Holidays and Grandparenthood

This Christmas we went to see and stay with my niece and her husband who just had triple bypass surgery and is slowly recovering. It was a time of people coming in and out, opening gifts and holiday babble so steady it was hard to follow every conversation. There were little ones tearing open presents while their mothers sat down with them and examined each present with childlike glee, as if it was given to them instead of the child. There was no cat or dog left without a stocking filled with gifts. All of these scenarios were unfolding next to a glorious Christmas tree watching over the family scene, while logs burned in the fire place and the love was so real you could actually touch it. Then there was the food: roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables and salad, on Christmas eve. The Christmas ham was cooked for much of the day and was succulent and satisfying. Scalloped potatoes, salad and vegetables graced a beautifully decorated table with a small tree presiding over the corner of the dining room. Dessert, pumpkin pie, will not be mentioned! Of course it all went to my hips and thighs…sigh.

Somewhere in all this love and confusion came the moment when my niece was told she was the “world’s best grandmother;” and her husband, “the best grandfather” in the world, or at least their world. Since my family is somewhat distant and hostile, at least part of it is, this left me wondering just what I did right or maybe wrong. First of all, I never wanted to be the traditional grandmother. I wanted to define that role for myself, quite apart from what my mother and society thought it should be. I am not quite a boomer and was born pre-boomer by a few years, only. So, I have identified with them and they keep joining me (age wise) at an alarming rate. I think they too have tried to redefine grandparenthood, especially because of the changing family structures and blended families and court decisions.

I have not let my hair go gray and I keep exercising in order to remain active. I am hoping to start a career of teaching on line and I am in college to accomplish that dream. I do not dress like my mother did; nor do I think like she did, although she was a progressive thinker for her time. She flew in her seventies, dressed like women slightly younger than herself and was a pre-feminist thinker and worked until she was 69. My mother dyed her hair a respectable color until she was close to eighty and travelled by airplane or train, when she could, to meet with her grandchildren when it was too far to drive. Yes, she was a modern grandmother and redefined her role as a grandmother outside of the guidelines of her generation. She was in essence ahead of her time. As for me, I am not certain where I fit in all this.

It seems given all this history, I went wrong somewhere. Some of my grandchildren do not know me. My values clashed with the values of some of my children and sometimes society; but especially the conservative elements in the Catholic Church at that point in time. Like many grandparents today, my children punished me for all the perceived mistakes I made by keeping my grandchildren from me. There is nothing as painful as having grandchildren and not being able to have contact with them. Even worse is the punishment of having no grandparental rights. Thus some of my grandchildren may never know me and believe me to be a terrible mother and grandmother. Of course this hurts the most and it was suppose to, since it was my punishment for not conforming to their standards and ideas of what I “should be or have been.” I did not teach them this point of view.

Grandparents do not have rights and in fact unless you have a history of a relationship with your grandchildren, you are seldom allowed to override the parents’ wishes on the matter. Much of the family history dies with the grandparents and the unconditional love grandparents give are denied to many children in the United States. The courts do not recognize the rights of a grandparent; and this message is being given to thousands and thousands of younger people who must grow up never knowing them and hearing their side of the story. Sadly this position towards grandparental rights may have consequences far beyond what we understand today. This may be one of the undesirable effects of nuclear families, blended families and divorced parents and deceased parents due to war losses. The only real victims are the American children distanced from the unconditional love and care grandparents give them.

There was a fairly happy ending to my story. My ex-son-in-law gave me permission to speak with my granddaughter and grandson this year 2010. I found my granddaughter on line and even though her mother, my oldest daughter, did not want the contact she is not the custodial parent. My grandchildren’s father stated his parents rejected his children and would not see or meet with them. He wanted them to know their maternal grandmother. But most of all, my 17 year old granddaughter wanted me to get to know her and her brother, after 17 years apart. My Christmas message to all grandparents suffering the alienation of their grandchildren this Christmas is things change, so never give up! If a higher power exists, the immutable can be changed. The U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t have power over that power.



To my grandchildren who have been alienated from me, I send this message both about my love for your mother and my love for you. Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is child abuse as is grandparental alienation syndrome.

Hey! Whats the Fuss?

What is this Holiday Season really all about? Some 2000 years ago three astrology practicing Kings or wise men believed a Great King was born. A star in the sky led them to him. They believed he was a mighty King of Kings and brought rare and expensive gifts to his Mother and Father for this newborn boy. King Herod learning of this birth was so upset he had all Jewish newborn males killed to put this competition to rest, once and for all time.

A small child born where they kept animals is still remembered by Christians today. Their greatest of earthly and Heavenly Kings born in a humble place where animals grazed and shepherds watched their flocks. There was no castle, no rich robes, no royalty present, only shepherds and animals staring in awe at a small baby boy born to a young Jewish woman and her carpenter husband. So, what is all the fuss?

Let us assume that the Christians are correct and He was the promised Messiah. What exactly did He do during his short life on earth? If we believe the writings about this, He taught the fine points of His religious beliefs to others. He cured the sick and raised the dead. He was kind and gentle toward the people He encountered in need. He helped His followers or anyone who came to Him when they needed to be feed or healed. He asked his followers to do good deeds and love their brothers and sisters. He told them, when asked, that in every person rested His Father’s Kingdom. He told them that whatever they did to the least of God’s people, they did to Him. His followers likened Him to the Gentle Shepherd, protecting His sheep from the wolves and other animals of the night.

To the Jewish leadership of his time, he was a man among many men claiming to be the Messiah. He was apparently not believed; eventually he was put to death. It does not appear that he killed anyone, nor did he seem to hurt others. But his words were so powerful; the enemies he faced felt it necessary to put him to death. How tragic if he really was and is the King of Kings. What does that tell us about us?

