The following is an excerpt from an academic paper I’ve been working on, hence the rather formal citations etc.

As a teacher of technology, I am very interested in the “new literacies” related to information management, often referred to as Information Literacy, Media Literacy, Digital Literacy, and Network Literacy. I recently read Judy Salpeter’s article, “Make Students Info Literate” in the May 22, 2008 issue of “Techlearning” magazine. In the article, Salpeter succinctly makes several points that I’ve been trying to make with colleagues for the last four years.

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When I read the first three paragraphs of The Teachers Mission, quoted below, I had to give a brief but hearty “Amen!”

This has been the case in my experience, particularly in my Communication Arts classroom, which is why I jumped at the opportunity to move into the Technology teaching position. As a radical constructionist, who strongly believes in providing an authentic experience for students where they “think critically, solve problems, analyze sources, make good judgments. gather, sort, internalize, and share information with others” (The Teacher’s Mission). As I made the transition from a class centered on PSSA Preparation to one built around multimedia authoring, Internet research, online collaboration, and desktop publishing, I experienced a welcome role-shift from what I had been so uncomfortable with in my CA classroom since the NCLB change back to the complex, multi-faceted role of Radical Teacher. I’ve never been able to succinctly capture this role in language. Typically, I have referred people to multiple articles and resources on the web by people like Alfie Kohn. As I read the material from Simkins, Cole, Tavalin, and Means (2002), I was provided with a very accurate word picture of what it is I do, or at the very least attempt, in the classroom, which is more than guide on the side. Incidentally, they did not have a magical term to sum this up, but rather triangulated the position of this concept by attacking it from multiple sides.

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Okay, I need to rant a little bit. For once, the impetus of my ire is Apple, and not Microsoft. Of course, what I have to say applies to all proprietary companies period.

As computers become faster, operating systems are becoming more and more bloated. Those who are interested in efficiency, are either switching to linux distributions that run lighter and faster consuming fewer resources, or if you’re not a complete geek (or ninja hacker as it were), to somethng like Windows 2000.

Also, some of us have heard of a little thing called the digital divide, which is more that just haves and have-nots. Just as underemployment is as serious as unemployment when it comes to job outlooks, the age of one’s hardware must be considered as well. Many folks can’t run XP or OSX, let alone Vista or Leopard.

Okay, so what does any of this have to do with my current state of chagrin? Apple’s QuickTime 7.2 for Windows was released July 11, 2007 and there’s already been a security update for it. Apple added support for Windows Vista but dropped it for Windows 2000. Ironically, Apple has dropped support for a version of Windows that Microsoft is still supporting. Is Apple suddenly trying to increase Microsoft’s profits? Is there some good reason why it is difficult to run Quicktime on WIn2K? There is a similar situation with Itunes. The Itunes store no longer functions on our old version, and the new version won’t install on my Ubuntu box or my win2k Vbox. This really makes my wife happy, let me tell you. For some reason, all the songs she bought from Apple have stopped playing, pending a sync with Itunes store, which we can’t access.

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In August 2007, the National School Boards Association released Creating & Connecting, a study of children’s use of online social networking. The study shows that the majority of American youth polled (ages 9-17) report they spend “almost as much time using social networking services and Web sites as they spend watching TV.” Remarkably, students report their activities as being anything but passive, and that they are likely to “engage in highly creative activities on social networking sites.” The recent PEW/Internet report Teens and Social Media (December 2007) affirms and extends the findings of the NSBA report. It states, “The use of social media—from blogging to online social networking to creation of all kinds of digital material—is central to many teenagers’ lives.” The kids are already there, connected, and teachers and parents need to accept this fact.

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A great man has died today.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87901434

Gygax, ‘Dungeons and Dragons’

Co-Creator, Dies

Listen Now [3 min 55 sec]

With co-creator Dave Arneson, E. Gary Gygax developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. Gygax died Monday at age 69. AP/Family photo

All Things Considered, March 4, 2008 · Imagine a mournful horn echoing across thousands of fantasy worlds: E. Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, died Wednesday morning. He was 69.

