Educational Researcher / PhD Student (Lancaster University, UK) in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning / Adjunct Instructor (NYU & Pace U) / Project Manager (Clinical Education) in New York City.
Interests in educational research influenced by interdisciplinarity, focused on digital identity, doctorateness and the postgraduate experience, threshold concepts and transformative learning in higher education, Internet research, networked learning, technology enhanced learning, distance education, adult and organizational learning, narrative inquiry, and actor-network theory.
Leave it to Beth Kantor, the innovative web guru of nonprofit social media and low-cost technological wizardry to raise enough money online to send not one, but now almost two students in Cambodia to college. Beth has long been involved with working with the needy in Cambodia, and with her large network of admirers and colleagues and associates, she has raised thousands of dollars in a day or so, all through small donations and via word of mouth (with some Twitter and Facebook support). Keep up the good work, Beth, and glad I could pitch in at least a little bit!
I saw the new production of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, and have to confess that I was blown away by Maria Gugleghina, the soprano who dominated the opera as Lady Macbeth. She sand standing still, walking, laying down in bed, and even nearly face-down on stage–all without any decrease in vocal delivery or richness of sound. As I have only recently started to attend the opera, I have not seen more than a handful of performances over the past three years, but last night was the first time I heard a performer fill the full house with her voice. The Met’s blog has some great pictures of the opening night, and I am eager to read about what the NY Times will say tomorrow about this.
The Chronicle had an interesting article on the increasing number of books that are written by philosophers for ordinary folks. While this is anathema in the discipline that often focuses so inwardly that those outside it have no idea what they are talking about (who else considers if perception and emotion can be cognitive attributes?), it is refreshing to see ery smart people writing about cultural phenomena that are often more complex than at first noticed. I hope Bill Irwin continues with his almost all-consuming commitment to this.
After writing about the Matrix and Philosophy, how about George / Rudy / Hillary / Barack and Philosophy? What, not enough substance for takers?
While I am a visual learner, I do not find myself spending much time on YouTube unless a colleague or friend recommends something, as I don’t have the patience or the wherewithal to look around for hours until I find something. I don’t remember hwen I first stumbled across Noah‘s video, but has had a great affect on me–the haunting music, the passing time, the changing sameness–take a look for yourself.
Is this autoethnography? Art? Research? Therapy? Expressive in some way that I cannot easily characterize. Let me watch it again.
When I migrated to WordPress after using MovableType for several years, I could not at first seem to get trackbacks to work properly. I was never able to get them to work with Movable Type, so it was not at first a big deal, but it frustrates me when other people can get somewhat simple, installed technology to work and I cannot.
With some tweaks, and the use of a really handy free trackback testing website, Test Track, my trackbacks seem to be working properly. See it work both ways here.
Anybody see today’s New York Times, where Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter) was interviewed and stated that they are not focused on making money. According to the Times:
Twitter, a company in San Francisco that lets users alert friends to what they are doing at any given moment over their mobile phones, recently raised an undisclosed amount of financing. Its co-founder and creative director, Biz Stone, says that the company was not currently focused on making money and that no one in the company was even working on how to do so.
Did we learn nothing from the last dot.com boom when investors threw money at anything new and flashy? I use and like Twitter, though have never seen an ad, paid a fee, or even seen a way to buy a Twitter hat or t-shirt (which I will be happy to buy!).
According to Stone:
“At the moment, we’re focused on growing our network and our user experience,” he said. “When you have a lot of traffic, there’s always a clear business model.”
So, they have a business model, but it is not involved with making money, or at least none in the near future. Of course, he is the one getting interviewed by the Times, and not me. I am sure there is something to be said about that, though I am not quite sure what . . .
I went hiking last week for the first time. Bought new Merrell hiking boots and even rented Leki trekking poles. Had a wonderful time. Great changes in scenery over the 3.2 miles, which gave me a workout in nature without filtered air nor with an iPod. What a nifty idea. I loaded some other pictures on Flickr.
Keep this up, and I just may lose weight and get into shape. Once again, what a nifty idea!
On the other hand, there is no better place to clean the mind while studying Kant’s Third Critique. Where better place to see art than in the woods? Not quite like Thoreau, but I did come out of them.
Today is Blog Action Day, which I learned about from Beth and Andy and Tom and Howard and Wendy and Darren and Stephen (I read some really interesting blogs!). I know, a little late in the day to learn about this, but that is just part of how technology seems to be changing how we operate and work.
What does this have to do with the environment, which is the point of Blog Action Day? Technology should help us be more efficient, but when we are not using it, there hardly seems any efficiency to keeping all of it on and using the electricity when we leave the office. To this end, I will begin turning off my monitor at work at the end of the day, rather than leaving it on as I was always taught to do with the old, large monitors. Mind you, my monitor at work is still large and thus uses a lot of power, and while I do turn my computer off, I never touched my monitor.
Furthermore, I will look into saving power from a corporate social responsibility perspective, and will look at work for whomever directs this initiative about saving power when computers and monitors are not in use.
How is that for a simple piece of action that can have large possible effects?
In the same way I found the paintings recharging, I thought I would share some of them from the collection I find most engaging (all from the Met’s site):
Aelbert Cuyp (Dutch, 1620–1691) Young Herdsmen with Cows, ca. 1650:
Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) Man in Oriental Costume (“The Noble Slav”), 1632:
Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675) Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, ca. 1662:
Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628/29–1682) Wheat Fields, ca. 1670:
Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653:
The recording that accompanied the show stated that the final image here, Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, is the most significant work in the collection. While it gave only a brief account why this claim was made, I was hooked. It seems there is the tension between Aristotle’s fingering the worldly reknown signified with his gold chain and the force of Homer’s legacy, without the benefit of worldly compensation. They are both memorialized, and it is to our benefit this is the case with Rembrandt’s painting to remind us of this tension and leave it up to us to determine which one we choose.
Time to start writing! I committed to having something to my supervisors for review, and decided there is no better place to begin than the beginning. I therefore plan to have a draft version of Chapter 1: Introduction, Background, & Theoretical Framework (tentative title) sent to them both by February 16, in 13 days.
I saw the new production of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, and have to confess that I was blown away by 