So we ask why this innocent child made such an impression on others. If He was the King of Kings, why did He not use his power to show others who He really was? He had created the heavens and earth and could have worked wonders beyond any mankind had seen before. He did none of these things. He left it up to each of us to believe or disbelieve just who He was and why He came to us in a quiet and humble way, only to be remembered throughout these 2000+ years.

The boy grown to a man taught, healed, forgave and led a life that He asked us to emulate. I don’t think He meant for us to live in our warm houses and attend services on His Birthday in richly furnished warm churches, while others live in the cold without a home. While traditions are wonderful and the concept of Santa Claus and all the trimmings of Christmas and parties and expensive gifts give us great pleasure and joy…what does He see if He is the King of Kings? How well have we learned the lessons He taught us when children go to bed hungry and without a roof over them for the night? No matter how much we give the need is still greater and some have so much more than others. Just how uncomfortable are we willing to be so another might come in from the cold and find shelter as His mother did so many years ago? Is a place to keep animals the best we can do? Are tents enough?

Each day I work at the EDVP, I hear women with children ask for housing only to be told, “…there is no room at the Inn.” How long will we as a people believers and non-believers turn our eyes away when these cries go unanswered? Our governor in Washington has washed her hands and lamented that we must cut services to the most vulnerable of our society. Christmas eve she will be tucked in her bed, like most of us, warm, safe and waiting for our families to celebrate with us on Christmas day. Yet the needy are our family members as well. If we knew that each of them may be the King of Kings or Heavens Child or God Himself; would we still treat them this way? Would we be the ones to say, “…there is no room…” What is this Holiday really all about?

It seems to me it is about a simple word…love, followed up with another rather elusive word…peace. Can we hope to find peace if we cannot seem to fully comprehend the word love? Looking into the face of a newborn, any newborn so dependent on us, we must conclude this child may have already told us what it is all about. It is possible God came to us, to be one of us, to teach us about mankind and what we need to do to reach the goals set out for us in His teachings. Did we listen?

Now for the fun!! The digital Story of the birth of this child.

Last Minute Thoughts and Reflections

It is the end of the quarter and this is the last blog of the course, before moving on to the Winter Quarter for Essentials of eLearning challenge. Working with Ella, Rob and Yen on the project for the course was probably the best experience I had. Ella is a lively Millennial and digital learner and is a joy to listen to and work with. She added youth, life and insight into the minds of today’s young women and I loved it! Both Yen and Rob are community college instructors and they gave me insights into what they teach and how their students react to different programs and projects within their classrooms. Also, Rob’s knowledge of video and interviews was most interesting. He made it all seem easy. Yen’s presentation in Prezi was amazing. She turned to me in the last class and said, “…you know so much.” But the truth was, as I watched what she was developing for her class, I could just simply sit there and marvel at her knowledge and abilities. So, my comment to her is, oh ditto Yen, you know so much!

As for Bob, Amy and Samantha, I never had the opportunity to work with them on a project. I regret that! Amy presented a Voice Thread to die for. I still smile when I think of her topic on the history of toilets. Her genius is quirky and fun. Bob and I connected on his classes on world music. Since I have a band and love music, I enjoyed his presentations and discussions in the class. Samantha is my special delight. She has been a follower of Florence Nightingale, one of the women I have used as a role model. Her sense of humor and insights were special. Her respect for life and willingness to help others is, as the military would say, “…above and beyond the call of duty.”

Finally, our instructors Sam and Norma worked to bring us a rich and challenging course, which was appreciated. Since this certification is new, there will be a lot of changes as time goes by and I wish I was there for all of them. The instructor and professor duo brings to mind episodes of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Okay, you say, Bellevue College is not “Paradise Island” home of the Amazon women; but with a little imagination one has to admit there is some truth in realizing an Amazon woman, in the comics and TV series as portrayed by Wonder Woman, brings hope, change and makes the United States a better place to live. Not to mention, Wonder Woman brought a strong female presence as a role model to young women of the 40s and beyond.

So Norma you can unlease your wonder woman and continue to bring us astonishing results during the program, as you have done so far. As for Steve, well maybe that was stretching it a bit...sorry Sam, no offense intended. But you have to admit Sam, you are a talented professor and it is my pleasure to call you Dr. Sam. You earned that title! As for Steve Trevor, eventually he was portrayed in some final issues as a four star general and/or Deputy Secretary of Defense. Interpretation, he became highly successful and Wonder Woman and Steve were never an item, just partners of sorts.



So, I close this chapter on my heroes ( male & female), fantasies and dreams for justice in America and American education. Yet, I do feel secure that I am getting a rock solid education from instructors like Sam and Norma, because they have allowed us creativity and independence of thought, while we engaged in eLearning. "The End" until the new season begins (tongue in cheek).

Learning in the Introduction to eLearning Course and Next Steps

It was a long road to the end of this quarter. I am still struggling to complete the tasks and wrap up all the loose ends. We had our last course session on Tuesday. I had worked to place a power point presentation within Elluminate and create a Wiki, since I do not have access to a LMS application. Learning all of these technologies was easy until it came time to present it. Of course nothing worked like it should have and I have had to redo everything I did for the presentation. I am including the presentation for your viewing. There is no audio.



We are supposed to create an eportfolio using our blog. However, I found an eportfolio site on Google and used it because it had more space. Unfortunately it did not allow me to embed the sites or if it did I still have not figured out how to do it. I will present that site in my next blog. It is going to take some doing to get it done and completed in time for our deadline of December 8, 2010.

