13A

One more hurdle down. This was quite a doosey! With some very helpful clarification and redirection from Mrs. Record the ball finally started to roll. I think I would have steered this one right off the edge without that. The Review of Literature was a challenge but it actually provided the solid rock on which my Hypothesis can now stand.

I have a bit of a confession. When I wrote my Hypothesis, I worded it for arguments sake, I did not really believe my statement myself. I thought I was providing myself with a statement that would be easy to argue with. The Review of Literature turned out to be quite educational. It turns out there is more that one study to prove that working with the Internet can improve brain cognition, well what do ya' know! The processing of the information from the studies took a lot of concentration as the vernacular was quite a challenge. With all of this new knowledge I am having to reformulate the way was thinking on my own topic.

12A

This is my second 12A post. Just to make sure I get credit.

We received one of our essays back this week, lets just say I'm sure I am not the only one who is happy for a chance to do a revision. I was feeling a little defeated by the grade I had earned, all of my marks up until that point had been exactly what I had aimed for. This one however sure missed the mark.

I think along with my general education college is teaching me to allow myself to learn, sometimes that means I am not going to "get it" straight out the gate.  A life full of successes would be great, but sometimes the process of falling down and getting back up will allow for a deeper learning experience.

Aw, self help 101, I sound like a big cornball!  lol Oh well, it is a big accomplishment for a perfectionist such as myself to adopt this perspective. So revision it is!

12A

I am very thankful for all of the examples you put out for us with each weeks. They really do make it so much easier to grasp what we are being asked to complete.

I found the outline to be another helpful tool in processing the research information. I went ahead and ordered The Dumbest Generation and The Shallows, our Borders did not have copies. I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough time to read them and use them in my project. However I've decided it better to have them in hand and get as much information as possible even if I dont have time to read them cover to cover.

It has been a bumpy few days in our household. My oldest, Seth, had a pretty strong seizure on Halloween and had to go to the hospital. Although his neurologist said it is not necessary for him to go to the hospital with every seizure they have been sufficiently scary enough to warrant a call each time. I don't think they will ever become something that is not shocking.  It's times like these that I am happy to have had my work done a little ahead of schedule. Its takes me a few days to get everything back into order, in my own head, after things like that happen.

11A

My Annotated Bibliography is posted, whew! This was somewhat intimidating for me, mostly because I've never done anything like it before. I will put this new found skill in my back pocket! I will say that I do understand compiling sources first, it makes sense to make sure you have enough to work with before starting a project. The annotations also seem to serve an dual purpose. Writing those helps assimilate the information in the source you are drawing information from as well as informing your readers of your source material. All of the aspects of this exercise have led to a better understanding of the source material.

I would compare this assignment to walking through at tunnel. At first step all is dark and confusing. With progression more and more light is shed on the reasons we are asked to tread this path. Fruition comes with sunglasses in hand as the beautiful light of understanding is realized. 

Now onto the Hypothesis & Outline. 

Observations for my brother

Music is a very powerful tool in my life.

You know that old saying "The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak?" Both my flesh and my mind are weak. I think its not a quarter of a mile into any stint on my treadmill that my body starts trying to convince my mind to stop its crazy notions. My mind in turn spends the next quarter of a mile in agreement. This is where I thank God for giving me a spirit....... and an iPod.

You see when my body is adamantly barking at my mind to stop this foolish running business it is my spirit that takes over. In the music, my spirit finds courage. As if lending it wings and breaking the chains of mind and body. Be it the frivolity of Hayden's Trumpet Concerto, the blatant rebellion of Pink, or the vocal prowess in Mozart's Don Giovanni, something in there propels me forward. It is the willingness of the spirit that silences the complaints of the body, it mutes the rationalizations of the mind and allows me to continue, one more step closer to my goal.

10A

Site creation was not so bad, I think the most challenging part was picking the background color and remembering this is a research site... be dazzler not needed. With that under my belt I decided to start on week 11....cue scary music....Annotated Bibliography....echo, echo, echo.

I asked my husband, who fancies himself a professor, (he teaches PT at the COS Fire Academy) Do you know what a bibliography is? His reply,  "Isn't that a story about somebody?" me: "No dear, that is a biography" Oh well, so much for professional intervention.

With immense gratitude I  would personally like to send a shout out to the large tree that has given its life so that I can print all of my research. Without you retention would be impossible. My brain is still old school, I need ink on paper to attain proper absorption. On the up side, the stress of this task has chased me back to my treadmill. There is nothing like physical exertion to relieve stress and refocus the mind. Looking at the weeks ahead I should be well trained for our annual Thanksgiving day 5K. Yeah Me!

8B

The intrinsic value of this weeks subject matter was somewhat  lost on me.  I just could not get my brain to absorb the "Writing in the Sciences" and the "Activists" chapters. I suppose it is my pre-occupation with the upcoming essay and research project that are standing in the way.

