social media.

Is Web.2 the mother of the gig economy?

Technology and social change have great and transformative impacts on work. 

The Iron Age roughly 1,000 BCE, ushered in agricultural societies, that first supported and then largely replaced hunter gatherer societies.  The ability to use metal to create plows, and shovels, as well as weapons for defending farming communities changed the economics of the day.
Huge leap forward to the Industrial Revolution, roughly the 19th century CE, which dramatically changed the economic landscape by introducing technology-enabled, steam engine and other tools for manufacturing work, making a dent in the agricultural economy.




Another huge leap to the Information Age, or better for our purpose, the New Media Age, (aka the Information Age or the Computer Age), let's say very late 20-21st CE.  And here we are.



 Always, some gain and some lose in the birthing of a new economic age.  

This post deals a phenomenon, that seems to cut both ways, the gig economy, defined narrowly as "a labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs."  Note that this is not about having a gig.  Many in the "salaried economy" have gigs, to keep life interesting or to provide extra income.  The "gig economy" replaces the salaried positions as described above.

A fuller understanding of the gig economy can be seen in the video below.


Video attributed to Sunil Kumar Chinmay Panda, retrieved from What is Gig Economy?

The necessary requirements of the gig economy are :

1. Independent workers who are paid "piecemeal," or by the gig. Gig workers can be classified under two categories: labor providers, such as drivers, and house cleaners and good providers, such as artists, craftsmen and instructional designers.
2. Consumers who need a specific service or product, such as ride, or a module for a larger program, or an editor for a storyboard,
3. Technology platforms that allow for direct transaction between customer and provider, flexible work schedules for gig workers, online payments, from which the platform takes a cut, and online profiles and reviewers of both producers and consumers.

The number of workers in the gig economy has risen from 10.1% in 2005 to 15.8% in 2015. 24 percent of workers reports earning some money through gigs during the year of 2015.  The growth in gig work is attributed t0 the development of technologies that easily put worker and consumer in tough, and by the decrease in the number of individuals who can find traditions, salaried, paying jobs.

However, the mindset of workers has shifted over the years,and prior to the birth of the gig.
In the 1950's and 60s, it was common for workers to stay in the same company through out reviewment.  After this, workers developed a pattern of switching jobs more often, working up the ladder by seeking out new employer, rather than working up the "corporate ladder" of a singer company.

While some workers still seek the stability of a known workplace and known salary, other workers seek out the flexibility and autonomy of the gig economy.  

Istrate, E, and Harris, J. The Future of Work, The Rise of the Gig Economy Istrate and Harris, Naco Counties Futures Lab, November 2017  

What is the function of social media in all this?

Social media is helping people build their own private portfolio, especially since companies are starting to recognize that tenure is not that important, but rather it is who you’re connected with and where the next opportunity will come from. The mindset of the independent contractor is to move faster. They want to have a one-click approach when applying for a job, so they will definitely use social media to connect with somebody who may have an opportunity for them. The internet allows them to find job posts, but it is the social web that allows them to make a trusted connection. You can see who the contractor’s contacts are. You can see who they are associated with. As a result, you have a lot more confidence in who you’re hiring to get things done.

McAlister, K, October 15, 2015 The Independent contractor and social media.

McAlister further states that LinkedIn is the social media tool most likely to come into play here, Linked In is stated by the authors as being the worlds largest staffing system. 

The gig economy is beneficial to some, but less beneficial to others.  While the gig economy has already been said to provide the worker with freedom and autonomy, it may also supply stress at not being able to predict with 100% that the next gig will be around the door.  It can lead to uncertainty in finance in the short term.  Perhaps more importantly, those in the gig economy are  less able to benefit from public social safety nets, and indeed are not contributing to the social safety nets that they themselves might rely upon.

There tends also be a blurring between home and work life. Rainie and Wellman write of this in their chapter "Networked Work" describing the effect of teleworking on home life.  Gig working could be described as teleworking, but more so, so one would not be surprised to find greater intrusion of work into family life.