One of the technologies I hope to introduce students to use is the Glogster application. It is easy to use and for those students who hate to blog, it is a perfect way to display what they have learned and would like to present to the class on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I am entering my Glogster presentation for you to view. It is on the topic of Aging in America. The You Tube video was done most probably by a student who used some rather interesting words to describe discrimination and may have fallen victim to the concept himself.



Well it is obvious I like pressure, pain and the Joys of eLearning because I have registered for the next course the” Essentials of eLearning.” The course explains that it is for instructors or students who want to learn how to teach on line exclusively or in a blended environment. We were introduced to the instructor Jennifer D on the section in this course devoted to Personal Learning and Networking Environments. She is a knowledgeable woman; and I cannot wait to see what challenges she will present in this course. I have purchased and received one of the two course texts and suddenly realized I had no idea what they are about. I am not certain if they are even written in English! Okay, I am a bit nervous blended with excitement and resignation.

The motivation for all of this eLearning is my desire to teach. I simply could not face teaching in a University when I left the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It seemed like the most boring thing to do on the face of the earth. My advisor at the University of Utah, to this day, feels like the emphasis on publishing is the most important requirement and the excellence of teaching means little or nothing to the University system. Quite the opposite is true in a college environment, where teaching is the main focus. So, I have packed my tools into my virtual briefcase and set out on this journey with hope and determination. As I am looking from side to side, I do not see many of my classmates in this course walking in the same direction…am I going down the wrong path? I don’t think so!

Our Group Presentation on Creative Commons and Licenses:

Creating a Small Focused Learning Module

What a challenge this week was. I was the one praying for the ice and snow. As a result, I had the whole week off to create my presentation. The first thing I had to do was to decide on a topic. I had one for an earlier module; but I decided it would not lend itself to the module I was creating. The course I have begun to create is called, New Ideas Regarding: Aging and Retirement in America. Since I did not have access to a Learning Management System, I had to think how I could present this course without one. It started out as a Microsoft document. After emailing Sam, it quickly turned into a Power Point presentation. I have never used Power Point before! Sam…how you have challenged me, I am absolutely certain I will be divorced by the time this course is over…okay not really. But I know I am aging faster than I was before this course. I think my intimate other has heard some interesting and creative combinations of obscenities this week.

Once I moved the text from a Word document to a Power Point, I had to search for the video and blogs, etc, to present in the module. I knew the module would need an introduction to the course Module. So, after driving Norma crazy with my emails, while her power was out during the “Deep Freeze,” I realized I would need to somehow get this presentation on Elluminate. While I was at my niece’s house trying to enjoy Thanksgiving, my mind was on how to get an Elluminate session I could use to put my presentation on. While everyone else in the house was fast asleep, I was on the computer reading about Elluminate and how to work it. Their cat, barred from entering our sleeping area, sat in the door frame first thing the next morning while I was on the computer turning his head from side to side and slyly looking at me like I had lost my mind. I suddenly remembered why I wasn’t fond of cats.

On Friday, after the cat let me know what he thought of me, I knew I had to get home to write all this up and place it into Elluminate. Even though my niece’s ex-husband was a WA State Trooper, I made it home in record time…under an hour from Bonney Lake to Redmond never once realizing I was probably driving above the required speed limit on the interstate. Taking the time to warm our house from 55 degrees to 68, I sat down at the computer and read Rob’s entries into Wiki Space on our discussion page.

Thinking to myself, if he can do this, I can…I set out to put my course information into the Wiki. To my dismay, I actually accomplished that task and managed to get one usable recorded session in Elluminate, after five tries. Then, looking into my course mail, I saw Sam was setting up a session in something called dimdim for those of us who might have questions on this assignment or were a little dimdim, which I was. After it was over, I was very glad that dimdim helped this dumdum finish with her entries into Wiki and Elluminate.

After 6 hours of sleep last night…I hope to get some down time and rest this evening and make amends to my husband for teaching him words no self-respecting person should use and for being somewhere else during Thanksgiving. Now all I have left to do this week, since somehow I managed to clean my house, is figure out a way to get rid of all this turkey and pumpkin pie inside me that seems to be sliding slowly toward my tummy and thighs. They say eating is a way one comforts oneself. I can attest to that!

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

New Ideas in eLearning Education: Storytelling and Gaming

This week was an interesting study in which direction educators are heading in.  Telling a story, especially a personal story in a digital media for public consumption is a powerful tool.  Not only can you tell a story using digital media, but gaming industries are working very hard to develop games that tell a story.  The following video is a bit long.  My suggestion is to move to the storytelling part if you find the dialogue too boring.

We all have stories to tell.  The most intriguing part of digital storytelling is the fact that finally we can tell them in a way that stimulates others to listen.  I can relate to the story told in the video, because I was a high school dropout.  I left school after my tenth grade year.  A few years later I took a GED test and received the equivalent of a high school diploma.  After two failed marriages and mothering five children, I went to a local state employment agency where I was given a series of tests.  At the end, of this skills testing program, I was told, “…you can be anything you want to be…”  There is a tremendous power in those words.  I was thirty three years old with 6 children to bring up; but I had the one thing that gave me the power to continue for the next nine years…hope.

I managed to get funding at my local college, St Cloud State University, through a government program and began my educational journey for the next nine years.  I earned my Associates Degree there.  I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and was accepted into a Sociology program at the University of Utah.  I entered the Honors Program; finally, I earned my Bachelor’s of Science degree, with scholastic honors.  After completing my sociology degree with a focus of study in Criminology, I changed my major to Political Science and two years later earned my Master of Science degree, with honors.   I applied to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was rejected for a doctoral candidacy.

