An Unintended Consequence

I just finished reading Kristi's post on Screencasting. This is not my first time seeing Jing, but she did a great job showing another technology with it. After watching her tutorial on Wordle, I decided to make my own. Thanks Kristi, for showing Jing so well, and for motivating me to try Wordle along the way.

Humor U Show

If you are like me, you haven't finalized plans for this weekend. Maybe you have a date planned, but you haven't the faintest what to do. If you want an idea, try this out. Check out Humor U's Best of Spring and Summer Show.

Humor U is BYU's stand up comedy club, and they're ridiculously funny. I've had the pleasure to write jokes with them, so one day I can perform. Until then, take my advice and go see them. Tickets are being sold at the Wilkinson Center's Information Desk.

Leave a comment on this post. That way we can compare notes.

Personal Learning Networks

Have you ever felt like the Reverend Al Green here?


Well, you're not alone. Learning alone is tiresome and lonely. Luckily, with the advent in technology, we don't have to be alone during our education. What Dr. Zapala said during lecture has kept with me; there was a time when you could slip into class, turn in your homework, and not have to interact with other students or the teacher. That is not the case today. Professors ask students to frequently pair up to tackle tougher principles. That's where Personal Learning Networks (PLN's) begin.
Personal Learning Networks are your group of friends, professors, professional associates, blogger buddies, etc. who you turn to when you need help or want to learn something new. You can create your own through classes, blog searches, and Google Reader. For instance, I follow my PLN through Google Reader and Facebook; every time someone posts, I know and can read their ideas. That's the beauty of the class we're in: we can create and connect with people from all over campus and the world who share similar goals.

Doesn't it feel good to know you're not alone?

A Twist on Humanism

As I was reading Mirandola's Manifesto on Humanism, I was struck with the difference between the Humanism of now and then. Today, many humanists disregard or distance themselves from any faith or belief in God. In contrast, Mirandola espouses a different idea for man's role. I cite:
God the Father, Supreme Architect of the Universe, built this home, this universe we see all around us, a venerable temple of his godhead, through the sublime laws of his ineffable Mind. The expanse above the heavens he decorated with Intelligences, the spheres of heaven with living, eternal souls. The scabrous and dirty lower worlds he filled with animals of every kind. However, when the work was finished, the Great Artisan desired that there be some creature to think on the plan of his great work, and love its infinite beauty, and stand in awe at its immenseness.

God created man so that he may look upon his universe and find out about this "venerable temple of his godhead." How then, does this idea of humanism work out for our class journey? Just like God's creations, we have this wonderful digital universe, full of good and evil. And we should think about the beauty surrounding us today. There is so much that man can use, if we're willing to contemplate our ability to create.

Social Learning and Individual Discovery

This blog post might not make much sense, but bare with me as I answer a few questions and put down a few thoughts:

Danny, I took that picture while I was camping in southern Alberta this summer. It is the Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park. Here's another from that trip:

Dr. Burton, I would be happy to teach about PLN's or Google Reader, whichever you would like.

Kristen, I'm going to research Google Wave more and let you know my take on it.

Everyone, if you would like, I also keep a personal blog. Look at my bloglist and you should find it.

That's everything for questions, but now I want to dive into what we discussed in Digital Civ today. We discussed the personal and social aspects of learning, but as we counseled, I couldn't help but feel that they are intrinsically connected. Individually we are all different: different majors, life goals, experiences, etc. What brings us together into this class or society is a desire to learn. With Facebook and these blogs, we are learning from one another in a similar fashion to Vygotsky's ladder. We all bring different backgrounds and levels of digital literacy to the table and in turn we help all learn and expand. This digital learning wouldn't be possible without each individual's unique take on digital culture. What are some of the goals you all have in taking this class? In other words, what do you want to take from this experience?

A Little Behind the Times?

I notice the time on my computer (7:49 am) and realize I have but ten minutes to hastily post on the assignment today. I read Ariel's post about Copernicus and found the correlation between Brian Regan's joke and Copernicus's struggles to find an audience intriguing. The child in the joke woke up to deliver his terribly prepared science project, only to find everyone else's to have been prepared by their parents.

How did Copernicus feel, preparing his theories (which were much better prepared!), only to have the Ptolemaic kids have their parents prepare theirs? As Ariel pointed out, "The big blue one is the Earth" doesn't have the same feeling to it.

But this idea contrasts with the Utopian piece. The narrator is amazed when the Utopians take to learning from the Greeks. However, there is a slight feeling of sarcasm or satire running through More. Is he truly admiring the idea of information dissemination, or is he poking fun at the current trend of rediscovery?

It is now 8:00 in the AM.

Redesigning and Re-Tooling this Blog... and Life

Hey all,

My name's Mike and this is a "new," old blog. I originally began this blog for an information class last semester, so if you scroll through my older posts, you'll find class projects and musings about using technology in the classroom. Now, with the advent of this Digital Civilization course, I've taken it upon myself to not only redefine this blog, but to shift my own learning paradigms.

I expect to stretch myself with this class. In fact, while looking over Google reader today, I found an new challenge for students involving blogging. While some may say I've taken the easy way out by using an older blog, I signed up for this ten week challenge to improve my blogging skills and increase my PLN (personal learning network). I feel good about this decision; I just hope some of you will join me in this venture.

Sincerely,

Mike Lemon