In closing, I believe that the gig economy is the child of business seeking a more agile and lean workforce that can work at multiple jobs at a "multi-tasking clip.  That these workers can work remotely is a plus for keeping less of an office infrasture alive. This push has found its summit in the form of the "gig worker" who can make use of networked technology to produce, but does not rely of the company to provide him or her with the platform of that technology.


  Title image by  cogdogblog 

Digital Natives in the Garden of Eden?

A caveat here.   I am mixing my metaphors wildly.  And throwing in theology, anthropology,and a few other -ologies.  I hope you will find this to an interesting exercise.  

Foundationalism, in theology, is the belief that there is a single One Perfect Right for each everything under G_d's creation, incomprehensible by humans because, well, we're humans and not G_d.  (This, BTW, is the basis of the concept of the Augustinian "perfect traveler" concept I trotted out in an earlier blog - the perfect traveler cannot see the single Right way and practice, but works to travel towards it.)

The story of the Garden of Eden is a nuanced one, incorporating ideas of Foundationalism.  Eden was the One Perfect Right world, according to the story.  Humans, of course, bungled it, got kicked out and had to go out and hunt Mastodons and protect themselves from Saber-Toothed Tigers.  (Told you I was mixing my metaphors.)

As close to Foundationalism as I get is the belief that there may be One Perfect Right means of learning and teaching, and cognitive, social and educational research, though "through a glass blindly" (more theology, sorry) moves us forward to that Right way, the way that might have happened in Eden if Adam and Eve's kids got educated.

I put before you that "digital natives" may not be the "brave new world" (oops!  I did it again - quoted shamelessly from Brittany Spears) that some would believe.

Some characteristics of digital natives are said to be:

• Possessing the ability to multitask. Indeed, it may be the preferred method of taking in data.
• Intolerant of being fed large chunks of data at one time.
• Possessing short attention spans.
• Graphically-oriented.
• Straining the bounds imposed on them by the Previous Generation, aka The Establishment, and demanding to have their received wisdom given to them in ways they wish to deal with it.  (If there are any Boomers out there, who does this remind you of, hmmmm?)

Ok, while this may be annoying to the Educational Establishment, as Prensy indicates, perhaps digital natives may be "perfect travelers" back to the Garden - at least in the sense of being learners.

My (spotty) understanding of the history of education, starting from the schools of the Greco-Romans and Aquinas, is that long lectures and much memorization was the norm.  

Socratic learning obviously existed, and problem-based learning for physicians has been around since that time, (although dissection was expensive could get one killed at the stake).  Scenario-based learning through apprenticeships and following Mommy around as she worked taught certain classes of individuals, but the classic, sine qua non form of teaching, was in the Great Lecture Halls and involved long lectures and memorization.  

Well hell!  I put forth to you that this has never been the ideal method of teaching (although without networking, options were limited).  If I may throw in a bit of anthropology, Homo Sapiens, or Intelligent Human, probably resembled the digital native more that the student listening to Thomas Aquinas.

Looking at Homo Sapiens, they appeared to live, work and travel in social groups, and interacted (networked?) with other social groups, learning and exchanging culture.  As hunters of massive Ice-Age beasts, big bad wolves and other hungry beasts, they worked in collaborative groups.  

 Likewise, they appeared to have and use multitasking, as a survival strategy. There is paleontological evidence that some of their prey were social animals, and were pretty good at coordinating their own hunting strategies.  Multitasking was the way to keep an eye on the tribal back while advancing the hunt.  And while (probably) the men took down the meat in evolving hunter/gatherer groups, women (probably) had to discern visually what was healthy to gather. And to mind the kids.  I think any parent would acknowledge this as an example of multitasking.)  

Social sciences,population genetics and others espouse the theory that within group difference is often greater than between group difference.  Therefore, it is likely that there are strong characteristics shared between "digital natives" and "mastodon-killing natives."