I moved to Wisconsin and entered a program of personalized special studies at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse, in order to write a research paper.  It took me one year to complete my study of my research topic and to write that paper.  Once it was written, I presented it to a three professor committee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was accepted into their doctoral program in the Political Science Department.  Unfortunately, life happened and while I completed my course work, I never finished my oral testing and doctoral thesis.  However, in spite of all that hardship and not being able to complete my studies for my doctorate, I still had one thing left…hope.  One kernel of insight and wisdom by a state educator, years ago, prompted me to continue my life seeking to be educated.  But, I had found education boring in my early years in high school…and did not want to teach.  One day I walked into a class in eLearning and found my passion.

I could not end this blog until I introduced a video on storytelling and gaming.  The gaming industry is beginning to find that storytelling in games has its purpose. Today educators can incorporate this digital media into the classroom in a new and innovative way to stimulate the minds of the digital learners of today.  I hope you enjoy these presentations.

Personal Learning Networks and Personal Learning Environments: Creating My Own & Sharing

 As some of you may know, I work as a volunteer in a Domestic Violence Program as a Crisis Line Advocate.  Every Thursday morning, I get out of bed early and drive to the secure location to listen to women in crisis, who are the victims and survivors of domestic violence (DV) on the Eastside.  Today is Veteran’s Day and it brings back the memories of the women on Ft. Lewis, Washington and Fort McCoy, Wisconsin I have worked with.  In the 1980’s there were very few shelters and even less funds available.  Yet, the women I worked for, and with, in these shelters showed me what “courage and strength” really are.  Sadly, they will never get the medals they deserve…especially the Purple Heart. What is even worse is the fact that some of them are no longer with us and never will be again.

In the 1980’s when shelters were just beginning to get the support they needed, I wrote letters to local, state and federal representatives and worked the crisis lines for a Domestic Violence Shelter and the Suicide Crisis Line (they were located together then) in the state of Wisconsin.  Because I was a military family member, I worked for the rights of abused survivors of DV, because many of them were military family members too.  While the military had programs to handle the problem of abusive soldiers, commanding officers did not take these cases seriously and often did not apply the sanctions the military required.  I had the experience of seeing this happen on Fort Lewis, now Joint Base Lewis and McCord, when I worked on the fort and was a volunteer at the YWCA shelter in Tacoma, in the 80s as well.

I would like to share a poem I ran across in a blog today.  It speaks volumes about what I see and hear every Thursday.  Unfortunately, I did not know when I took it off the blog it was copyrighted by the author in 1991.  The poem is as follows (any additions, deletions, mistakes or paraphrases are mine) :

I Got Flowers Today

It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day.  We had our first argument [fight] last night, and he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.  I know he’s sorry and didn’t mean the things he said, because he sent me flowers today.  It wasn’t our anniversary or any other special day.

Last night he threw me into a wall and started to choke me.  It seemed like a nightmare.  I couldn’t believe it was real.  I woke up this morning bruised and sore all over.  I know he must be sorry because, he sent me flowers today and it wasn’t Mother’s Day or any special day.

Last night he beat me up again, and it was much worse than all the other times.  If I leave him what will I do?  How will I take care of my kids?  What about money?  I am afraid of him and scared to leave [he gets really angry when I think about it].  But I know he must be sorry, because he sent me flowers today.  I got flowers today…

Today was a very special day.  It was the day of my funeral.  Last night he finally killed me.  He beat me to death.  If only I had gathered the courage and strength to leave him.  I would not have gotten flowers today [I know he’s not sorry, because I got flowers today]. 

                                                       By  Allen W. Dowdell, Copyright 1991

The following facts were taken from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence web site.  Most cases of DV go unreported.  In the US, less than one fifth of DV victims/survivors reported injuries suffered at the hands of their intimate partners and/or sought medical treatment.  Annually, there are circa 16,800 DV homicides; and 2.2 million DV victim/survivors sought medical treatment at a cost of 37 billion dollars.  Forty to forty-five percent of sexual assault occurs in DV relationships.  Most cases of DV are never reported.   Children witnessing DV are more likely to" transmit violent behavior to the next generation."  

The city of Seattle has proposed a circa 1 million dollar cut in funds to DV shelters and Rape Victim Programs.  Our shelter and program will lose circa 160,000 thousand dollars.  In Seattle of the 1-6 thousand homeless people in the city, 80% are victims/survivors of DV and their children.

The following video was taken from YouTube.  There is some controversy as to whether Allen W. Dowdell was the Author of this poem.  I have included the above video as a link. 

Learning Management Systems

Our challenge for this week’s module was Learning Management Systems (LMS).  At first I wondered where I might run to get away from this assignment.  I started a list of excuses like I developed a case of hives or broke a body part and would have to take an incomplete until they cleared up and/or healed.  Then I realized I was working as the campus switchboard operator and this excuse would never work.  After toying with the thought a bit longer, I decided it was time to take the “the bull by the horns” and do the darned assignment.  I found that I had to choose a LMS to work with.  Well as luck would have it, all Minnesota Universities (Minnesota is  my home state, until the liquid in my eyes froze on campus going from building to building one winter and I moved) use Desire2Learn Learning System (D2L).  I am linking the introduction on the features and how to use this LMS, since it is the next best thing to using it yourself as a student or instructor.

One of the questions we were supposed to answer was what the function of a LMS is.  It is an on line classroom.  It is where the course materials are posted, course content is contained, interactions and communications between students and the instructor happen and grades are posted, all within cyberspace parameters. The most important function of a LMS is to bring elearning material and people together in a learning environment that stimulates academic growth and creatively.  The tools that help student and instructors get the course materials presented, learned and internalized are: asynchronous and synchronous discussion boards; chat rooms; voice threads; blog sites or capabilities; instant messaging devices; and email capabilities that direct messages to one person or to a whole group working on project. Also, message notifications draw attention to messages received and unread.

