Sunday Globe

Today's Boston Globe front page had a great article about PDA users going back to paper and pencil:

The following appeared on Boston.com:Headline: PDA buffs go back to basicsDate: June 25, 2006"Web designer Mike Rohde was a certifiable Palm fanatic. He had theoriginal PalmPilot 1000 , then a Sony Clié , then a Tungsten E, andseveral more all the way up to the Zire 72 . His monthly newslettervetting the newest models went out to 10,000 subscribers. But when hisPDA turned up missing two months ago, Rohde's ..."____________________________________________________________To see this recommendation, click on the link below or cut and paste itinto a Web browser:http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2006/06/25/pda_buffs_go_back_to_basics?p1=email_to_a_friend____________________________________________________________

You gotta see this!

I just hit "next blog" and randomly stumbled upon the blog of an art teacher in French Guyana:
http://akouarel.blogspot.com/
The artwork by her students if fantastic!
I am amazed by how good it is.

Rainy Saturday

Today I was scheduled to do a "book-signing" talk at the Inkwell Bookstore in Falmouth. Unfortunately, the books didn't come in on time. So I just gave a talk about news writing. The nice folks at the bookstore told everybody that if they ordered the books, they would get a 10% discount. Several folks asked about my weeklong class at the Cape Cod Writers Conference in August.

Last week Jamie teased me about "stalking" her at the Starbucks, where she works. I'm really not stalking her, but I love the soy chai lattes they make there. So I was passing the store this afternoon and got one again. But, as usual, Jamie was not there. I wonder if she really works there, or if it is just a cover story for some secret life she is leading. http://jbgblogspot.blogspot.com/
(I need to post a comment to one of her blog entries.)

Oh, about Internet Communication, my wife told me she was chatting on ICQ (I think) with our son Brandon who was also watching a downloaded movie on his computer and got a message form our other son and his wife. All these forms of Internet communication are keeping our nuclear family together, even though we are 1,000 miles apart.

Thursday thoughts

I have been running every morning, and that feels very good. We only do about three miles, but it certainly gets my heart beating.

Yesterday a student asked me about the special course I am offering at the Cape Cod Writers Conference in August. In case anyone else ins interested, I'll post the information here.

(Incidentally I am also doing a book-signing from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Inkwell Bookstore in Falmouth.)

The Cape Cod Writers Conference hired me to teach a five-day interactive course. The cost appears to be $100 for the course, plus $70 for conference registration, but check out all the information at the Cape Cod Writers Center Registration site: http://www.capecodwriterscenter.com/

There are five 90-minute classes Aug. 21 to 25, plus an orientation Sunday evening the 20th. Here is the information from their catalog:

Journalism: News Writing in the 21st Century
James W. Kershner
Full Week Course
This five-day interactive workshop will focus on practical, useful
techniques to improve news writing skills for today's news media. James Kershner, a journalism professor with more than 30 years experience in the field, will use lectures, writing exercises, writing games and discussion in the course.Topics will include: "Kershner's Five Rules of Journalism," "Keeping it Simple," "Playing with Leads," "Media Ethics: Two Plural Words," "The Internet and the Future of Journalism." Other subject areas will be tailored to the needs of the participants. Kershner recommends that participants read his book, The Elements of News Writing, published by Allyn & Bacon, before the workshop. Kershner teaches journalism, mass media and writing at Cape Cod Community College. In a 30-year newspaper career, he was staff reporter for the Providence Journal, city editor of the Carlisle (PA) Sentinel, Sunday editor of the Cape Cod Times, and (most recently) executive editor of the four weeklies on Cape Cod of the Community Newspaper Co. He holds a bachelor's degree from Marietta College and a master's degree in journalism from Penn State University. He is an adjunct instructor in the Suffolk University 2+2 program on Cape Cod that leads to a bachelor's degree in communication and journalism. His work has appeared in various newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor. Jim will be available all week for personal conferences and manuscript evaluations.

Another CSM story

Here is another Christian Science Monitor story about the Internet that I found very interesting. It is about keeping children safe and invading their privacy.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0621/p01s01-ussc.html

Wednesday already

Oh no. I skipped two days. What kind of an example am I setting for my students?