Organizing this post into a loose, fanciful braid, let me finish by stating that what we think Homo Sapiens were, may have been close to the the idea of, according to the biblical book of  Genesis, First Man and First Woman, eventually kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  The Homo Sapiens brain would have altered under the stressors of life outside the Garden, but brains change slowly.  Hence, the "thinking brain" that was able to survive outside the Garden may have resembled closely our "digital natives" and then,  may also have had strong similarities to the putative brains of Adam and Eve.  Perhaps this brain comes close to the Foundational Brain. And in that case, teaching and learning in Eden would have been fitted to that Foundational Brain, which I have posited, rather closely resembles the brains of our digital natives.

Therefore, the learning preferences of today's digital natives may be onto something, and are actually Perfect Travelers to G_d's Foundational Educational Practices. 

Technology Natives, Industry Natives, Digital Natives, Ho Hum....

Caveat:  This post is being written for the sheer love of ranting.  I wanted to be a neuroscientist when I grew up, and love being able to sink my teeth into gray matter again.  Wait a minute... that didn't come out exactly how I meant it.  Regardless, there is a lot more to the digital native/digital immigrant discussion than I am writing about here.  I'm addressing a specific point.  The amazement that, OMG, brains have changed.

I don't at all doubt that the brains of "digital natives" differ from "boomer brains" and "silent generation" brains and the brains of a whole lot of other groups.  Homo sapiens brains, or something in the skull, took up a whole lot more space than what filled the skulls of Homo erectus.

Brains change when environments change. Sometimes with iffy results.

Damage to toddler brain caused by neglect and/or abuse

You are probably familiar with this famous scan of the brains of toddlers who were not neglected and abused compared to toddlers that were neglected, abused or both.  Or the research on Romanian children  who were brought up on war-ravaged orphanages.

Brains do change, and have been changing, I would wager, whenever there are seismic shifts in the landscape - the latest being the Dawn of the Digital, or whatever we want to call it.

The world underwent some shaking-up at the time of the Industrial Revolution.  I bet the brain of a kid working in a factory (The Industry Native) changed from that of a kid working on a farm.  I would image the brain of a kid who lived in a community with a fire at night (the Technology Native) differed from the brain of his or her kin whose family group had not yet tamed fire.  I would bet that infants and toddlers born during the WWII Blizkreigs have a few different nooks and crannies than did those born in quieter times.  

Some characteristics of the Digital Brain are that they switch tasks pretty damned fast, aka "multi-tasking."  Other bloggers in the class have written well about the difficulty this can cause in performance.  Dopamine addiction and cortisol cascades are not to be trifled with.  However, brains adapt; they are incredibly "plastic."  If you have ever watched a stroke or brain-injured patient in rehab, or practicing a newly recovered function, you are beholding the very real marvel of that brain rewiring itself to route away from the dead stuff, and to reconnect with functional pathways.  An amazing and exhausting process.  

Perhaps Digitally-brained Natives are an evolutionary advance. Maybe not.  However, their brains are different for better or for worse, and will probably be the norm until the next great big societal shift.

(You Digital Natives out there, just don't freak out when it is your turn to become the Immigrant!)

Newbie Blogger Blogs on Blogging

Wafting Around the Blogosphere

This, so you know, is a reflection on blogging.  It takes the form of, how would I have used blogs in some of the classes I have developed or taught.

Introductory Statistics - it would be great to see students blogging on how they "found" statistical concepts in the media they come across.  Except for "mean."  That's everywhere.  Can students "'see" the concept of standard deviation in a documentary on human characteristics?  Variance in a news story on killer citrus beetles?  Mode, in a program about coral reefs?  

I would be looking for not only their understanding of terms and concepts, but an increasing comprehension of why things are measured statistically and, therefore, why statistics is a good thing and its good that they are taking it.

Geology 1000 - Pick a "rock of the week" from somewhere in your environment. Write a blog post on why that rock, mineral or whatever is interesting to you.It's geologic history?  Chemical make up?  How it is used? 

College Success Strategies - Some background on this one.  While working/teaching at Loyola University Chicago, a Jesuit college, I was working on yet another graduate degree in theology.  I got the harebrained idea to teach this class based on the Augustinian idea of the "perfect traveler" - that one is not expected to be perfect, but to develop habits that would lead you to perfection.  Basically, I taught habit development, with students identifying the habits they needed to in order to be a perfect traveler.