Probably one of the best features of D2L is its ability to allow access with mobile devices.  This tool brings the LMS to every place the student and instructor are located in the real world and enables them to communicate with one another in new and more complete way.  For example have you ever had an idea, when you were sitting in a park watching the autumn leaves fall around you, and found yourself without paper and pen or cell phone to record the brilliant pearl of wisdom you want to share with your fellow students or your students?  Making mobile gadgets that are compatible with D2L resolves that problem.  In our highly mobile world, our gadgets and cell phones connect us to each other in a new and innovative way.  With D2L we are not just using our cell phone for business or a medium for social networking; we can now do our homework and respond to chats and discussion groups from anywhere.

So, we ask have we finally arrived at the perfect LMS site.  Judging from what my fellow students have said in our discussions, LMS systems are still cumbersome, slower than desired and difficult to learn and navigate, compared to some social media sites: Facebook; My Space; and the list goes on.  The most useful tools are places that allow us to communicate and work on group projects.  While I am not knowledgeable enough to know much about assessment, I think it is difficult to create a system that actually measures what is learned in a meaningful and thorough way.  This may be something that is missing and needs further study and research.  Or as Michael Feldstein wrote in Desire 2 Learn Competencies and Rubrics: Part 1”…what are the most important outcomes of an education?”  Can we competently assess what students are learning?  How useful is an LMS system, even with all the bells and whistles and gadgets LMS systems have today, when it comes to assessing learning outcomes and student needs?

Trends for the 21st Century in eLearning

This week the topic was local, state and federal trends in eLearning.  I seemed to get stuck at the federal level.  Since the U.S. Department of Education’s study in 1996 -2008, the United States is actively seeking to encourage educators to seriously make an effort to learn on line teaching techniques and technologies.  The report concluded that blended on line courses were the most successful in engaging students.  They stated the least effective mode of teaching was the face-to-face classroom.  In a Seven Step Plan, the Department of Education stated teachers must have the opportunity to gain eLearning skills and students need the experience of taking on line courses.  In fact educators have at their hands a way to engage students, not just in our cities, states and country; but globally. 

As we as educators  continue to learn the tools of the trade in eLearning, we have the ability to job train a whole new generation in jobs that do not exist yet.  The illiterate and unskilled can be reached from the universities and colleges in the United States, through the World Wide Web.  The possibilities are unlimited when we use the rich technologies at hand and those that will be developed in the next five to ten years.  Not only will educators be able to teach on line; but there is a call to make virtual libraries and textbooks available to on line learners.  Stretching one’s imagination even farther, we may see the day when we will no longer need to use paper or classrooms to teach students worldwide.

In an article called, “The power of the internet for learning ,” it states that the government set out to learn, from virtual hearings, what the Web had to offer today’s students.  They listened to educators from many states and, even, the U.S. Army.  What they found out was the young people of today have stated they want to use the Web to communicate with the world.  They stated, “… the internet is uncharted territory…” and urged the government to put necessary protections in place.  Without funding, they stated Web learning’s full potential would not be realized.  Finally they made it clear that eLearning is not just a fad.  It is a tool that must be used to bring student learning into the 21 century.

The U.S. Army clearly understands the need to educate soldiers in the newest high tech weapon systems.  Tomorrow’s world has seen new virtual war-fighting weaponry and missions. A good example of this technology is unmanned aircraft.  As a result of this type of weaponry, the U.S. Army is offering on line training to their soldiers and hopes to build the largest on line educational program in the world, per the article cited above.  Educated soldiers are the backbone of the military and today’s weaponry makes education and training on line absolutely necessary.  Since the nature of the battlefield is changing at a rapid pace, new methods of training and educating soldiers is critical. On line media and games offer the methods the military is exploring and has been implementing. Today’s colleges and universities are compelled to bring the latest technologies to their students, as well, and to keep pace with the military in the virtual reality of cyberspace and on line teaching...better know as eLearning.

Educators, Digital Learners and New Technologies in the 21st Century

 This week a good deal of thought went into learning what the millennial or digital learners want to be taught and how.  Some common threads appeared in the writings about this new generation, about to enter colleges in the United States and worldwide in a few years.   They are very bright and multi-task like no other generation.  They are highly skilled at using internet technologies, especially social media, e.g., Face book, You Tube, My space, cell phones and any digital media that connects them to other humans in the U.S. and globally.  Their attention span is considerably shorter than other generations and they spend far less time reading from text books or books in general.  They have grown up with digital technologies and resent “powering down” from their computers and cell phones in order to attend class.  They are more self-confident and less likely to be as committed to their places of employment.  In their own words, they lack the morality and ethics of the older digital immigrants or their instructors.

Okay, we ask what does this have to do with the way they’re being taught in the classrooms of today.  I have sat in a class that was needed for a state certification for 3 hours, two nights a week for one month a few months ago.  About eighty-five percent of the learning was done using power points that were dry, colorless and tremendously boring.  Ten percent of the time was used in lecturing format.  Five percent was acting out different scenarios.  Questions were discouraged, unless asked directly by the instructors.  By the time the class was over, I was indeed enraged.  I can relate to how my grandchildren 17 and 18 must feel in this type of classroom.  As educators and future educators, we must listen when they tell us, “engage us or enrage us.” 

Last week we were asked to do a team motivated presentation in Creative Commons.   Once again, I felt the old anger coming on.  It lacked color, music and the very inventive qualities digital learners are telling educators they want to engage in.  If you want to leave them behind in our classrooms, continue using lecture, power point and a lack of digital creativity in your classes.   A large portion of digital learner’s day is spent texting, listening to iPods’ and socializing using digital media.  If we cannot reach them maybe it is time to change the way educators teach, the design of the classroom and by reading what our futurists are telling us will be new technologies in just five years.  