Here is a link to a great story in the Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0620/p01s03-uspo.html

Here is the lead:
By Gail Russell Chaddock Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON – Call it a battle for the future of the Internet.
As the Senate takes up the first overhaul of the nation's telecommunications laws in a decade, this week's debate will pitch one of the most unlikely lineups in recent political history against an entrenched industry lobby.

New Media, Old Media, Blog, Blog, Bog

This all started because I read Maureen Dowd's New York Times column reprinted in today's Cape Cod Times this morning.

Do the "new media" just want to become the "old media"?

What follows are three opinion columns about a big convention in Las Vegas, apparently based on a popular blog called The Daily Koz:

Maureen Dowd

Here is the June 10 Maureen Dowd Column from The New York Times. The Times charges to read it online, but a blogger called the Peeking Duck stole it and published it free.
http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/003777.php


Here is a reaction by By Shawn Macomber of the ultra-conservative Washington Spectator:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9959


And another from a middle-of-the road media critic Howard Kertz of the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/06/13/BL2006061300393.html


The Daily Koz is apparently a place for Liberal Democrats to share rants:
http://www.dailykos.com/

Podcast!

If you go to this site:

http://www.wgbh.org/cainan/article?item_id=480593

You can see all the recent episodes of a local radio show called "The Point."
Scroll down and under the June 14 program, you can see this:

June 14: Computers & Technology Peter Karlson, founder of NeuEon Technology discusses the latest technology news (Listen to an audio version of this program).

Click on the Listen -- on the Web site, not on this message -- and you can listen to a very interesting interview with an Internet expert.

Exhausting Friday

All I had on my schedule today was a very pleasant lunch with two of my colleagues who are among the founders of a group we started called SNACCIM -- Student Newspaper Advisers at Community Colleges in Massachusetts.

The Internet Communication connection was that my colleague Rose Sergi, who teaches at Middlesex Community College, is also offering a summer course this summer through Northeastern University. It is a hybrid course, and she was commenting that the on-line portion is a great deal of extra work for the instructor. I was able to agree that that was my experience exactly. We also talked about blogs. Our colleague Amy Callahan form Northern Essex was particularly interested in blogging, since she will be teaching an Introduction to Mass Communication class in the fall. I promised to send her the link to this blog, where she will see her own name! I hope she doesn't mind.

We met at a great restaurant called Scupper Jack's in Acton. (http://www.scupperjacks.com/) If you click the link, you can see that there is an outdoor deck overlooking the lake, and that's where we ate. The only bad part is that I hit a terrible traffic jam on the way up. It should have taken two hours, but I allowed two and a half to be safe. Ii was still 20 minutes late. They were kind and waited for me. For the last few miles of the trip my brakes acted funny. When I left the restaurant after a wonderful lunch, the brakes sounded and felt terrible. I crawled at 20 mph to a nearby Midas Muffler Shop. One brake shoe had become detached and crumbled, damaging the drum. So I sat in the Midas Shop for more than an hour while they repaired it. Another customer sat across form me typing away on his laptop. I said I wish I had brought mine! We had a nice chat about that. Then the drive home was in rush hour, and Route 495 was even worse than in the morning. That trip took three and a half hours. So my little lunch ended up taking me from 9:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Whew! I'm glad I got the key lime pie for desert!

Busy Thursday

Today was a busy Thursday. I tried to do some class preparation in the office and also get home early because my wife was returning from a trip to visit our grandson.

I read two articles in old-fashioned print newspapers I would like to share with my mass comm students. There must be digital links. Yes -- I found the links:

OK, here is one from The New York Times about advertisers using video games:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/15/business/web.0616adcol.php

and a related one from the Hartford Courant:
http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-advergames.artjun13,0,6478212.story?coll=hc-headlines-life

And on another subject. I liked Dante Chinni's column in Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor about the quality of the current media:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0613/p09s01-codc.html

I hope folks can follow these links and enjoy the articles.

Lo-tech Wednesday

Today I did not have much interaction with the Internet. I decided to skip the second day of the MCO conference for two reasons. We are concerned about my mother-in-law's health, so I didn't want to leave her alone with her niece. Also I was very tired. I ended up sleeping until nearly 8 a.m., which is very late for me. After breakfast I cleaned the rain gutters of my house -- a decidedly lo-tech job. I also sawed off come branches that have grown too close to the house.