Gary Gygax was an icon to fans of the game, many of whom would show up at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis.

What began as a fantasy game published in book form in the early 1970s, eventually morphed and tumbled onto kitchen tables and dorm room floors. Players assumed the character of elves and dwarves, magicians and swordsmen, and confronted the primal conflict between good and evil.

“D&D,” as fans call it, is the granddaddy of popular online games that attract hundreds of thousands of gamers to the Internet today.

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“I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two world wars, and countless smaller ones on three continents. I’ve led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I’ve seen the headwaters of the Nile and tribes of natives no white men had ever seen before. I’ve won and lost a dozen fortunes, killed many men, and loved only one woman with a passion a flea like you could never begin to understand. That’s who I am.”  (Hub McCann, Second Hand Lions)

Uncle Hub, from the film Second Hand Lions, is everything that makes men say, “that’s awesome!  That’s a man!”  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot about this character tat reflects a sense of being lost and lacking purpose that I don’t aspire to, but he does know who he is.  If someone were to ask me the question, “Who are you?”, I am often unsure of how I would respond.  I’ve been thinking about this more and more being a new father, knowing that I too must give the “What Every Boy Needs to Know About Being a Man” speech.

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I was watching a bit of Public TV on a recent weekend, because I’m a dork who loves public television.  I was watching Martin Yan’s China.  This is basically a cooking show in which Yan visits locations in China, gives you a bit of cultural and geographical history and then cooks a local dish.  This particular week he was high in the mountains of southern China, visiting beautiful Lugu Lake, where women rule the roost. A seven-hour drive from the nearest major city, the people of this region are known for both their hospitality and their food.  You get the idea. 

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“Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Education and free discussion are the antidotes of both.” Thomas Jefferson

“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”  Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit our nation’s capital for the first time.  I have never considered myself a great patriot, but the visit instilled me with a sense of awe at the great men and women who founded this nation.  I was also left with a sense of righteous indignation at what our country was and what it has become.  On one hand, like so many US Citizens at this time, much of my disappointment is leveled at our current administration.  Let’s face it, in the course of eight years, we’ve managed to make real jerks of ourselves around the world.  That said, on the other hand it’s easy to see that we’re going down the tubes culturally as well.  I really couldn’t put my finger on it, until this morning.  A colleague handed me a copy of the Post over my morning coffee containing Susan Jacoby’s editorial, “The Dumbing Of America: “Call Me a Snob, but Really, We’re a Nation of Dunces”.  If you haven’t read this article, get off of my blog, and go read it now.

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Okay, today I want to address one Elephant in the room, that big “global-warming-destruction-of-the-earth-as-we-know-it” thing. Basically, we’ve passed the point where there is any debate at all that it is indeed happening.  The climate is changing, and it’s going to equate to a bit more than minor discomfort for most of us.  The thing is, I don’t think our society locally or globally is willing to undergo a little discomfort now to prevent severe tragedy later.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of folks are doing their parts.  You may be one of them.  Maybe you use cloth grocery bags, high efficiency light bulbs, or maybe you even drive a hybrid.  That’s just awesome.  Incidentally, when was the last time you had a cheeseburger? 

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Okay, I’m usually not one for posting someone else’s writing on my blog, but I have to share this one.  Tim Pirolli has pretty hit the nail on the head with a very sarcastic hammer when it comes to how I feel about the pervasive professional sports obsession in our culture.

This was so brilliant that I had to share it here, lest it pass into obscurity when the Onion updates their site and removes this editorial from the free section. Enjoy:

Professional Sports Is Very Interesting

By Tim Pirolli
January 30, 2008 | Issue 44•05 Have you ever noticed how interesting professional sports is? If there’s one topic that I enjoy spending hours thinking about and ruminating upon, that is it. Every match or round or game is an endless source of deep and satisfying contemplation. I never tire of watching a player rounding the bases, crossing the threshold into the end zone, or beating another professional athlete into unconsciousness, and then obsessively dissecting and analyzing every detail. A night spent speculating on the outcome of a sporting event—Will the first team win? Or will it be the second?—is the most intellectually stimulating evening I can imagine.

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