Crew's Blessing

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Such a special day. Justin gave Crew a beautiful blessing, and unlike his older brother Crew didn't make a peep through the whole thing. Big C literally screamed his head off from the time Justin started to speak until he sat back down with him. The bishop even said afterward from the pulpit that it looked like we'd have our hands full. And we do! We love our crazy Camden. Any chance Crew will be a calmer kid?! Doubt it but we'll see! It was so fun to have family and close friends there to be a part of this special experience. Thank you so much to those that traveled to be here!!!

Dr. Barmucci's Talk on Distance Education

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I was fortunate enough to attend a talk about distance education by Dr. Robert Barmucci, District Dean, Open Campus, Riverside Community College District. He immediately came across to me as the “Dr. Phil of Distance Education,” by providing a humorous, yet intuitive discussion about distance education. And he admits that distance education today is almost synonymous with online education even though in theory it can take several different forms.

The following information was presented by Dr. Barmucci during his talk:

Distance education is growing at a rate of 20-25% compared to 4-5% for traditional education. Further, for-profit education is growing at a faster rate than public education.

Failed educational technology in the past has led to skepticism among some educators about online education. Even so, distance education dates back to 1840 with the first correspondence course in shorthand. Thus, distance education has been around in some form for more than a century and a half. However, the recent growth in distance education can largely be attributed to the internet, which has allowed for the restructuring of technology and its use.

Research has consistently demonstrated that there are no significant differences between online and traditional classes. Dr. Barmucci presented a meta-analytic review of 70 studies to support this claim. His presentation mirrors much of the research presented at this year’s annual American Psychological Association Conference that I attended in New Orleans. Dr. Barmucci also indicated that satisfaction tends to be high among distance education students and many cite the flexibility that such education offers as one of the reasons for taking an online class. As a result, distance education is much more “consumer friendly” than traditional education.

Distance education is still in a mostly primitive form as online classes have only existed for 10 years, versus 700 or more years for traditional education. Online education also requires greater skills for both the student and the educator. For the educator, he or she must not only be the content creator, but media expert among a list of numerous or skills required for effective online presentation of information. In addition, not everything that works in the classroom works equally well online, resulting in the need to create or at least modify current teaching methods.

Trends in Distance Education

1. The Future Is Mobile

This is largely the consequence of technology which is beginning to integrate numerous devices into a single unit.

Time/Place shifting is becoming common, especially among the iPod and Tivo users who have become accustomed to having the content they want when and where they want it.

2. The Future Is Interactive

The computer game business is larger than the movie business, or for professional sports for that matter.

Part of the success of games is that they allow players to make choices in how they want to proceed. The same might be true fro online classes in the future. As a result, courses can be customized to the individual student.

3. The Future Is Integrated

There will likely be an unbundling of courses with courses designed, developed, and/or taught by teams.

4. Categories Will Blur

The distinction between traditional and distance education courses will become harder to distinguish.

This is especially true as more and more faculty are teaching traditional courses that are “Blackboard-Enhanced.”

Conclusion

There is world-wide potential to distance education as your student base is no longer limited to a specific geographic region. In Africa, for instance, more than 125 million children have no access to education. Further, AIDS is killing teachers faster than they can be trained.

Dr. Barmucci concluded by stating, “The hope for distance education is to rehumanize education, not to dehumanize it.” Essentially, he was referring to the fact that larger classrooms have led to a greater disconnect between the educator and the student. With online courses, however, there is a greater potential for one-on-one interaction between the two.

Maybe "Snakes on a Plane" Wasn't So Far Fetched

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According to a news report today entitled Scorpion Stings Man on Plane by CBS News and many other news sites, a man was stung by a scorpion that somehow manage to make its way onto the plane. While it's not inconceivable that just about any kind of critter can make it onto a plane, it seems somewhat ironic after the earlier theatrical release of Snakes on a Plane and the recent DVD release of the movie.

What I've Learned in Two Weeks as a Parent

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The following are a few discoveries I've made over the first two weeks as a parent:

• Coolers are king.
• Keeping a cooler on the nightstand to store bottles for 2:00 a.m. feedings will make your life a lot easier so you don't have to go far when hunger hits your newborn.
• Keep diapers everywhere.
• While changing tables might be nice, they are often inconvenient in terms of their location. If you live in a two story house, keeping a diaper station downstairs as well as upstairs will make your life a lot easier. In addition, it's useful to keep diapers near the bassinet if your newborn is sleeping in your room.
• Use a light that can be dimmed.
• The last thing you want to do is turn on the lights in the middle of the night to check on your newborn, to change his or her diaper, and/or to feed him or her.
• PDAs are useful in keeping track of feedings, diaper changes, etc.
• While this may sound trivial, the first thing your infant's pediatrician will ask you is how much he/she is eating and how many diapers you are changing on a daily basis. He/she will also want to know the content of those diapers. Further, you may enter a new parent coma, which will impair your ability to remember anything usually resulting from too little sleep. Thus, if it's not written down, you might not remember it at all.
• Don't believe size tags in infant clothing.
• Even though Brady was an average sized kid in terms of weight and length, all of the "newborn" clothes are still way too big. "Onesies" work well and we swaddle for warmth. Anything else they'll end up swimming in. I've also found that I like Carter's clothing the best and have found that they run large.
• A digital camera is your friend.
• Keep a digital camera in your diaper bag so that it's always accessible. Take pictures everyday and take more than you'll need. You'll be surprised at how quickly they grow and change. And since they're digital images, there's no cost for the ones you choose not to print.
• Make triple prints of all your photos.
• You'll want to keep a set for yourself and the grandparents will likely want a set as well.
  
• A good office chair may be a better bet than a rocker or a glider.
• Everyone raves about using a glider to calm your infant and/or for breast feeding, but my wife found that my ergonomic office chair worked best for her as the chair can be custom adjusted in all ways (e.g., height, tilt, arm height, etc.). You can't do this with a glider or a rocker. In addition, the chair swivels, so you can still use the chair to sooth your infant.
  
• Learn to swaddle.
• Nothing calms Brady more than being swaddled. Waffle style receiving blankets work best as they can be pulled tight, but they leave waffle marks on your newborn's skin. While they do sell swaddling sacks, they may be too large for your newborn.
• Your legs make an excellent cradle.
• If you're sitting in a recliner or on the bed, cross your legs at the ankles and use the space between your legs as a cradle. This way, your newborn will be close to you and you'll be able to see him/her clearly. However, keep in mind that he/she will be too far away for him/her to see you clearly.
  

Three Hours of Sleep I'll Never Get Back

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Over the last couple of weeks, I've been taking advantage of the midnight showings of this summer's blockbuster movies as my son, Brady, and wife, Sheri, are asleep at that time; thus, my father- and husband-related responsibilities are not being neglected. Of course, there is additional loss of sleep, so the movie has to be quite good.

The movie I was most looking forward to this summer, in part due to the hype of the trailers, was Transformers. I'll admit that I grew up when Transformers appeared as toys, competing with GoBots, and was one of the dominant cartoons on television. I even had a number of the Transformer toys, including Optimus Prime and Starscream. And of course, my friends had various versions of them as well. And since the only movie to date was a cartoon version, I was quite excited that a live-action film was being made.

While the movie was fair and one that is enjoyable to anyone looking for a shoot-em-up flick, I must say that I was disappointed in the film overall. In my opinion, it failed to stay true to the cartoon storyline, the storyline I grew up on. Instead, the storyline was disjointed with all the Autobots and Decepticons going after one item, the Allspark. Rather than showing how the Transformers evolved, Optimus Prime spends five minutes providing a narrative.

Now, I must say that the midnight show drew a lot of fans. The theater was packed, and the audience cheered upon the lights dimming. The audience also cheered when Optimus Prime appeared for the first time, and applauded when the film was over, much like one would see at a Starwars screening.

Fortunately, I also saw Live Free or Die Hard, also known as Die Hard 4.0 in Europe, the week before at midnight. While the audience was much smaller, I must say that this 4th Die Hard movie was everything that I expected it to be and more. While I admit that I was not a fan of Die Hard 3, I really enjoyed the first two Die Hard movies. However, I think this is the best to date as you have a known character, the introduction of several new characters, and all the action and suspense that one would expect from a Die Hard film. Thus, I was completely satisfied when I left this movie, realizing that the 11 bucks and loss of 3 hours of sleep were worth it--not so for Transformers.

Of course, I could always go to Krikorian Theatres' "Mommy Movie Mondays," which I've taken advantage of several times, but I didn't want to wait to see the movie, nor did I want to be interrupted from the action by having to tend to Brady during the movie.

Packers at Bengals Tickets

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Packer's at Bengals tickets still available. The Packer's enter the third pre season game trying to work out the kinks and start rolling towards the regular season. Cedric Benson gets his first taste of action versus his old team. I'm excited for the game Thursday, because the third pre season game is where the starters play at least a half and its a warm up for the season. GO PACK GO!!!

Aaron Rodgers Runs Wild

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Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense ran wild on the Bengals last night. Cedric Benson had a great debut with the Packers, all though Rodgers was the leading rusher for the game with two touchdowns. Now to the defensive side of the ball, they looked legit. The Pass rush was outstanding and coverage down field was awesome. I still think the right corner back position is up for grabs, no one took charge last night. Only one more pre season game is left at Lambeau Field.