And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Genesis 1: 14-19
Imagine how the universe changed when God turned on the lights!
I’ve written characters in my books that are astronomy geeks and that’s because I’d love to be an astronomy geek myself. But I’ve never had the time or opportunity. Until now. We recently got a nice telescope, but that requires reading instructions and setting it up. It’s on my to do list.
With today’s technology I have no excuses. I discovered STAR WALK—a nifty app for iPad that had me and all the kiddoes outside, staring at the stars. The best part–now we know what we’re looking at. In fact, I learned that I’ve spent my entire life looking at what I thought was the Little Dipper and Big Dipper only to discover that I was looking at Orion. Ha!
Thanks to Star Walk. Thanks to the iPad. Thanks to digital technology turning on the lights for me. I’m old. I hate change. I love books that I can hold. But I have to admit, technology is changing my mind about many things.
Changing our lives in many ways. The publishing world is in upheaval over digital books. Since receiving my Keurig for Christmas, I’ve wondered if the coffee world is also in an upheaval, trying to supply the right coffee in k-cups. How many customers still want regular coffee makers, etc? There are innumerable changes happening so fast.
A light has been turned on, illuminating knowledge in greater and faster ways.
One of the biggest changes I see goes hand in hand with the way we read–it’s the way we learn.
I especially see this at home when teaching my children. I have a big library of children’s books but in addition to those books, I’ve added a library of digital books that either read to my kids or allows them to read to themselves. When a child has trouble with a subject I can often find a quick and easy explanation—an explanation they’re more willing to hear—from Brainpop.
Let there be light. . let there be apps. What is the biggest way technology is changing your life?