We were asked to participate in a Voice Thread this week.  I was thrilled to use this technology and began to think of ways it could be used in a classroom.  I read as much material as I could get my hands on regarding the ways this technology can be used in the classroom be it online or not.  It was exciting and fun.  It allowed one to really think about the response asked for by the instructor.  While it was still based on a power point concept and used with a bit of a lecture, it gave me the ability to use a new technology and take time to think, really think about the topic.  This seemed to be a step in the right direction, as was Creative Commons, Wiki and Diigo.  I am anxiously waiting for more information on these fun innovations, and I’m a bit sad the quarter is moving so fast.

Copyright Law and Creative Commons

I am sitting down to write this blog and trying to figure out if Dr. Sam is a Wizard.  I suppose, one could look at that in one of two ways: a.) a person who practices magic or sorcery; or b.) a person of amazing skill or accomplishment.  Like beauty, I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.   Whatever you might think should you know him, our lesson was a real challenge.  Having spent a good deal of my time taking courses in the law department at the University of Utah and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have come to hate lawyer jargon.  Much of what they say can be said succinctly, in a way the common or average man could understand.  If you doubt this try understanding Copyright Law, as it is written.

After reading a million or so words, it can all be boiled down to a few simple sentences.  Everything you see online that someone has drawn (art work), said or done ( I think this includes humming and doodling)…except maybe drawing a breath of air, is copyrighted and falls under the protection of the law.  The second lesson is very little of this material can be released, if any, unless you get permission to use it.  So given this situation, a section was added into the law that was suppose to give “fair use “to scholars, teachers and professors or others who would use it to teach, or in commentary and etc.  The problem with “fair use” is, if you have something you have found that you believe you could use to teach your class or use in your scholarly works, there is just so much of that work you can use.  For example, you may use 250 words of a poem or 1000 words of an essay, provided you have cited your source correctly or you have to be given permission by the author or creator and pay for it.

For those of you who have read my blog on First Amendment rights, it certainly seems like the primary reasons for copyright law is the dollar or money in a capitalist driven society and limiting access.  A closer look shows there is another aspect to this law…the limiting of free speech when it comes to the world of academia.  There was a way out of this box and god love the intellectuals and creative thinkers on the internet who came up with a licensing entity called Creative Commons.   The license tells the user what changes can be made in four simple license stipulations and bypasses the conservative terms of the original copyright law by going directly to the creator and getting permission.

Once more we are free to gather information on the internet, share in the creative commons application and become as creative as we want to be without worrying about the Copyright cops ruining our career or that of our students.  Dr. Sam did not create Creative Commons, but he led us to it and asked for a simple presentation we could create with other teammates.  I loved it and thought it was brilliant.  I think is was about that time I started wondering if he was a wizard...it does take a bit of magic to understand how all this works and then, to do it.

Finally, once I figured out one of my teammates was the administrator in Creative Commons (about 10-20 hours later) and I could not download directly to the presentation, things worked out pretty well (so far).  I would probably have helped organized the team effort better, in hindsight.  However I believe if you give people free rein, they will do what needs to be done without having to tell them what they need to do on a creative project.  I would make it a bottom line rule not to delete or not use what each team member contributes.  All team members are important contributors and any and every contribution creates the whole.  The wizardry in this is making it a collaborative whole with meaning and presentation.

1st Amendment Rights: Consequences of Using Cyberspace Technology on Future or Current Employment

There has been much discussion regarding the right to free speech in and out of the workplace, recently. I think many of us tend to believe we have certain rights in the workplace, when it comes to our personal conversations with another employee at work or at home. I think we believe we have free speech protections in our discussions of our employer or our workplace online in, chat rooms, blogs and emails, when we are not at work.  According to Bruce Barry in his book, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the Workplace, our First Amendment rights have been seriously eroded in all of these cyberspace places.  I find this rather " chilling " to use a term succinctly used  by Dr. Barry.  This leaves me wondering what free speech rights I still have, if any, and what the broader implications are.

In another article called, Fear vs Free Speech at Work, Dr. Barry tells the reader he is most concerned when someone gets fired for what they say in a blog, what is said on their bumper sticker or the content of their email, when it has little to do with the workplace or the person's employment.  He states, this sends a message to the employee, other employees and the outside world that your employer is  "...paying attention to your speech "...and may be censoring it even when it has nothing to do with your employment.  Dr. Barry goes on to say when you are employed " at will, " you are in danger of having your First Amendment right to the freedom of speech seriously compromised.  He adds, you have been employed " at will " and your employer needs no reason to fire you.  In fact, from this we can conclude, future employers may not hire you in the first place, after plugging your name into a search engine.

Being a proponent of our U.S. Constitutional Rights and Supreme Court decisions (whether I agree with those decisions or not), the First Amendment right to free speech is the most important.  I believe we must have this right to monitor our government, which is what our fore fathers told us must be done, because "we the people" must be ever watchful to keep our country free.  Democracy and freedom are at risk when we do not or cannot participate in our government.  Our valuable Free Speech needs to be upheld by the Supreme Court in its rulings; and reinforced in state legislation.  As it stands, however, we have lost many of our rights in the workplace and free speech seems to be one of them. Or this seems to be what many of us are experiencing in our lives or reading in the latest articles on free speech in the workplace.