I was having trouble finding applications for this weeks information in my own life. The young republican in me has long ago surrendered her political passions to other avenues of dedication, namely parenting. To say nothing of the life experience that seems to have grayed those once black and white lines.  I do believe politics are important as they shape policy that will eventually affect my children,  it's just that I only have so much capacity for information. With my max occupancy challenged daily it's no wonder that some details face certain, if not unintentional, eviction.

My proverbial cup does indeed runnith over........ with information. I see myself with a giant fish net in each hand, weaving side to side, valiantly trying to catch the overflowing information, like soccer schedules, dentist appointments, and when exactly was our last "date night?"

Somewhere in that picture my research topic is starting to develop.  Perhaps  "The Affects of Information Overload on Overloaded Mothers with Information Deficit Disorder".... hmmm... might need some revision, don't ya think?

7B

I think I would have been a fabulous digital native. At the very least I do possess quite a skill for multitasking. I'm sure my husband would readily attest to my short attention span and my lack of ability to retain the answers to the various questions I pose to him.  I have gotten up no less than 7, no wait, 8…make that 10 times from typing this very blog post (all immediate mommy duties of course) and yet I still have a running dialog of what I would like to say swimming around in my brain. Perhaps retaining information is in direct relation to the value the information holds to its possessor. That sounds good, I’ll be sure to inform my husband of that later… if I remember. 

Like these natives I am a voracious learner, although more for necessity sake than entertainment. When trying to distract any little person, never mind two, under the age of four, it is imperative to posses the knowledge to access the latest episode of the “Wonderpets” On Demand. To say nothing of the internal fortitude required to focus on ones studies as they repeatedly sing the “What’s gonna work?...Team Work!” theme song over and over again. At least it is a positive message.

And finally as all begins to quiet down for the evening I think I will go back to my salad of Palfrey, Gasser, Ribble and Lei. Most thankful for to my Creator for promising me in 2 Timothy 1:7 that sound mind that I am so thankful to possess.

6B

Reading "Overload" left me with a thought. Am I contributing to the litter on the side of the road on this information super highway? Is my blog adding more clog? Or as Palfrey and Gasser put it "this prolific expression can add to the amount of information that other must process."

What is my digital responsibility to this information ecosystem and what should I be teaching my natives in this regard? I truly have no idea. What would happen to the ever changing novelty of the Internet if our contributions were eventually limited due to information overload? Does the Internet have a capacity? If so, how close are we to it? These are just some of the thoughts that bounce around in my head, most of which I do not have the time to properly process.

I do think, however, the old saying "if its worth doing, its worth doing right" can be applied to this contemplation. I suppose at minimum I can tell my natives, along with myself, "if it will be causing clog.... you better make it a great blog."

Just thoughts

My children don't know what a telephone sounds like.... well they don't know that telephones used to just go "Ring.... Ring.... Ring".

This morning, during our usual commute I chose, for our listening pleasure, the musical styling of John Mayer. I plugged my iPhone into the adapter and selected his re-make of Tom Petty's "Free Falling"... the beginning notes of this song have a wonderfully calming effect on my nervous system. It's good for a mommy of four to have this state of mind when trying to deposit four children in three different places around town and still get to work by eight o'clock in the morning.

As the notes of this song begin to dance out of the car speakers three year old Christian shouts from the back of the Sequoia, "Mommy u pone is winging". I smile, sweet boy. "Free Falling" is also my ring tone.

Huerta 4B

Great conversation is a luxury in my life. With ever present little ones in tow who, just by their sheer nature, seem to absorb all energies around them there seems to be little time or energy for "adult conversations".

This last weekends travels afforded some visiting time. You know that kind of time where Adults can actually have a conversations without the interruptions of " I need juice mommy....I need to potty Mommy...I need_____ Mommy"  (Fill in the blank and you see fit, but I think you understand the point).

I had the pleasure of visiting with my Husbands ex-step family. Today's family structure sure does require more status descriptive words than every before..... but back to the topic.  These lovely ladies consisted of Grandma Karen, a retired educator,  Aunt Stephanie a current High School teacher, Lindsay (my sister-in law & digital native who made the cut by two years) and Kim, mother of the bride, and digital immigrant extraordinaire!

As we were checking out the musician for the reception that Kim found on Facebook, who was amazing by the way, the subject of Digital living came up. Actually I brought it up, well maybe just gave it the title. We were already having a conversation about digital living without giving it such a title. I shared some of the topic we have been going over in class. It seems the item of most concern with the elder ladies, the educators,  is the lack of humanity in today's digital culture.

