Good
Morning, Everyone! We have gone from three days of 70 degrees to 32 degrees and
some snow today. It is a beautiful spring rain/snow that we have needed badly.
Hopefully this storm will stay here and not bother the rest of you. 
This
week I've been working on identifying stories that we'll be giving away once we
get the Riddle contest up and going. There are still some minor glitches to
work out, but I'm excited about the contest. I've also been working on cleaning
up the files for the e-books for sale page on the website. I haven't gotten
everything done yet, and it will require time for the web boys to get
everything in place, but I think it will all work a lot smoother. It all works
well now; it just needs to be cleaned up and sorted out better.
I
started the Spring Quarter last week. Great bunch of kids! I'm really getting
into this Wired Generation and the possibilities they bring with them.
Honestly, they are a bit louder and more social than I expected. Most of them
have a sense of curiosity about them that has been missing for a while. One
author I read this week wrote doom and desperation and clamor about this
generation – lacking intelligence and thought, no common sense... another
author wrote about their curiosity, their intelligence and that even though they
don't have the neural-net development of the previous generations, they at
least recognize the problem and for the most part, are willing to do what they
can to be better. They are a more positive generation than the last. I tend to
agree with the second author – yes, there are those who are all doom and gloom,
but they are not the majority. Every generation has doom and gloom.
My
Wired Generation research this week takes me back to Rushkoff's Present Shock
and articles about reading. I also read an older article by Begley called
"I Can't Think" in News Week in 2011. What I was particularly struck
with was the idea that having more choices often leads to poorer decisions or
no decisions at all. Even though we have technology, we can still only hold 7
to 9 units of information in our heads at a time. Technology now remembers for
us ... I wonder if the memory process has been compromised.
And
according to the articles on reading, yes, memory has been compromised.
Interestingly enough, what has come to the fore front is the importance of the
tactile experience in the reading process. Roshkoff talked about two different
types of time – flowed time and stored time. Online reading is flowed – what is
happening right now; in some cases like Twitter, blink and you miss it. There
is a sense of urgency about it which promotes skimming, scanning, selecting key words to look for.
Hard copy reading is stored time which allows for the brain
to navigate, store, process, think, review, something flow time doesn't allow. Hard
copy also allows the brain to create points of orientation (weight, size,
shape, place, beginning, middle, end) which is missing from online reading. According
to the research and studies, hard copy allows for better understanding,
remembering and faster integration for application in the world.
I laughed when Ruskoff suggested the beginning to all of this sense of
urgency to solve boredom started with the creation of the TV remote. The remote
allows people to skip, skim, scan – to taste and sample but because of the "need to see
what else is available", to never take seriously or watch in total. Interesting
concept. I imagine we can go back in history and find that there were those who
felt the record player would destroy concerts, that concerts would destroy the
sounds of nature... I know that when the telephone was the newest new
fang-dangled contraption that many people felt it would cause people to become
less social able. 
I
read a short article on "microadventures". Alastair Humphreys, National Geographic
Adventurer of the year, has written a book to "dispel the myth that an
adventure needs to be an epic odyssey" (Moye, 2014). It is that idea that
an experience can be meaningful without costing a lot, having to travel to the
ends of the earth. Humhphreys's book will be available in June.
So,
Don, it seems to me that you and your LSBH have been on a series of
microadventures while you are creating your new kitchen. The driving of the truck
to get the new appliances, the neighbors helping unload them, sailing... I'll
have to think about mine. I spent yesterday afternoon watching the Nuggets Basketball
Skills Challenge. Special congrats go out to my oldest granddaughter who won 3rd
in her age group for the state of Colorado. That would be a meaningful
experience – a microadventure.
I
was thinking that the microadventures could be like the bucket list I have, but
realized that what is on my bucket list will cost some money, take a bit of
time, and definitely requires travel. So these adventures are more local and
are something that matter to me. I'll have to think about this.
I
was unprepared for riddles! Even though I know I challenged you last week. Ah well.
I've been reading and re-reading your latest riddle, Don, and the only thing I
could think of was a head cold.
So
my contribution for this week:
Soft, round or square
Have a Great Week!
Carolyn
Fig
7 – Shop for Kitchen Appliances retrieved from www.tidyhouse.info
Good
Morning, Everyone! We have gone from three days of 70 degrees to 32 degrees and
some snow today. It is a beautiful spring rain/snow that we have needed badly.
Hopefully this storm will stay here and not bother the rest of you. I
started the Spring Quarter last week. Great bunch of kids! I'm really getting
into this Wired Generation and the possibilities they bring with them.
Honestly, they are a bit louder and more social than I expected. Most of them
have a sense of curiosity about them that has been missing for a while. One
author I read this week wrote doom and desperation and clamor about this
generation – lacking intelligence and thought, no common sense... another
author wrote about their curiosity, their intelligence and that even though they
don't have the neural-net development of the previous generations, they at
least recognize the problem and for the most part, are willing to do what they
can to be better. They are a more positive generation than the last. I tend to
agree with the second author – yes, there are those who are all doom and gloom,
but they are not the majority. Every generation has doom and gloom. And
according to the articles on reading, yes, memory has been compromised.
Interestingly enough, what has come to the fore front is the importance of the
tactile experience in the reading process. Roshkoff talked about two different
types of time – flowed time and stored time. Online reading is flowed – what is
happening right now; in some cases like Twitter, blink and you miss it. There
is a sense of urgency about it which promotes skimming, scanning, selecting key words to look for. Hard copy reading is stored time which allows for the brain to navigate, store, process, think, review, something flow time doesn't allow. Hard copy also allows the brain to create points of orientation (weight, size, shape, place, beginning, middle, end) which is missing from online reading. According to the research and studies, hard copy allows for better understanding, remembering and faster integration for application in the world.
I laughed when Ruskoff suggested the beginning to all of this sense of
urgency to solve boredom started with the creation of the TV remote. The remote
allows people to skip, skim, scan – to taste and sample but because of the "need to see
what else is available", to never take seriously or watch in total. Interesting
concept. I imagine we can go back in history and find that there were those who
felt the record player would destroy concerts, that concerts would destroy the
sounds of nature... I know that when the telephone was the newest new
fang-dangled contraption that many people felt it would cause people to become
less social able. So,
Don, it seems to me that you and your LSBH have been on a series of
microadventures while you are creating your new kitchen. The driving of the truck
to get the new appliances, the neighbors helping unload them, sailing... I'll
have to think about mine. I spent yesterday afternoon watching the Nuggets Basketball
Skills Challenge. Special congrats go out to my oldest granddaughter who won 3rd
in her age group for the state of Colorado. That would be a meaningful
experience – a microadventure. 
The answer to the riddle is:
ReplyDelete