Code.org’s recent video featuring tech innovators (Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg) and celebrities (Will.i.am) exhorts mainstream Muggles to learn to code. It reminded me of a discussion I had on the subject at an educational technology conference a few years ago. I was teaching a Web publishing class at the time and happened to mention that my students were not allowed… Read more →
Who would have thought a class on ethics would trigger a “pome” but that’s what happened when I worked on the assignment for this week: Describe who we are as a class based on our individual narratives as people and professionals (view Persona Professionale for mine) . I had to save it for posterity . Who are we, this class… Read more →
We are narrating our “stories” as part of a reflective exercise in my Ethics class this semester. This week’s assignment was to provide a sense of our professional personas. As usual, mine turned into a deeply reflective exercise, but whatever. So here goes, apropos of nothing I feel as though I should be singing “I’ve been everywhere” given my rather… Read more →
It seems aprospos to commence DigiWriMo and AcWriMo by defining my goals and strategy/strategies that will help me succeed. However, given that I am a constructivist learner, things could shift and morph along the way. Diving in head first without at least looking at the lay of the land doesn’t seem smart either, so here we go! Goals This is… Read more →
You know how long distance runners talk about getting into rhythm and finding their stride? Well, that’s basically what year 2 at Docwarts felt like. Year one, all my professional and prior academic experience notwithstanding, I very much felt the noob. I had to contend with a whole new lexicon, think in a whole new way – bet I created… Read more →
In a class conversation on what is/isn’t research, one aspect that emerged time again was that research requires reliable sources of information. This typically implies scholarly sources such as a peer-reviewed article, and to a lesser degree, articles from reputed periodicals and newspapers. The emphasis of course, is on “reliability”. However, we now live in an era of digital creation… Read more →
Ever notice what happens when you mention “literature review” to a group of doctoral students? More often than not, brows furrow, foreheads get sweaty, eyes glaze over…you get the picture . I was no different, but I was bound and determined to conquer the beast!. So I did what is probably second nature to a PhD student: Researched the process… Read more →
Caveats: This is more a stream of consciousness/mind dump post at this stage; the goal is to get my initial thoughts and impressions out while they are still fresh in my mind. My first impression of AERA 2011 was of how big it was. With 33,000 participants and I suspect about 600+ presentations – the session program was a tome… Read more →
Wednesday’s #phdchat session on Wednesday focused on academic writingWednesday. Although I have been in academia for about a decade now, first as student, then as professional, and now back as student again, I’ve never really seriously reflected on “academic writing”. As a former journalist, writing came easy, and I love the research process – in fact, taming the research fiend… Read more →
A doctoral degree is about becoming a specialist in a subject area, right? Yes, and no. The PhD process, and education in general, for that matter, is not just about subject matter expertise, it is also about building a tool set that will serve in you whatever you do. Curiosity, listening, exploring, these are just some of the qualities that should be in any doctoral student, and lifelong learner’s toolbox.
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