Blogging for this class I see as a pretty straight forward journalling of how students respond to a situation.

• What do you need to do - for example, take good class notes
• What behaviors or thoughts will you do that will make it likely that you will take good notes?
• How successful was it? 
• If not successful, why not? 
• What will you do next time?

Ballet - Three kind of posts that I can think of now:

• Name a movement you've seen in nature, like a cat slinking or a horse galloping.  List a sequence of five or more steps that would mimic that movement.
• Name a scene short in a movie.  Describe how, in steps and mime, you would turn that scene into a ballet.
• Name a step or sequence that you have learned recently.  List three ways you could use that step to express a thing, an emotion or an action.

Your turn
I'd love comments on what kind of blog starter questions you might use in a class you are designing, or have taught.

Thoughts on the Age-Related Digital Divide

I've been interested in "digital divide" questions since the 80's, with particular interest in the divide between the haves and have nots.  I've been one of the lucky ones.  Up until now, I landed on the "good side" of the divides.

Which is why is feels rather bizarre to read about the digital divide and realize, because of my age, I am teetering on the not-so-good side.


I've harbored a secret guilt about not getting how to use Instagram, but I thought that was just me and my unwillingness to spend time learning it.  After all, I've been an eLearning developer for longer than any in this class have been alive.  I develop online courses for heaven's sake. I'm heavily involved with making computerware ADA Section 408 Compliant.  Jeez!

But, in my off-the-clock life, I'm a pretty typical geezer, ah, Baby Boomer.  I'm an information junkie who gets most of her information from the Internet, do all my banking and financial stuff on-line, and do all my non-Costco shopping on Amazon.  

What does a smattering of research say about older internet and social media users?

According to Rainie and Wellman (2014) older adults are more likely to use the Internet for getting information and online banking.  And buying things, and selling things.  Older adults may not use social media because of concerns over privacy, perceived lack of digital literacy, and "digital skills."  

Rainie and Wellman cite the Pew Research Groups data, indicating that the percentage of U.S. adults who send and receive text messages has risen 30% between 2006 and 2011, with 31% of U.S. adults sending and receiving texts in 2006. Interestingly, in persons ages 50-64, the rise was also 30%, but the starting percentage of this age group started at a bit over the total, at 18%.  In 2011, texters in the 50-64 age group had risen to 48%, still lower than the total average of U.S. adults.  Those aged 65 and up started at 3% and rose to 13%, well below the 30% growth of the 50-64 folks.

Note that the overall adoption of cell phones between the years of 2006 - 2011 was 30%. Those aged 50 - 64 increased their adoption of cell phones by 30% also, with ownership about the same level as the average U.S. adult.  Again, those of age 65+, as a group owned fewer mobile phones, 55% vs. the 83% of U.S. adults on average.

If these numbers seem similar, it seems to me that sending text messages is a function of owning a mobile phone, and a "first function" of having a mobile phone may be to send text messages.

As the number of older adults owning mobile phones and texting increases, so does their time on the Internet.

The chart below provides information on the daily utilization of the internet by internet users. aged 65 and up.

Source:Anderson and Perrin, 2017 Barriers to Adoption and Attitudes Towards Technology,

Apparently once older adults get online, they revisit the internet often, roughly as often as other age groups, although the number who are on "almost constantly" appears to be 50% less than younger adults.  Note that this data does not divide internet use between social media and the pursuit of non-socially mediated information.

The rate of older Americans using social media has kept a steady rise since 2008.  See Perrin's 2015 article, Social Media Usage, 2005 - 2015 for the interactive version of this document.

Source: Social Media Usage, 2005 - 2015

Anderson and Perrin, in their 2017 publication, Tech Adoption Climbs Among Older Adults confirm that older Americans are making significant advances in internet use and social media, and own the means for making this happen.  However, this data indicates that there are a large number of older Americans who are not on the internet, especially not on social media.


