Educ 730 Day 2 (Tuesday)

Did you know? What a cool video! (Click Here to see the Blog where the video is from or see the "Did you know 3.0" blog I posted to watch the video.) I knew technology was moving quickly, but I didn't understand how quickly (though I thought I did). And how big are China and India? I have been contemplating these concepts today and trying to visualize what my 1st grader will be doing when she graduates from high school.

Here is my perspective: I can remember owning an HP-41C calculator and learning that and HP-41CV (the next version up) was used as the back-up computer to help land the Apollo on the moon. To imagine that I have more computing power in my cell phone than was used to get to the moon back in 1969 blows my mind!! My first computer had a 40 MB (that's MEGABYTE) hard drive. Now I have a 4 GB (that's 102.4 - 40 MB hard-drives) thumb-drive in my pocket!!!

Today was a great class, just more information than we should have covered in a whole week! Well, I'm off to continue working on the group project (Lit Review). AAAARRGGGGHHH !!!!

EDUC 730 - Day 1

Wow!! What a day! The first thing that hit me today was Dr. Holder's expectation that we are earning our Doctorates, not just for the raise, but because we should expect to continue to add value to the field of education. I felt his passion about that and it caused me to remember back to the reason I started this quest almost two decades ago. I wanted to make a difference and change the world. I'm 20 years older now, and I realize that I may not be able to change the whole world, but I can change the world around me and influence the world around those I love and care about for the better.

Then we discussed a few of the ways that technology, if used appropriately, can improve education and our society. All in all it was a very good day. I have tons to do tonight for my portion of the Lit Review, which is still quite overwhelming, but I am trying to take Dr. Holder's admonition and not stress. With God, ALL things are possible.

Mark

Getting ready

Just got back from our "Father's Day" celebration at the in-laws. Now getting ready to go to Lynchburg tomorrow. Haven't been able to sleep the last couple of days - nerves I guess. So, I'm really tired and going to bed early tonight! I'm looking forward to the next week in Lynchburg. I just submitted my application for parking privileges at LU today. Hope it wasn't too late. Looking forward to learning more about technology for my classroom. See you on Monday!!

Sneak Peak

It is very interesting getting a "Sneak Peak" into what is going to happen in the class next week. For all of you who are posting good stuff, thank you. I am really sorry I was unable to be in class with you this week, but I am looking forward to next week. (I already had all my Lit Review research completed and then had to switch groups with the new class. Oh well, as Shane says, "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming".) Thank you for all of your prayers.

Mark

New Class

Well, after waiting for technology to catch up with real life, I am finally a member of Dr. Holder's EDUC 730 class. My back is recovering, VERY SLOWLY. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment because I had tons of research for my group in Dr. Dunn's class, now I am in a brand new group. Oh well, that's how the ball bounces. Just keep jumping through the hoops is what my wife tells me and to quote a former classmate and famous Disney fish - "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. . . " See you guys next week.

Mark

PS The test doesn't follow the book (Tech Tactics) very well and it has a number of answers that are incorrect. Dr. Dunn has said he was going to look into it.

Back problems

Sorry folks, but I will be missing Dr. Dunn's class because of a recurring back injury. I look forward to staying in touch with this blog thing though. Good Luck and may God Bless each of you with the righteous desires of your hearts.

Just remember. Never, ever, ever quit. Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming. The tassel is worth the hassle! :-)

Mark

Overwhelmed!!

Just doing some reading and trying to find more articles for the Lit Review. I'm also worrying about the WebQuest. I looked at the rubric and have never seen one that expected so much in so little. At least now I know what to shoot for. I went to that website Zunal.com and boy, is it busy! So much stuff there! Oh well, to quote a fellow classmate/blogger and a little fish "just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin' . . . " :-)