Having experienced free speech abuses first hand in the workplace, I know the dangers of lawful free speech and its consequences, when your employer doesn't agree with you or feels threatened by what you have said.  I think it is time to protect " at will " employees with legislation, because employers are misusing their power in the workplace and there are many articles recently published that attest to this, including Dr. Barry's book, as I stated earlier.  Having said that, I do not believe employer abuses of free of speech  is  overwhelmingly wide spread.  I would need some rather intense academic statistical research and/or studies to confirm that fact.  Dr. Barry's book is only the beginning, I hope.  Nevertheless I do not like what I have experienced so far and what I have been reading on the subject, within the past five years.

In a previous blog, a relative wrote something on my Facebook page that was within his right to post.  Regardless of whether he was shocking in his comments, I respect his right to express his political beliefs.  In fact regardless of whether political comments are made on my Facebook or the world wide web, I uphold the rights of those in my country and in other countries to express their opinions and beliefs. Even when I know the dangers. I may not like what extremists or terrorists say in their blogs or on their websites, but I think democracy on the world wide web calls for freedom of expression whether we agree or not.  What we cannot say in a public forum may easily be said behind closed doors until it festers and gives rise to violent behaviors and/or revolution and war.

Of course all this depends on whether you believe in a concept of cyberspace democracy.  In an article, called, Free Speech v Terrorism on the Internet, an argument was being made regarding the right of terrorists to exercise their free speech freedoms ( if they have any) on the Internet and whether they should be regulated.  The argument was fundamentally debating whether terrorist organizations should be able to post their agendas online.  The question waiting for an answer is, who shall we censor and why.  Herein lies the real danger.  Once censorship begins, where does it end? Who gets to decide, regardless where that speech is taking place and whose speech it is, what can be said or not?  For what reason or reasons will this censoring be done?

In an interesting article on the subject of both national and international freedoms of speech on the web, posted by the Center for Democracy, Sophia Cope wrote in, Next President Must Preserve Free Speech on the Internet, that digital media deserves constitutional protections.  I would add to her observations and comments, that employees working " at will " need the same protections while using these technologies.  Neither of us are stating we think all words and/or thoughts should be protected.  However, we might want to consider the consequences of limiting speech in whatever media it occurs.  It may be time to ask ourselves, who will make the decisions regarding free speech limitations in cyberspace?  When we are using available technologies on the web, what entities are responsible for these censoring decisions?  What institution or person gets to limit speech when cyberspace speech crosses national boundaries and becomes transnational? 

In his article, Speechless at Work, Onnlesha Roychoudhuri states the U.S. Supreme Court seems to decide cases on free speech in favor of employers.  He goes on to cite cases that have been precedent setting prohibitions on employee speech in the workplace.  Clearly this does not bode well for the many employees in the United States who have witnessed their rights eroding and have been fired or sanctioned by their employer for using freedom of speech rights. This is especially true when this speech has been within the legal boundaries of the law or so they thought at the time. Maybe this is an issue all employees and web digital media users need to watch closely and consider. Why?  Because there seems to be a growing issue of transnationalism when workplaces and technologies become global. 

Incidentally, one of the most highly published and discussed cases involving  Daniel Ellsberg was recently aired on television.  Maybe it is time to consider Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers and the consequences of whistleblowing and free speech in the workplace in the past and in the future.  His case is an example of how suppressing free speech can endanger an entire country and world population.  Dr. Ellsberg has spoken at the universities I have attended.  At the time, I wasn't certain whether I considered him a "dangerous man " or a truly brave one.  Since revisiting the issue and the issues discussed in this blog, I am satisfied that if no other protections exist, we are still protected if we take up the cause of whistleblowing.  Naturally, we must be aware that to do so means we may no longer be working for that company or any other corporation, even though we have legal recourse and protections under the law.

I believe it was Hitler who wrote, "...those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." With those words in mind, since printed U.S. newspapers are giving way to Internet postings and blogs, U.S. corporate and governmental attempts to stop the truth (protected by national security agreements) from being leaked to the world's public has become a whole new issue because of advanced technology.  Closely tied to this problem is the issue of individual freedoms and who has them and who does not.  Will free speech in the workplace and in cyberspace change our world?  More importantly, will each of us change in ways we do not want and cannot foresee, simply because we have access to new technologies and cannot accurately  predict legalistic future trends and outcomes?

Netiquette: Flame Baiting and Flame Wars

This week the class was asked to read about net etiquette better known as Netiquette.  The class is comprised of professional people.  A few are teaching instructors at Lake Washington Technical College and Bellevue College.  But for those of us new to the scene of eLearning, we most probably needed to know or review the rules of etiquette online or in cyberspace.  Having taught third through twelfth grade Christian Doctrine classes for my local church for about 20 years, I thought I knew a bit about courtesy, ethics, religious values and professional behavior.  That was before I started to read the rules of internet etiquette written by Virginia Shea, in her book Netiquette.  

By the time I finished reading her ideas, I was totally paranoid and certain I have no common sense when it came to cyberspace.  Or, I learned I must think about most of what I say before hitting the keys.  I have lived my academic life being educated in an environment which allowed me to read the faces of my professors and classmates.  Now I find myself in a world where body language doesn’t apply, because as pure spirits in cyberspace we have no bodies to speak of.  We are technically spirits or minds journeying through cyberspace unaware that I our words could provoke a Flame War.

Okay you ask, what is the meaning of Flame Wars or better yet what is Flaming Baiting?   I suppose I could waste your time and mine trying to explain this terminology.  However, I think I can give you a better example of this rather interesting concept, which skirts the boundaries of illegal of prohibited internet behavior.  When I found myself weak and sick for about a year, I started trying to find family members on the internet.  Once I located them, I joined Facebook and You Tube. It wasn’t long before I stopped my membership in You Tube (another story there) and stayed with Facebook. 

