Scot's+2010+Journal


 * July 24:** The Old Fashioned Festival is going on in Newberg this weekend. This is the annual town fair. We attended the parade this morning and will go to the fireworks show tonight. Yesterday, my two youngest daughters performed dance routines in the talent show in the park. There are many people in our neighborhood.

I have picked up James Fowlers' //Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian//. I am finding a section or two to insert into my fall course.In my fall faith learning seminar we will be addressing spirituality and professional practice. Although I have selected Palmer's //A Hidden Wholeness// as the required text, I am looking for other perspectives for us to engage with. The overall objectives are to examine how our professional life reflects our spiritual understandings; to explore how personal spiritual practices may contribute to our work life; and to explore the intersection of public, corporate and private expression of spirituality. One lesson that I have taken away from our exploration into the networked culture this summer is the recognition that my own life must be nurtured by spiritual practice in that I am immersed in a materialistic culture.


 * July 16:** Check this out http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech/features/3585-avatars-and-incarnation

> It is only through //enforced// standardization of methods, //enforced// adoption of the best implements and working conditions, and //enforced// cooperation that this faster work can be assured. And the duty of enforcing the adoption of standards and enforcing this cooperation rests with //management// alone.
 * July 16:** If we discover that it is our philosophy and worldview that are suspect, does that remove the possibility of us blaming our tools when thinking, behavior and attitudes go awry? In reflecting on the most significant barrier to in-service educators' professional development, time and again it comes back to time. Educators are responsible for tasks, for outcomes, for people. Educators are responsible to colleagues, students, parents and their public. Educators have a responsibility to prepare, be prepared, to deliver and to follow through. It is no surprise that time is an issue for people living within a system of great responsibility. If our view on education is a Tayloristic (see this entry on Taylor), industrial model popularized in the late 19th and early 20th century, why would we expect our schools to resemble factories and our teachers to assume the role of line workers. Taylor is quoted (found in the Wikipedia article linked to above) as stating:

Reflect on that a bit. Our entire economy is based on efficiency, speed and cost-effectiveness. These concepts are reflected in most school operations as well. No Child Left Behind, indeed.

In this environment, increased access to information, speedier communication cycles and standardized processes have enabled most Americans to be brought into the mass production operational model as an assumption that is not challenged. The neighborhood general store, the craft furniture builder, as well as the one room school house and the country church have either disappeared or are viewed as romantic anachronisms. Regarding innovations in education that are somewhat counter cultural, homeschooling and experiential education, which in some regard harken back to an earlier age in American history, are often dismissed as counter productive, harmful or even a waste of time and talent.

We worry about computing tools and toys, but do we challenge the fundamental assumptions of the day. In education, is the corporate model of human resource development better than the pastoral model of one hundred and fifty years ago?


 * July 14:** The blessings and curse of technology. It seems that the same device can be used as a tool or a weapon. I suppose that some weapons, designed to be weapons have no function as a tool, but just about any tool we can think of has possibilities as a weapon. According to Wikipedia, "A weapon is an instrument used for the purpose of causing harm or damage to persons, animals or structures...In a broader context weapons include anything used to gain an advantage over an adversary or to place them at a disadvantage." Conversely, a tool is defined as, "a device that can be used to produce or achieve something, but that is not consumed in the process. I suppose we could say that almost all weapons are tools, but only some tools are weapons.

We can also examine the concept of technology; "Technology can be most broadly defined as the entities, both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order to achieve some value. In this usage, technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world problems. It is a far-reaching term that may include simple tools, such as a crowbar or wooden spoon, or more complex machines, such as a space station or particle accelerator. Tools and machines need not be material; virtual technology, such as computer software and business methods, fall under this definition of technology." (Wikipedia, see link above)

It seems to me that the definition of //weapon// is especially helpful. Notice these key terms: //harm, damage, advantage over, and place at disadvantage//. When we are considering internet technologies it is easy to see that consciously or not, all of these concepts are in place and the person that is often harmed or taken advantage of is our self. Think about it.


 * July 10:** I made the decision this week to discontinue my ownership on two regions in Second Life. For two years I had been involved with a rather large community development project in this Multi-user Virtual Environment. This past year, a colleague of mine built a virtual learning center for me which could have served as a beautiful site within Second Life for holding virtual meetings of graduate students, as well as other teaching and relation building activities. Due to ongoing technological challenges and overwhelming costs and my failure to get traction with colleagues within the School of Education to be involved, I just did not see the reason to continue.

