Hi, Contact me at tanakawendy@yahoo.com if you are interested in renting one of our fully equipped properties at Lake Bonaparte in Harrisville, NY. We offer two properties one on 6 acres overlooking the water and just a short walk from a public beach, and another directly on the lakefront with a dock. The cabin on 6 acres is great for families with young children as it's off the water by a 5 minute public access and for those who want waterfront, the Loon Lodge is great for those with a boat interested in visiting this beautiful lake by boatcraft. Rentals include fully-equipped kitchen, full baths with showers, and sleep 4 - 6 with one queen and two other beds. Properties are fully insured and accessible by car. Lakefront property can be modified easily for handicapped accessibility. Rentals run from Saturday to Saturday. Check in is 3:00 PM and check out is 11:00 AM, allowing some reordering of the property and cleaning prior to the occupancy of the next guests. These properties are not rental-grade, they are our homes and we ask that you enjoy them and treat them as you would someone else's home. Leave clean and occupy clean, no smoking within the premises, please. Please inquire about any special needs your group may have. email us for more information at tanakawendy@yahoo.com
I have worked with others collaboratively to build consensus or to gather input using technology. I try to emphasize that using Sharepoint to review and discuss documents is easier than a face-to-face meeting because it allows participants the flexibility to work together from different time schedules and and work spaces. However, I will cite this as a disappointment in that I had less participation than I had hoped to achieve. Using the ARCS model developed by Keller, I could have done much better with it in several respects. I will next review several aspects of the model which might have a favorable impact on the use of technology in the workplace or in a school.
Please click on my mind map! You will see the different ways I enjoy personal, professional networking. It can be read as a continuum from left to right going from official, work-related to personal fun-related uses. Have a great week everyone! I am having a blast at the Walden Residency in Minnesota! Wendy http://mywebspiration.com/view/160022a155df
Reflection on mind map These various ways of using technology represent a wide array of purposes. They show personal through professional uses and encourage me to continue learning in context of life and work. The main way that I can use digital applications is for inquiry into specific problems or focus areas. For instance, if I have a scheduling concern, I go onto Outlook and create a digital appointment to see how many participants I can gather at a time and place. Another way I use the digital tools is in web sites dedicated to learning on a particular issue. I belong to communities on Blackboard that contribute to networking with mentors, research and information on pertinent issues and documents in support of my endeavors. These are just two of the ways that I can use the connections in my world in an empowering fashion.
Every activity results in some form of meaning. In using collaboration, the activity enriches all participants. Howard Rheingold (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html) discusses how the paradigm has shiften away from older views like the prisoner's dilemma and sharing even Steven or "50 -50" into a new way of thinking. Businesses no longer require that the traditional model is followed in creation of new ideas, products and methods. The internet has allowed individuals to transcend boundaries and to collaborate in ways that have made a new era. The question as to whether people's basic instincts to work together is part of the internet phenomena is a good one because there also the idea that the quickest or fittest will win or that realism predicts that anything held in common will become fodder for conflict and eventually despoiled. In my opinion, the internet can be a tool for useful and productive work amongst men, however, it will be vulnerable to attacks and the forces of evil as well. Why do men eventually have to sadden themselves and why are there societies that have no name for war? These are some of the deeper questions of man's soul. For now, we must continue to hope that the internet is used as an instrument of peace, productivity and prosperity. Men can work together to achieve wonderful understandings, expressions of themselves, creations and explorations of the world using the internet. Using blogs, web groups, virtual worlds, to name just a few, the possibilities exist for linking to others to accomplish one's goals in a constructivist sense.
Many discussions on learning can lead us to reconceptualize knowledge and the act of learning itself. Do we begin with a new perspective on learning or form our approach eclectically from past theorists? Is our world so changed that we need to start from the beginning? What is the value of individuals, culture, values and mores in approaching learning? These questions appear in several recent blogs I have read on http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html, for one example. The discussion centering on whether past theories like behaviorism are at all useful or should be “abandoned” poses interesting questions.
My perspective is somewhat pragmatic. I would suggest, from my 20 years of experience as an educator, that an eclectic approach is best used with a variety of learners. Certainly one would not discount the developmental needs of the learner. However, to adhere strictly to a Piagetian approach would be a disservice when so much more is known about theories like information processing. Siegler in 1996 challenged researchers in cognitive development to adopt a new agenda, which, in his view, will require reformulation of basic assumptions about children’s thinking (Driscoll, 2005, p. 210). With Siegler in mind, we can observe that instruction holds the potential of for cognitive change not pure invention or naturally occurring social interactions (Driscoll, p. 211). His theory that children’s development follows a “framework of five dimensions of cognitive growth: its path, rate, breadth, source, and variability (Sigler & Svetina, 2002)," says Driscoll (p. 211). The overlapping qualities that Siegler attributes to this theory fit well with a wave-like metaphor where thinking can be prompted to develop by instruction and new strategies are incorporated “narrowly” alongside old ones.