Everything was fine for a while, until my newly found relative began a campaign on Facebook to discredit President Obama.  My relative is a man who has devoted much of his time to his church.  He deeply believes in a Higher Power and works to help others find their spirituality…that is, until his fingers hit a keyboard and he logged into Facebook.  That’s when his Flame Baiting comments began and their content would have make even the most seasoned sailor of old cringe.  Since he was accepted as a friend on my Facebook, his words showed up on my home page.  The first time it happened and I read what he wrote, I truly wondered if he was possessed.  Okay not really.  I have to admit I was shocked!

I was left wondering why a self-admitted Christian and successful business person and church going Christian was so shockingly unprofessional (in my naive opinion) regarding his online comments about our current President.  When I tried to intercede with a few positive comments on the head of our government and commander-in-chief, I was verbally attack and told to stay out of the conversation, even though his comments were appearing on my Facebook home page.

After the incident and since reading Netiquette, I think during the Holidays I am going to send him Virginia’s book (or, could it be possible he knows more about this subject then I did?)  After all, once he gets properly educated (or not) in internet etiquette, he may become a famous Flamer or maybe he already is working  on his technique of flaming.  Whatever the case may be, I will be watching his progress on my Facebook page, with “tongue in cheek” never daring to put fingers to the keyboard and feed the troll, again ( just in case your wondering, I am smiling with a calm, patient, tolerant interest in mind).

Music and Technology

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.  –Maya Angelou

The Internet is full of great information regarding the “benefits of music.”  Just write those words in a search engine and you will see volumes of material on the issue.  The following is an example:

     Music Students Are Scoring. Music students are outperforming non-music students on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). College-bound seniors with coursework or experience in music performance scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion and 37 points higher on the math portion of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. (Source: The College Board, September 1997) Elizabeth (December 26, 2000)  The Benefits of Studying Music. Excerpts retrieved from http://www.thevirtualharp.com/2009/12/the-benefits-of-studying-music 

I believe these postings certainly leave room for serious thought.  By now many of you have seen my band link in the Coffee Lounge.  I would like to explain why I included that piece of information in a class about eLearning.

Unable to teach, this frustrated student decided to organize a band for several reasons:  there were so many good musicians in this area not working; they had so much to teach me; and music helps relieve my stress, pain and anxiety. Every practice is a classroom where we teach each other new music, chords and chord patterns and create our own interpretations of other artist’s music.  It is an exciting, challenging and fun team effort.  When we perform the music live at a gig, our musical abilities are tested. 

There is another unseen side of the band most people do not see.  Each performance is unique and is recorded by a camcorder, where the video is then put into a software program that allows us to see and hear the parts of our music we need to work on.  Also, we can take the music from these live performances and put them on our website.  The editing process is much the same process you find in a television or movie studio.  It is time consuming and pains-taking work.  When the editing is finished, we have the ability to show a live video of our music; and/or we can put it on a CD or on our website as clips, like those you may have listened to when you visited our site.

Both my husband and I work for a production company called, Rhino Staging and Event Solutions.  We help put up stages, set up lighting and sound equipment and put the instruments in their place on stage before an event.  This is exactly what we do with our own performances on a less grandiose scale.  The sound and staging is done by my husband.  I help the stars with their costumes and do the “running” for the production company.  Once the performance is over, we begin the process of a" tear down."   Much of this work is tedious and physically difficult.

We work for many different people and stars who have unlimited talents and work with a variety of musical venues.  Almost all productions, no matter how small or how grandiose, require an extensive amount of technology.  In fact my husband uses at least four, if not more, software programs to record, reproduce and edit our music.  We know larger musical productions have far more sophisticated and complex programs.  In addition, many of them use the same technicians, lighting and sound crews used to produce “blockbuster” movies.  These people are knowledgable about the many technologies used in these productions; and they are experts in their field.  In the entertainment industry, music and technology are interconnected and one cannot do without the other.

In sum, owning your own band is hard work, highly educational and uses a wide variety of technology.  But the real benefits are seen by each of us at the end of the night.  Our audience has danced the night away and reduced their stress levels while having fun.  We have seen our hard work come to fruition and leave with a sense of accomplishment.   Behind the scenes, we continue to use and stay updated on all the latest technologies.

Beginning eLearning with Joy-9/21/2010

I am beginning my eLearning experience at Bellevue College, in Bellevue, Washington.  I am working on a certificate in eLearning.  This is my first experience with a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).  As I work toward enriching my teaching skills, I hope to create an online course. 

I would like to begin this journey into the Virtual Learning Environment with the following excerpts from Daniel Haughian, (2000), written in a book called, Be Proud of All You've Achieved: Poems on the Meaning of Success, (9th printing, p.43) Boulder, Colorado: SPS Studios Inc.:

     Before you lies a journey we all must travel.  A journey whose length is not as important as the footprints   you will leave behind for others to follow.  A journey that has many paths, and the one that you choose will decide the course your life will take.  You can opt for the easy and well-trodden road, or you can venture down the one rarely traveled... And whichever road you choose to walk, let it show that a good and noble person passed this way..., because the footprints you made in this life showed you walked in the footsteps of love.

My great passion is the field of Criminal Justice studies.  I work as a volunteer in a shelter for survivors of  domestic violence and/or abuse.  The question has been asked whether the violence toward women in a domestic situation, or even a man for that matter, is a social problem or a Criminal Justice problem.  I hope to build my course around that question.

I am equally interested in healthcare and political science issues.  Somewhere in the eLearning journey, I hope to be able to plan classes online in all three areas.  I believe you must have a passion for learning and teaching.  I believe you must have a passion for following the rules of the trade as well.  Maybe one day, someone will write about me, that a "good and noble person passed this way."