This decision does not necessarily have an effect on whether I would be able to use Second Life as I proposesd in my major project proposal, but it does raise doubts on two levels. First, if I am unable to make this medium work for my own colleagues and or students, how will I convince in-service educators that it is worth their time and effort to learn the use of a tool that they may or may not find useful (or even have the computing power to run). Secondly, by the end of July, Spinoza South, the region on which the learning center is located, will cease to exist. Therefore, I would have to find a venue to use for my professional development efforts, which is not necessarily difficult, but the area won't be under my control. Go here to see some pictures of Spinoza South Learning Center

Go here to read a relevant essay from David Brooks contrasting internet culture with the literary culture.


 * July 6:** Darcy reminded me about Delicious. This is a great web-based bookmarking utility. Go here to see my page.


 * July 3:** I expanded **t**he ideas I thought on yesterday and posted in my blog found here**.** Wordpress has worked well for me as a blogging tool. I am not a real faithful blogger in general, although it has been a good platform for me to use to share thoughts and reflect on my African trips this past year.

What caused me to stop and reflect this morning is that a group of religious people were not willing to allow a healing to take place because it was a violation of (religious) law. Jesus chose to do good and breaking the law over not breaking the law and leaving the man broken. What are the implications for me today? How am I to know what good I should be about, even at the cost of breaking the law, violating convention or upsetting people?
 * July 2:** I attended the Friends Meeting in Second Life today. We had twelve people in attendance. Our centering thought was in regards to our need for fellowship with others for worship, for companionship and for professional affiliation. Several of the messages given in vocal ministry involved human diversity. Is diversity a unifying factor or a dividing factor in human relationships? I believe that depends on who the people are who are attempting to relate. Earlier today, in my Saturday morning Bible study (face to face) we read Mark chapter three (3). One section of chapter three was a story of Jesus healing a man's hand on the Sabbath. Here is the account in the Message version:
 * 1-3 Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. He said to the man with the crippled hand, "Stand here where we can see you."
 * 4Then he spoke to the people: "What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?" No one said a word.
 * 5-6He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out—it was as good as new! The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod's followers and ruin him.

It is rather edgy to break the law and violate convention in the name of doing good. We may think that violating the Sabbath was a minor infraction, I think that it was a greater sin and crime than we realize. What does this mean for me today?


 * June 30:** I've had a chance to review the project proposals of all of our participants. A brief analysis follows: five of the project appear to be directly related to either teaching or leading efforts that the participant has in their particular organization. Three of the projects regard the development of resources that could be used for their own organization or go beyond for personal edification or to be shared by others more broadly. Two participants have not currently reported their projects. Of the eight reporting, three are examining broad ethical and practical issues relating to internet usage by children and adults, one is investigating the use of podcasts as a teaching tool, one is examining virtual worlds as a teaching and learning tool, two are exploring professional sharing sites and one is exploring the use and implications of digital art.

I have also been reflecting about the difference between wisdom and knowledge, and between data and information and between information and knowledge.


 * June 27:** Beginning tomorrow morning, I will be participating in a one week institute for Literacy Across the Secondary Curriculum, hosted by George Fox University, and having participating teachers from six Oregon school districts. The institute is the kick off session for a two-year professional development program. A reason for mentioning this here is that some of the electronic media we will use for the project will possibly be similar to that which will be used in the final project I propose for this course.


 * June 23:** the two edged sword of ready access. When you are a professor and you can teach online at 11 at night or 4:30 in the morning, I wonder if students expect that you will be working at 11 at night and 4:30 in the morning? Is this good or bad? Practical or impractical? Sane or insane? Of course working at odd hours is not uncommon in other professions and it is not totally dependent on whether we are using ICTs or the network to do our work. Roland Smith, noted young adult author, spoke at our local library last evening. He did a wonderful job speaking to the group about his writing. One aspect of his life as an author is that he writes everyday of the year and he gets up every day at 4:00 to write. He does all of his first draft by pen in a bound journal.


 * June 21:** I had a brief phone conversation with one of the course participants today and several questions came to mind in regards to my thinking about wikis and the hopes I have for my major project in this course.Regarding wikis, I was asked to describe the advantages of using wikis over using a discussion board. It was a great question and I think it is the type of question that we should be asking ourselves when we investigate the use of technological tools in our lives as educators. There are several key factors to consider when wondering about the use internet-based social media tools. These factors include our purpose in using the tool, the usability of the tool and what the tool replaces. Networked social media have provided the following functionality; asynchronous communication, broad access, sustained messaging, fun and attention grabbing elements and convenience. Let us examine the assumptions behind each of this functions.


