Class 5: ERE

The Educational Research Exchange this past Friday was a huge success. Students and faculty gathered for the largest ERE ever to share their current research interests. Presenters and participants enjoyed lunch, followed by a message from the keynote speaker, and finished out the day by attending various seminars, paper presentations, and poster sessions. ERE was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and learning. Hope more will join in next year.

Class 4: Disappointed

I was all set to comment on how informative and helpful I found the interviews with Bill Ayers to be, until I decided to Google him and my esteem turned to shock and confusion. This man who seemed so gentle and containing pure motives in the video lecture is formerly known for his acts of terrorism and hatred toward the United States. I have not conducted a thorough investigation of him. At first glance, I wonder why education is listening to and praising a man who sought to destroy human life, and from some of the quotes I found on the websites, would do so again. I really wanted to like Bill Ayers, but, at this point, his personal life is too conflicting with his educational message. This reconfirms the need for all of us to be critical learners and to research what we learn and not take it at face value. There are two sides to every story and sometimes even more. You can read more at these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers

http://billayers.org/

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2169

Class 3: Blog Safely

How to blog safely:
1. Don't write about where you are going (ex. going to McDonald's @ 6 tonight...)
2. Don't give out personal information (ex. address, phone number, name...)
3. Stay very generic in story descriptions.
4. Don't post any pictures of yourself.

More information at http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/activities/blogging.mspx

What to write about on a blog if you have privacy concerns:
1. Book/Movie review
2. Recipes
(I will keep thinking...hopefully the list will grow.)

Class 2: my first blogging experience

I have used technology in many ways and am very comfortable around it, yet, I have never had the interest of creating a blog until it was assigned to me in a class. This is ironic in that my husband, who is not one for technology, really, has been a regular blogger for about a year now and loves it. I have many friends and relatives that keep regular blogs or facebooks, but not me. My reasons for abstaining have been a privacy issue. Basically, I feel that if there is anything I need to tell someone I will email them personally or give them a call. I don't like this feeling that anyone at anytime could read my personal thoughts. Even with my strong feelings against blogging, I am going to give it my best shot and keep things positive. This will be an experiment for me to see if I am cut out for this blogging thing.