Year 2005

Blah, Blah, Blog

I found the same problem as Randy documents in The long pause. I found that I soon lost interest in all the blogging about blogging and how lbogs were a perfect fit for improving learning. I still value blogging, but I do it for myself. I try to say the things on my blog that I want to say, not the things that will get other people blogging with me. I am ready to leave blogs and blogging as a tool that teachers may use rather than as the tool for the future of teaching. In other words – if the blog fits, use it.

Nugget of Truth

It is not often that I agree with Maureen Dowd more than grudgingly, but in her article about female interrogators torturing detainees in Iraq I found myself agreeing with her without reservation. She put the perfect perspective in one sentence:…

Mortality

I have been riding an interesting emotional roller-coaster in the last few days. My grandmother – who has had her share of health problems in the last few years but is really very healthy considering her age – was diagnosed…

Courage of the Iraqis

To all appearances, today was a success in Iraq. As reported in the New York Times, the turnout in the Iraqi elections was solid – even exceeding expectations in some Sunni areas. David Anderson (another dead link from ISOU –…

META

As a longtime fan of recursion (from my computer science days) I love observing the meta-cognition that is so prevalent when studying in this field. We learn about learning, teach about teaching and think about thinking. It was fun to…

Connection

I was suffering from a deplorable lack of interest in the text until I finally connected with the author as he described himself as a “graduate student, terribly naive about most of the world and its happenings, but resonating in…

Social Computing Class

I get to take a doc seminar on Social Computing this semester to give me fodder for this blog. I am excited to share my insights on the readings and class discussions here. I hope to see a good number…

Back to Work

I have completed the degree/move that took me away from blogging back in November. I am excited to come back to sharing my ideas as I tackle a new degree at a new institution with a new perspective. I will…

The Power of Direction

I have often floundered in my life when I did not feel that I had a direction in my mind for where I was heading with my current situation. I found myself in one of those doldrums last year –…

The Power of the Minority

I am very interested in the moves that the democrats will make as they try to get back to their winning ways. I found an interesting perspective by David Brooks in the New York times. I really expect that American…