They shared a real concern for the decreasing interpersonal skills. I shared some of the ideas we've discussed here in class, mainly digital equality, "computer access for everyone". I just wanted to hear their take on that particular subject. I would have to say the gist of the conversation was more in line with "What? Computer access for all? Aren't there more pressing needs in the world?"

I would leave the evening in concession to the belief that yes, I am sure there are more pressing issues than "computer access for all". But most satisfying of all, perhaps even delicious, was the conversation.

Digital Living

So the husband and I are taking a little trip this week. My sister-in-law, the beautiful Miss Karly is set to marry the dashing young Travis on the beach in Santa Barbara, Ca this Thursday.

With four children, a household, a business, and an online class to manage the prep work alone for such an endeavor is no small feat. As I was perusing some of the resources posted to our discussion forum this week it occurs to me that I can manage just about every logistical necessity of this trip right in the palm of my hand, amazing. Digital Living indeed!

I suppose it also means there is not a true vacation anymore, but I will choose to focus on the positive. So lets see,

Hotel reservation confirmation.... check
Dog and Cat Fed by neighbor-Reminder and thank you text sent ....check
Email confirming Receipt, processing, and delivery of this weeks payroll......check
Discussion posts responses.......check

Now if they could only make an application that will pack our bags!

Huerta 3B

This weeks reading, particularly the chapter Creators, was very interesting to me. What I initially wanted to write about was the fading use of what I learned was low-tech media. From my fellow classmates, Ashleigh's discussion post I learned that cursive writing was not being taught to one of her younger siblings, they are no longer submitting papers in cursive, but via computer.  I remember learning cursive myself, I remember when my 15 year old learned it in elementary school, and come to think of it I have yet to see my 8 year old Wyatt be taught the skill. I was searching for articles that would support the continued education of such skills. I really could not find anything on the matter. I found that my thoughts on the matter were not really a foundation for an argument or discussion, but more my own opinion.

Upon further investigation I  found more support for teaching our Educators to use more digital technology in their classrooms. Other articles I found actually found fault with our schools for teaching archaic skills the like of cursive, when there were so many other skill sets more relevant to today's youth. How indeed can you argue with a statement like that? 

I did come across more proponents for using digital technology in teaching special needs students. From my skimming of several articles I was able to see that they have found digital technology to be particularly useful in keeping the attention of not only at risk youth, but autistic children as well. I am thinking of developing a discussion topic on this subject if I can find enough research to build upon.

Although, I do find it more helpful to build a paper when you identify your "Nay Sayer" as Graff and Birkenstein suggest in They say/I say,  I am finding it challenging to find them. I suppose it is not in my mature to willing consider opposing ideas as valid. This only reaffirms to me that I have a lot to learn in the area of academic writing.

The templates provided  have been a great tool in learning the construction process of sound arguments. I find it confidence building to have an idea, research it, then present my findings based on a sound foundation. Especially when the findings agree with my ideas :). I  did catch myself wanting to email Mrs. Record with a question of What if?  "What if I cannot find the foundation with which to support an argument"? The I realized that if there is not argument perhaps my thought on the subject are only ideas based on, as suggested in the online lecture for week two, "values, opinion and views based on my own life experience". It is a learning experience to understand the difference between academic opinions and those based on my exposure to the world.

Huerta 2b

Having my teenage son, Seth, diagnosed with Epilepsy the summer prior to his Freshman year was an event we could not have seen coming. He had a seizure while at a friends house. Getting a frantic call that my son had gone by ambulance to our local hospital was surreal. As I look back now, just 14 months after that incident I think, as a family, we have managed it well.

In Born Digital on Pages 64-65, Palfrey and Gasser tell the imagined story of Natalie and her parents. Natalie has Epilepsy, she does not always wear her medical bracelet that would stand to warn medical personal of her condition. As a safety precaution her parents decide to have her implanted with an RFID chip. Oh how this scenario resonated with me. In the book, I believe the authors to be trying to show how parents unwittingly expose their children's privacy. The privacy issue was not an issue at all with me. The RFID chip however was. I found it deeply troubling that any parent would have such a devise implanted in their child. Even the authors seem to take issue with these devices as they refer to them as "draconian" on page 48.

To be honest, my fears of such things are most likely rooted in my faith. Having any computer implantation device, in any of my children, would never be an option for me. This is a belief that was taught to me by my Christian parents. And while I've come to know my own understanding and translation of the book of Revelations I cannot help but hear the words "Mark of the Beast" in my head relating to such things as implantation devices.

Now my more rational, analytical self can see the logic and even benefit of such a device. I can understand the fictional parents worry and concern for their daughter’s condition. The importance of medical personal knowing her condition, and medication to treat said condition, is not lost on me. With all that said, for my child, I will continue to rely on a medical alert band, as well as a well informed circle that includes school officials, family, and friends to communicate Seth’s condition those necessary.