 * **Asynchronous communication**:is like corresponding through letter writing, tools such as discussion boards, wikis and email allow for a back and forth communication. This means we compose a message and send it and the message is not opened by the receiver instantaneously nor is the message immediately replied to. This type of communication allows for time and reflection (if desired) as messages are received, mulled over and responses are composed (carefully) and sent back. This also means there is no immediate feedback given, as there would be in a face to face conversation.
 * **Broad access**: means that our messages have the potential for being received by many recipients. In this sense, networked social media are like other broadcast media such as television and radio in that messages are sent out through a medium that has a huge audience. The concept of broad access also implies that even if our intended or actual audience is small, our intended audience can receive our message as long as they have access to a cell or internet connection.
 * **Sustained messaging**: describes the feature of networked media which permits messages we send and receive to persist indefinitely on the internet or in the internal memory of a device that we or our correspondents possess. Messages posted in Facebook, on a wiki site or in a Google group persist and are generally searchable. The implication is that we cannot hide from the content of past messages we have sent and we are able to access previously sent messages that we created or received.
 * **Fun and attention grabbing**: it is true that for many participants in social media, there is a fun factor associated with their participation. Whether it is keeping a close tab on what a friend is doing in the moment on Twitter or if it is browsing the professional network of one of our colleagues on Linked In, participants have access to many people, lots of information and many potential diversions (photographs, video clips, games and other amusements and political and social statements, as well as original art such as poetry, music, and visual works of art. The sheer volume of messages and accompanying diversions can be fun, attention grabbing and overwhelming.
 * **Convenience**: with the rise of mobile devices, the ease and convenience of one to one and one to many communication through electronic networks has made texting, checking email and twittering almost ubiqutious. Obviously there are social and psychological implications to this aspect of networked communication and changes in behavior have led some theorists to argue that actual changed in brain activity, thinking and learning are occuring amongst digital natives.


 * June 18:** Impressions on the use of wikis by educators.There are a number of issues involved with the introduction of any social media for the use with a group of professional colleagues. The first set of issues involve the general sense of expectation that various members of a group have as to how they interact with one another. This includes how frequently people communicate and for what purpose. In addition, expectations about how one behaves in online, text-based communication and the actual emotional investment (or lack thereof) that the participants in a group have in building actual relationships. The second set of issues has to deal with the technical competence and aptitude that the group members bring to the task. Are they frequent users of media and for what purposes? Do they know how to do basic tasks in a wiki, a blog, on a medium such as Facebook, etc.? How invested are the members in learning the skills and will they view them as transferable to their work? What is a typical commitment of time and attention needed to acquire basic competence? A third set of issues has to deal with the applicability of "group work" to the broader professional roles and responsibilities that a group member has. That is, if the introduction of a wiki for the purpose of sharing ideas around content and processes related to a graduate course, will this requirement/opportunity be viewed by group members as helpful or a hindrance? Is struggling to learn a new set of technological skills that may or may not be applicable or transferable a worthwhile effort? What is the role of challenge and struggle in one facet of life in contributing to growth in other areas of life? Related to this is the question of how willing is a professional educator in letting others into their practice? Are participants in a group open to collegial interactions that cause each other to challenge assumptions and examine practice?


 * June 13:** Yesterday I participated in the Friends Meeting for Worship in Second Life. This weekly blessing has been a part of my life for over three years. In Second Life ( a multi-user virtual environment), I gather with others from North America and Europe, worshiping after the manner of Friends. We usually have between 10 and 15 participants in the meeting. Yesterday, there were eleven of us there. This is a rather unique experience for me in that I am one of the few evangelical Friends in the group, most of the others being liberal Quakers, some of whom are non-theistic.

I have assumed the role of the clerk of the meeting and am pleased to bring leadership to the meetings. We are in the process of planning for a First Day School, which would be the Quaker equivalent to Sunday School. My aim through this effort is to present history as well as faith and practice of the Friends to our group in a casual discussion format.


 * June 10:** Early Thursday morning, still adjusting to the time differences and reflecting on my son's offer to get me a cell phone. During my four trips to Africa this year, I was amazed to see the pervasive use of cell phones in Kenya and Rwanda. The basic difference between the usage in those two countries and in the USA is that in Africa, individuals pre-pay for airtime. There are very few Kenyans and Rwandans who have monthly accounts with cell providers. What is quite pervasive in Kigali are many teenagers with yellow or blue vests roaming the markets and taxi stands offering pre-paid phone cards for folks to add minutes to their phone. I must admit that the first time in my life that I used a cell phone was this year while I was in Africa. I have resisted for many years the siren song of hand-held technology. While I am fully connected to the internet by way of wireless networks and my portable computer, I have purposively chosen to avoid life with a cell. I am on the verge of adjusting my belief about this, however. More thoughts on this in the days ahead.