As Kerr suggests, the various “-isms” that represent theories are filters and not a strict definitive lens for viewing learning. In the Kerr blog
(http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html), there is a lack of discussion on adult learner capabilities and children’s’ capabilities for learning. However, Driscoll mentions that “information-processing theorists have disagreed minimally with Piaget on what develops…and children clearly acquire knowledge and the ability to act upon that knowledge,” says Driscoll (p. 211). Kapp, an award-winning trainer and leader blogs (http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html)that “lower level learning (lower cognitive load) requires a behaviorist approach (memorize, recognizing, labeling) as does the expectation of outcomes that must be measured. He then suggests that procedural and rule-based learning requires an emphasis on Cognitivism and finally, problem-solving, collaboration and creativity require a view of Constructivism.” In this approach, we find a task-oriented and theory-based diagnostic approach without the strictures of a prescriptionist approach. It is implied that whatever the age and developmental level of the learner, each approach is possibly appropriate depending upon the cognitive task.
In essence, the argument rests with us, is the human a biological organism with various abilities at each level or does the brain build “rich, conceptual structure – mental models that restructure with experience” all throughout life. This has caused a sense of wonderment in my reflection as the news that continuing learning throughout one’s life has implications for improved cognitive functioning in the advanced years of life.
Sources noted:
Driscoll, M.P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.). New York: Pearson.
Critique Siemens’s “metaphors of educators.” Which of these metaphors best describes the role you believe an instructor should take in a digital classroom or workplace? Is there a better metaphor to reflect your view of the role of instructors? Siemens takes an eclectic view of educators using the metaphors of curator, concierge, network administator and master artist. With these metaphors in mind, he makes the point that students and teachers interact with various ways as related to educator activity, skills and knowledge and learners creating meaning and knowledge. Rather than adhering or exalting any of the metaphors, he suggests that there may be useful applications with each orientation. In the educator as master artist (Siemens, 2008, p. 15), the educator uses exemplars to aid instruction as with past masters and "emerging forms of art." The network admisistrator from Clarence Fisher delievers a model of an instructor geared toward an end result with evaluation from both learner and instructor (p. 16). The conceierge offers new "possibilities that are ripe" for the learner. However, a teacher in actual practice would ethically need to match the instructional approach with the learners' needs alongside the learning situation following a continuum and making adjustments, similar to Siemens' s description of teacher as concierge. Siemens's (p. 16) accolade to Bonk's notion of teacher as "concierge" is an interesting one. In that explanation, he says that the teachers helps to "softly" guide the students with traditional lectures and self-exploration and Siemens (p. 17) extends this metaphor to an educator who is a "curator" who has "advanced knowledge" and accepts the "autonomy of the learner" at the same time. Like Siemens and Bonk, I agree that the educator must guide learning while encouraging autonomy in the learner. The classes that have given me self-direction, like the Walden program, have had the most meaning for me and the best application to my life. Siemens, G. (2008, January). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers. Paper presented to ITFORUM for discussion. Retrieved June 4, 2009 from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com.
To tell you the truth, she was probably more surprised than I was... Actually never try this at home! Never handle a poisonous centipede or mukade. This has to be a photo alteration because these buggies really hurt. This lovely critter was crawling on my arm this evening, in all six inches of glory! And I was expecting a quiet night. I think it had dropped from the curtain I took down to wash. Next time, I'll be more careful or bomb the house before I plan to do the curtains. In Japan, we call these centipedes are greatly disliked due to their poisonous glands which inflict a painful scratch or bite, depending if it is the poisonous legs or the actual pinchers on the head that get you. Since this one was inside my dress for awhile before making itself known by coming out onto my arm, I have bites all over my back and arm. They have choice words for things like this. And they are said to travel in pairs... I only got one! Fortunately for me, I will be able to say that I have had another once (I hope) in a lifetime experience.
Although it doesn't sound like a very cheery festival, the Japanese revere their ancestors and celebrate the Festival of the Dead with great joy. In the belief that their relatives return for several days to visit with their living loved ones, the Japanese will go to great lengths to decorate the graves of their ancestors. On the first Obon after a loved one has passed away, it is tradition to spend the entire night with one's recently departed by having a party and keeping paper lanterns lit throughout the night, setting off firecrackers to say, "Hey, we're over here, come over here!" to the returning spirit. Kaz maintained this for his father last year on Hatsubon, the first Obon after his father passed away. The girls are with their paternal grandmother and have eagerly anticipated this Obon. They are now old enough to remember and enjoy this part of being in a Japanese family. They wear their Hello Kitty summer kimonos with obi sashes and are quite proud of themselves. That's it for this week's Obon celebration. I myself will be completing several final exams for history and political theory and then another celebration is in order for I will be done!