Source:  Tech Adoption Climbs Among Older Adults 

I would like to put out a suggestion as to why more older Americans, 65+, are using the internet and social media.  MIght it be that some of these individuals have retired, and have more time for personal information seeking?  Perhaps some of these individuals have raised their families, and may have more time to spend on social media (perhaps checking up on adult children and grandchildren)?  These may be reasons for the increased reported use of the internet and social media among older Americans.

Why are some older Americans not using the internet and social media?

While many older individuals are computer users, why are the stats almost always lower for older users as a whole?

I took a quick, decidedly non-scientific poll of my 65+ friends at the dog park this morning, asking who used the internet and social media. All answered that they used the Internet for information and used social media to check up on their kids.  Few, however, used social media themselves, citing privacy concerns. (Thereby showing some degree of computer literacy)

As the conversation continued, the quip about needing your grandkid to set up the computer and mobile phone came up.  This stereotype may have some basis in truth.  

Source: Anderson and Perrin, 2017 Barriers to Adoption and Attitudes Towards Technology,

Along with difficulty getting hardware and software to work, some older adults have trouble with digital skills, such as keyboarding.  While it is likely that younger students developed keyboarding skills at a young age, older persons may have had their first keyboarding lessons in high school.  While younger persons may have continually developed their keyboarding skills, older adults may have had limited practice in the skills they did have.

At this point in history, keyboarding is considered a basic job skill.  Classes in keyboarding are common in workforce development curricula.

This was not always the case.

In the early days of 2000, I taught keyboarding as a part of a Computer Applications in Education.  Most of my keyboarding students were upper level administrators who had, or who recently had had, secretaries to type for them. For most, keyboarding was a challenge.  Ten years later, I was coaching senior-level surgeons in using electronic medical charts - keyboarding was an even greater challenge.

It seemed to me, after these experiences, that the more advanced the position, the less keyboarding skills were practiced on a regular basis.  As that portion of the workforce has aged and retired, perhaps internet and social media use in individuals has not increased for some because of keyboarding activities.

In addition to lack of keyboarding skills, comfort while keyboarding may be a factor.  Those who have had metacarpal tunnel issues can confirm how painful it can be to keyboard with a wrist injury.  Fortunately, there are easily obtained braces for making keyboarding with metacarpal tunnel disorder much more comfortable. This is not a option for individuals with arthritis in their hands, either osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.  Keyboarding can be uncomfortable, to the point of being disabling, to those with arthritis.  Osteoarthritis, the "wear and tear" kind often found in older persons, can limit the ability to effectively use a computer.  See Baker, et al., 2009 Problems experienced by people with arthritis when using a computer.

It is not difficult to see the benefit of using the internet and social media into older adulthood.  For me, the greatest benefit to older adults is the likelihood of cognitive benefits. Kelli Quinn's 2018 publication,  Cognitive Effects of Social Media Use: A Case of Older Adults, provides research indicating that cognitive ability in older adults is correlated with social connectedness.  Because, over time, the social circle of the typical older person shrinks. Retirement may take away relationships at work.  Families whose children have grown may move away.  Friends, family and spouses may die.  Facebook time can replace f-2-f social relationships to a degree, and, it appears, can protect against age-related cognitive deterioration. In addition to social networking, other uses of the internet appear to support cognitive flexibility.  Undertaking a variety of internet activities (not a variety of "brain games") appears to be correlated with maintaining cognitive flexibility.

Some summary thoughts...

• The idea that older adults are not active on the internet and social media may be something of a myth.
  
• Older Americans are increasing their use of the internet and social media at a pretty good clip.  Perhaps retiring from the workforce plays a part of this.
  
• Facebook might be more important than we think for the health of older individuals.
• While commercial "brain games" may be of dubious value, completing a variety of "real" tasks on a computer appear to promote cognitive flexibility.
  
• If your hands hurt, you might not be on the internet nor social media.  Osteoarthritis (quite common in older adults), rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of the disease are recognized as disabling for computer users.
  
