And while we were talking about inclusion...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg&feature=youtu.be

Petition Against "The Many Deaths of Virginia Tech"

Tonight I saw someone post about a book that is available on Amazon.com called "The Many Deaths of Virginia Tech" by Chuck Marsh. I am purposefully not linking to the item itself because I do not want to provide the page with any more traffic than it's already gotten. But to give you an idea just what the book is about, here is the description listed on Amazon:

"Virginia Tech is America's Cursed College, home to horrifying events from hit-and-runs to students being shot in the woods; prison escapes to public self-mutilations; police officers being gunned down to public beheadings; and of course, the notorious mass shooting that killed 33 people. But why is Virginia Tech the most infamous university in the United States? What is the reason for Virginia Tech's many tragedies?

Chuck Marsh has written the only book of its kind: a gripping and frightening account of the Hokie Horrors. The Many Deaths of Virginia Tech is a spellbinding chronicle -- an expose -- of an oversized American university locked in a death-struggle with itself -- or with unseen forces. This book takes the reader on a tour through the many crimes and calamities at Virginia Tech in the past decade: a no-holds-barred account of an out-of-control hunger for violence at an American university."

I am very much for free speech, and not censoring people, but the amount of slander, bias lies, and outright nonsense (read a few sentences of the "Look Inside" and I'm sure you'll agree) in that is in this book should not be something that anyone should read, much less someone should profit off of.

I do not know how many people in this course were here during the shootings and the many other events, but I hope you will all stand behind me and sign the petition I created to get Amazon to remove this book from its website and be sure to share it with your friends, family, co-workers, anyone that supports Virginia Tech.

I am proud to be a Hokie and the Hokie Nation is even stronger, not "cursed" as he calls it, after all the events that have taken place on campus. Help me show Chuck Marsh what it means to be a Hokie.

A Mother's Perspective on Smart Phones

No, I'm not mother, nor do I play one on TV, but I do occasionally read about their opinions on child rearing.

This recent article from The Huffington Post's Blog - "Smart Phones: Do They Make Your Kid -- And You -- Stupid?" - was written by a mother, Debra Ollivier, who refuses to buy her 16-year-old son a smart phone. Her reasons line up nicely with some of the opinions that we read about for class this week.

I thought some of you might enjoy looking at the topic from a parent's perspective since I know that we have quite a few parents in class!

Video Games and Learning

Since we have had to write our own...

FALL 2012 COURSE: EDCI 5784, Autoethnography as Methodology
Thursdays, 4:00-7:00pm
Taught by Kris Tilley-Lubbs: An alternative methodology for conducting research, autoethnography explores the social, political, historical, psychological, and cultural realms through personal introspection and reflection. Students will read significant and foundational works by leading scholars in the field, particularly those by Carolyn Ellis, Art Bochner, Carol Rambo, Ron Pelias, and Christopher Poulos. There will also be ample opportunity for autoethnographic writing and feedback.

Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP)

Greetings -- I found the information below on Essential Learning Outcomes on the Association of American Colleges and Universities website and I thought you would find it of interest.  Here is the website link:  http://www.aacu.org/leap/vision.cfm

Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP)

Essential Learning Outcomes

The LEAP campaign is organized around a robust set of "Essential Learning Outcomes" (pdf) -- all of which are best developed by a contemporary liberal education. Described in College Learning for the New Global Century (pdf), these essential learning outcomes and a set of "Principles of Excellence" (pdf) provide a new framework to guide students' cumulative progress through college.
Through its VALUE Initiative, AAC&U has developed a set of rubrics to assess many of the following learning outcomes. Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies, students should prepare for twenty-first-century challenges by gaining:
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

• Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts

Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring
Intellectual and Practical Skills, Including

• Inquiry and analysis
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written and oral communication
• Quantitative literacy
• Information literacy
• Teamwork and problem solving

Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance
Personal and Social Responsibility, Including

• Civic knowledge and engagement—local and global
• Intercultural knowledge and competence
• Ethical reasoning and action
• Foundations and skills for lifelong learning

Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges
Integrative and Applied Learning, Including

• Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies

Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

Another thought about use of internet tools - maybe an answer??

Greetings again.

As I continue my reading -- this time, it is Rheingold: Is multitasking evil?  He gives an answer to the question that I just asked in an earlier post on this blog about whether the use of the internet is making us stupid.  This is what Rheingold wrote: "I think it’s worth asking whether we can learn to use our digital mind amplifiers more effectively. Without a doubt, digital media are encouraging attention to go wild. But what if it could be tamed? Taming wild attention is the center of Buddhist practice, and recent books have delved into the application of Buddhist practices to mindfulness in contemporary life. I’m inquiring into the possibility of bring similar practices to life online. While there are ample reasons to consider the healthy alternative of spending time offline, for many – more each day – cyberspace is where we learn and work."

The effective question here is whether we can use these amazing tools effectively? not if they are making us stupid or that mult-tasking is evil! What if we can tame these "wild" instincts??  Can we use Buddhist practices and take the time to reflect on how we use these tools? Bring Buddhist practices to our practices and use of online tools -- what a neat cool idea! Again, it reinforces how we use these tools in an appropriate manner - - is the main issue at hand.  It is within our grasp .. go for it!  Thanks.