 * June 6:** I am sitting in the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Saturday morning I left Kigali. We touched down in Bujumbura, Burundi, and then on to Nairobi. I was in the airport in Nairobi for about eight hours and then came into Amsterdam early this morning. I am thankful to be homeward bound.


 * June 4:** What an amazing couple of days we have had in Rwanda. We visited several more schools, attended meetings at a university and had conversations with a number of wonderful people. I will continue to post messages on my blog in this regard. I just received a call for proposals for the SITE conference. I generally participate in this conference. SITE, the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education, has been a wonderful resource and conference for me to present my work and to learn from others who are using information and computing technologies in educational endeavors. Here is a link to the call for proposals if you are interested.


 * June 1:** You can follow my blog at [] to learn more about my trip. For some reason, each of my trips to Africa this year has brought to me special times of reflection about myself, my work and making meaning. I will share some additional thoughts about this in the days ahead and how it relates to adult learning. My contention is that each of us should examine ourselves first, when we embark on a course in adult learning. Who I am as a learner? What is my motivation for learning? How do I balance the need to learn for my work, with my desire to learn and grow as an individual? How do I make sense out of information filtered through my biases and the biases of those who presume to teach me? How is my spiritual journey tied to my professional development and my social behavior? What assumptions do I carry about meaning, purpose and value that inform and indeed constrain my learning?

One additional observation; I am in a country where cell phones are pervasive. :I do not carry a cell phone or any other mobile device. I am on the edge of purchasing a mobile device and am reflecting on why I am choosing to do so and what the implications will be for me. I have borrowed a cell phone while I am here in Rwanda and I recognize the power it gives me to be able to communicate and therefore to have a lifeline in a land where I am a foreigner.

I also recognize that with my portable computer, I am able to keep up an effective correspondence with my family, friends and professional colleagues while I am nine time zones away from my home in Oregon. Last night via skype, I conversed with my friend, Joop, who lives in Rotterdam. We discussed [|TPCK] and the impact on this conceptual model for understanding requirements of educators in Europe. Several days earlier, I conversed via text chat with my friend JK, who is a graduate student in Singapore. We discussed the use of social media for educational purposes.


 * May 31:** From the Food for the Hungry Guest House in Kigali, Rwanda. I am having a great time here, wish you were here.


 * May 29:** I am at home, and leaving again this morning for Kigali, Rwanda. I will share more in the next few days. One of the desires of the ICCTE group, comprised of professors of education at Christian colleges and universities, is to build communication venues for times when the conferences are not in session. We are currently using an electronic mailing list (listserv) and an internet-based journal to help meet this desire. However, the group wants more. How do you build relationships and maintain communication around the world with busy professional people?


 * May 26:** In Longview, Texas for the ICCTE Conference, hosted by LeTourneau University.


 * May 25**: I had an email conversation with Martin Kelly, who manages a Ning site called QuakerQuaker. This is a great example of how people of faith are interacting with one another and their neighbors regarding theology, practice, social issues, communication and Quaker history and distinctives. Quakers have a history of writing letters, essays, journals and books. The networked tools have made it easier to share ideas over a broad geographic area, as many Quakers today are blogging and are involved with online discussion borads and chatrooms. I also have a conversation with one of my SL Friends, who lives in Newfoundland, and who is very isolated from other Friends. She is interested in helping me support the First Day School and in building community amongst our participants in the SL Friends Meeting.


 * May 23:** Today I revisited the Ning site I maintain for the Friends Meeting in SL. Some spammers had gotten in and added some airline ticket and drug adds on a blog post. I cleaned those up and read a message from Ning announcing their new pricing policy. Ning is a user-generated web-based content management system, similar to foxtale.


 * May21**: I participated in the Friends Meeting in Second Life today. We had 13 people in worship. I clerked the meeting and our centering words for the day were in regards to joy. At the end of the meeting, I asked if any gathered there had interest in helping me get the "First Day School" for adult education on Friends history, faith and practice up and running in Second Life. One of my associates at George Fox has been developing a series of lessons that I hope to adapt for delivery in SL. An idea I have is to present this as an opportunity available to our participants in the Christian School Leadership program.


 * May 20**: I attended our quarterly meeting of the Christian School Leadership project, a grant-funded three year professional development and mentoring program for educational personnel in PK-12 Christian schools in the Northwest. I serve as the co-director of the project and this work has been the primary activity I have carried out as part of my sabbatical. We have used several web-based technologies to support our efforts, including moodle, a course management system; and iVocalize, an online conferencing tool. I am reflecting on whether I will ask for volunteers to participate in an experimental use of Second Life as a medium for meeting and sharing of information. More on this soon.

April 17: Formulating ideas for my project.

media type="file" key="02 Hurt.wma" width="300" height="45" Johnny Cash performing "Hurt"