• Older individuals are likely to need help in learning how to set up and use equipment and software.  Got an older friend or relation?  Offer to help set his or her computer. Karma, baby, karma.

A More or Less Networked Individual and her Dog

The same year Trudy Johnson-Lenz tripped on her front steps and sustained a head injury, triggering the development of an intricate social network, I moved back to Tallahassee, lost my f-2-f social network, and one of my dogs, Maggie, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

The diagnosis was no big surprise. I have greyhounds aka "greys", and around 25% will eventually develop bone cancer.  It is the leading cause of death in greys, and they are the breed most likely to get it. This was not even my first greyhound with osteosarcoma. (aka "osteo However, she was the first to occur  when my relationships were electronically networked, rather than members of the local dog park.

Up until that point, my greyhound social networking had revolved around "Greytalk" a social media platform for, well, talking about greyhounds. I was a member of a group for greyhound osteo, where I met another instructional designer (!), Dorothy T.

Dorothy T connected me to Ohio University's Greyhound Osteosarcoma programs,  through which I got reduced cost chemotherapy and who got me a referral to a clinic at UF veterinary school, staffed with veterinary post-docs and faulty. I later connected my vet, who had not  had many greyhound patients) with this clinic. (Her practice still keeps in touch with the clinic for treatment updates and professional development.)

Dorothy connected me to Circle of Grey, a support group for parents of greys with osteo, where I received oceans of support and a "healing blanket" for Maggie,

As time when on, I became a regular contributor with a reputation for sound information to other parents of greys with osteo.

I was a member of two support groups, and a follower of the University of Ohio's research and clinical postings, where I learned home treatment for a host of post-surgical issues and, later, some valuable information on being the parent of a dying pet.

The 2007 version of the Triple Revolution made a significant difference on the way Maggie and my husband and I lived our lives.  While my husband was a great source of emotional and financial support, I was the family clinician, care-taker, and "content receiver, responder and thanker" - incurring the stress mentioned by Rainie and Wellman.

Through the use of social media, I was able to find information on how to deal with minor but messy post-surgical complications (my continued thanks to the University of Ohio.) I was also able to find resources for my local vet.  My neighborhood social media outlet provided neighbors with the ability to reach out to others about Maggie's illness.  (Like Peter, I was reluctant to ask for help.)  They rallied.  We received offers of "walkies" and transportation to vet and therapy visits, as well as emotional support and cuddling (for Maggie...I'm rather standoffish.)  We needed less logistical and practical help, but we did need lots of post-surgical canine t-shirts.  When this information came out, my mailbox was stuffed with them - mostly from people I knew from Greytalk, or didn't know at all.  The 24/7 availability of information and world-wide parents of similarly ill greys soothed many a sleepless night.

When Maggie lost her battle, the traditional funeral meats appeared, again, often from total strangers.  Dealing with the acknowledgement of and thanks for all this help was a stretch for me, an introverted isolationist. (Social media has been a help for me in developing my f-2-f social skills.  Who knew?)

Because my journey with Maggie occured before the wide-spread use of mobile media, the third R didn't have much of an impact on us.  Which was fine.  Walks with Maggie were a challenge enough without a cell phone.  My keyboard, however, was almost grafted to my fingers. (Now, however, my Google Drive threatens to overflows with videos of my greys racing around or lounging in a nearby lake.)

The Triple Revolution created for Maggie and me a world of assurance that her medical needs were being met with the best knowledge available.  We were given support in the work of parenting any dog, much less a sick one.  She received the physical comfort of her healing blankie and her t-shirt wardrobe.  I certainly received practical and emotional support.  At the end, I was given assurances that it was time to let go, as Maggie herself was telling me.  This saved me from the guilt may dog parents face in similar situations.

This situation will come to me again - it is a fact of life for most pet parents, and especially for the the parents of greys.  It is comforting to know that there will be even more resources and greater connections now (especially that You Tube video on draining a seroma!)

****

This is not Maggie the Marvelous Tripod, but quite similar.  Same color, same blue coat, same speed.  Faster on three legs than on four.

RIP, Maggie. See you at the Bridge.