Category Archives: research
Teachers of TikTok
I like her style. The quarantine is unleashing all manner of creativity…
@makeshift.macaroni##ukulele ##uke ##originalsong ##teachersoftiktok ##tiktokteacher ##smallgestures♬ original sound – makeshift.macaroni
Shifting to online learning so abruptly, without any advance warning and in most cases without any training, practice or experience delivering a course from a distance, understandably elicits such a reaction.
I didn’t sign up for this!
I know the feeling. I didn’t become a teacher to be estranged from my students. And the horror of Covid-19 is all too scary and real. However, I think this new reality is bringing about a critical shift in perspective. There is no going back. Anyone hoping for things to go back to exactly the way they were is in for a rude awakening. Our world changed after 9/11. Our world changed after Pearl Harbor. These kinds of events change our world into something different. Not necessarily in a better or worse way, although it could be both, but just different than how it was before.
Honestly, for me, I refuse to return to the old way. I am happier now, more productive and creative now and am more fulfilled in my work than ever before.
Well, that is easy for you to say, Mister Digital Media Man. You love this stuff!
It is true to some extent that I do love this stuff. But I also abhor some of this stuff as well. While the world has mindlessly embraced the 24/7 commitment to smartphones and mobile technology, I have been more skittish. I don’t necessarily like what the tech does to us, particularly when we adopt it without pause or reflection. I try to be purposeful in my use of technology because it is addictive stuff.
So I feel a deep connection with the music teacher who is sad to be apart from her pupils. But I am also aware of some clever uses of technology to keep us connected while we are apart. TikTok is one of those ways, by the way, but I don’t think makeshift.macaroni’s intended audience is her students. I’m not saying it should be, simply noting that it could be if desired.
As for me and my students, we have been practicing together in this new way of being for over a decade now. Not without some resistance, I might add. I have long promoted using blogs, showing our work online, connecting online with others having the skills and knowledge that you desire, communicating in various digital formats including video conferencing. Together we have practiced. Sometimes there were misunderstandings and bumps in the road. Sometimes we wondered why we were even doing it. Now we know. We were preparing to flourish in a time like we are currently experiencing.
If you find this new reality unsettling, if it is completely unfamiliar territory and you just want it to go back to normal, it is because you have not practiced as much as I have. Things won’t stay this way forever, but they won’t return to our pre-2020 existence either. Our eyes are being opened to new possibilities. Along with the danger and the heartbreak will come new ideas and opportunities. Just like after 9/11, our world has changed forever. Better get used to it. Technology is part of our new normal and there is no going back.
Lock and Load
One of the most memorable moments for me during operation desert storm was the night before hostilities began. I had duty as petty officer the watch on the Quarterdeck. I knew something new was happening, something big. This is because I was ordered to place a magazine clip of ammunition into my Colt 45 pistol.
At that point in my career as a United States Navy sailor, I had stood numerous watches as an armed guard. On my previous ship, the US S Cochran, I was a part of the ship security force. That ship was nuclear capable and had specialized training associated with protecting special weapons. We had orders to shoot anyone who attempted to enter the ass rock magazine. I never had to shoot anyone. In fact, even in that situation, I was never given permission to load a clip of magazine of ammunition into my gun. Until desert storm, I had always carried an empty firearm with my ammunition safely tucked away on my belt.
The night before Desert Storm commenced, I was given the order to go ahead and place a chamber of no scratch that I was given an order to place a clip of ammo into my weapon. Even at that point, I wasn’t allowed to chamber a round. But it marked the first time in my naval career that I had carried a gun with ammunition in it while on duty.
At that point, rumors were floating about. Rumors that the harbor had been mined. Rumors that something big was going to happen. Everyone was on edge, but excited at the same time.
A lot of news reports from earlier in the year talked about how hot it was in the golf region. Operation desert shield started in August 19 90. I never experienced the heat. That night that I was standing watch outside on the quarterdeck as petty officer of the watch was quite chilly. We were bundled up in our pea coats. The air was cold and damp. Most definitely an eerie feeling about.
I have transferred to the battleship Missouri for a number of reasons. Partly because I was home sick. My previous ship, the Cochrane, was homeported in Japan. My first two years in the Navy were spent in training in Illinois. I got to go home frequently when I was in Illinois. So I experienced a number of bouts of homesickness while I was in Japan. I was ready to come back stateside. The opportunity to join the crew of the battleship Missouri appeal to me.
I couldn’t have known that war was looming on the horizon. However, I had had a taste of the danger on the Cochrane. The Cochrane had been deployed to the Middle East in response to the USS Stark being struck by an Iraqi missile. This was during the Iran/Iraq war. At that time the belligerents were shooting missiles at oil tankers.
When the Stark was hit, our ship which was forward deployed out of Japan, had to make haste to the gulf region. However being in the weapons department, we were a little disappointed that our ship was not permitted to enter the Persian Gulf because of its lack of a CIWS anti-missile system. So we were left to do circles in the Gulf of Oman just outside the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran. Not long after we left the golf, another U.S. Navy ship, the USS Vin sans was involved in a skirmish
Also about that time, our sister ship the USS corral was called into the golf even though it had the same limitations of the Cochran, and was given orders to shell Iranian oil platforms. Oh how we fire control and gun types would’ve enjoyed we would’ve enjoyed actual live fire missions.
Little did I know that by transferring to the battleship Missouri I would get my taste of many hours on the ground right.
Abstract Accepted
I recently submitted an abstract to the ASEE Educational Research and Methods division for the 2017 national conference and it was accepted. When I first began work at K-State, a trusted colleague advised me to avoid this particular division because there were other divisions that would be more likely to accept my proposals. However, since I recently finished my Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, I thought I might now be up to the challenge. It felt really great to receive the acceptance e-mail this year!
But it turns out that my colleague was correct. While the feedback I received was positive, there also were a number of concerns raised that I need to address in the full paper. I can do that. I am always trying to get my students to push themselves and take the more rigorous path from time to time. Hopefully, I demonstrate this attitude myself from time to time.