Do you have a Feed Eater? I have two.

Both sons now finished with high school, but they are home for the summer before heading off to college in the fall. This was my freezer on Thursday, and the same freezer this morning:

Well, they are taking me out for Father's Day tonight, so I guess I won't starve.

EDTECH 597 - Generational differences

I'm going to switch hats here and post about my blogging class - if you missed my first entry, this is actually a "learning blog" where I am learning about blogging tools and techniques, by creating and maintaining a blog of my own.

So, the topic this week is generational differences as related to educational technology. There are three articles referenced below that deal with this subject. Prensky essentially argues that teachers are "digital immigrants" to the world of their students, who are "digital natives," which creates disconnect in schooling. But Prensky has been roundly criticized by McKenzie and others, who argue that Prensky is guilty of sloppiness and over-simplification. Indeed, McKenzie's best line is, "Real fifteen year old humans are quite different from each other, a fact that Prensky did not take the time to study or notice. Some love things digital. Some are more interested in a horse or a dog or a walk along the shore" (McKenzie).

But while McKenzie certainly takes Prensky to task, I feel that it's Reeves who really brings something new to the argument. Reeves finds that middle-class and wealthy "Millennials" own and use a lot of technology. But that high usage does not translate into the ability to gather information with the technology and process it in a literate, discerning, and critical fashion. That, I think, is where educators need to focus their efforts.


References:

McKenzie, J. (2007). Digital nativism: Digital delusions and digital deprivation. From Now On, 17(2). Retrieved from http://fno.org/nov07/nativism.html

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants – Part II: Do they really think differently? On the Horizon, 9(6). Retrieved fromhttp://www.marcprensky.com/wri...0Part1.pdf

Reeves, T.C. (2008). Do generational differences matter in instructional design? Online discussion presentation to Instructional Technology Forum from January 22-25, 2008 at http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/...mJan08.pdf

Hole or hotel?

So, in keeping with one of my main blog themes, "urban renewal," I thought I'd share one of the controversies broiling in my neighborhood right now. The picture below shows a big hole in the ground between two buildings. This waterfront location used to be purely industrial - and not pretty. I won't go into its sordid history. But the city has worked hard to create a nice public walkway, a marina, and luxury high-density residential buildings.

This big hole in the ground remains, though. It seems that after a years-long court battle, a developer finally has the go-ahead to build a Marriott Residence Inn here.

But a lot of people are against it, because A) the hotel management has said they will not be hiring union hotel workers, and B) some people think this location needs a hotel that's "classier" than a Residence Inn (see picture below).

So as the controversy goes on...there's still a hole.

Then and now

 We lived here...

...and moved to here.

First blog entry

My wife and I raised two sons in the pretty suburb of Lacey, Washington. I have decades of memories of their growing up: little league, elementary school, camping trips, first girlfriends, and finally the joy of watching our sons thrive in the same high school where I teach English and journalism.

Graduation day is this Saturday for our youngest son. Less than a year ago, his older brother graduated as well, and took off for college in warmer climates. And squeezed between their two graduations, we took a leap, gave away half our possessions, sold the sprawling house with the huge lawn, and now, from my window five stories high, I can watch homeless women push shopping carts in the streets below.

It's all been a little crazy - all these life changes. But our friend Connie, who lived down the street from us in Lacey, is our same age, married with two kids still in high school. She just accepted a job teaching in the United Arab Emirates. I think she's crazy, but she told me that our move to the city was her inspiration to head off to the Middle East. So I guess we're all a little crazy. If we allow ourselves to be.

This blog exists because I am working on a Master's degree from Boise State University. I am enrolled in a class titled "Blogging in the Classroom," and while this may be more of a personal blog than a professional one, I am hoping to learn more about the tools of blogging, which I will ultimately pass on to my own high school students.