In the evening I did, however check my e-mail, and answered several questions from students and from an aspirant in my Buddhist order. I was also able to use the Internet to check the enrollment in my next class, Great Works of Journalism. It starts Tuesday, and it looks like I will have 10 students.

MCO Conference Tuesday

MCO stands for Massachusetts Colleges Online, a consortium of all the community colleges and state colleges in Massachusetts to share resources and promote best practices related to online teaching. Today I attended the first day of a statewide conference. Last year a course I teach online received a COD (Course of Distinction) award from them. This year Candace Sshulenburg from CCCC received one for her developmental psychology class. I also attended a presentation by Susan Goldstein from Mount Wachusett Community College, who is receiving an award for her online journalism class. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she uses the textbook I wrote in her class!



The keynote speaker, Dr. Gerard L. Hanley, spoke about MERLOT, a Web site that indexes and organizes thousands of resources available for free that can be useful for online teaching. It looks fascinating. Check it out: www.merlot.org

I learned a lot about online teaching, but, after driving to Lowell and back in the morning and evening rush hours, I am too tired to explain it all here!

In Class Monday

I am in class right now.
Here is a photo:



















OK, where are those strange photos on the blog? Well, several students asked how to add photos to their blogs, so I demonstrated. The kitty wearing a lime was from the Internet. I just searched for "kitty" on Blogger Images. The other was a band (The Pipe Doctors, I believe) that was stored on the college network. Either way works. I think the demonstration helped in class.

Monday. Monday

"Monday, Monday" is an old song from the Mamas and the Papas. I haven't heard it for a long time.

Today I have already used the Internet extensively, and it is only 10 a.m. I checked my home e-mail, and read and responded to a question about Buddhism from a former student. I also reconnected with an old friend who has been out of touch for a couple of years. Then I checked my college e-mail and found out I can participate in a yoga class for college employees this summer. I was surprised that I did not have any messages from my Internet Communication class students. I also checked the Web site of Weather.com and found there is only a 10 to 20 percent chance of rain all day, so I can ride my motorcycle to school today.

Sunny Sunday

What a beautiful day!

It was wonderful to see the sun after a week of rain. I went for an early morning walk before breakfast and a four-mile run after breakfast. Then I mowed the lawn, which really needed it. After lunch I spoke with a young man who is interested in becoming a writer. Then I washed and waxed my motorcycle. In the late afternoon I led the Cape Sangha, my Buddhist meditation group. After that I took my mother-in-law and her niece out to dinner at Capt. Frosty's. I had a delicious lobster roll.

All in all, I had very little interaction with the Internet today. I did check my e-mail. I had sent a Monk-E-Mail message to my son, who was unable to open it from his work computer. He also mentioned that he was a little concerned that giving those folks his e-mail address might open him up to future spam. I hadn't thought about that.

I am looking forward to our second Internet Communication class tomorrow.

Rainy Saturday

I returned from my NCBI conference late last night, and I was exhausted. The National Coalition Building Institute teaches specific techniques for helping people see what they have in common. They can be used to decrease racism and help resolve controversial issues. But to learn to be a trainer is an emotionally draining experience. I learned a lot, but I feel like I have been beaten up emotionally. We spent three days looking deeply at the pain caused by racism, discrimination and hatred. Whew!

I read that Blogs should have lots of links, so here is a link to the NCBI Web site:
http://www.ncbi.org/

I also learned something about Internet communication. I learned that being cut off from it drove me crazy! I have become dependent on being able to access my e-mail and Web sites. I have four different e-mail accounts I check every day, and not being able to do that was frustrating. The hotel where we stayed offered Internet connections for an additional $9.99 per day. In retrospect, I wish I had done that, but it just seemed outrageously expensive. Most hotels where I have stayed in the last year offer it for free.

I did get some limited use of the Internet through a student computer lab at te campus where the conference was held, the Haverhill campus of Northern Essex Community College. I was part of a small group who were tasked with teaching a song to the whole conference -- about 100 people. We re-wrote the chorus to "We Are the World." In order to do that, I got permission to go to a computer lab and download the original lyrics. Later another member of our group downloaded the song itself, so we could play the original recording for the group and then substitute out alternate chorus about NCBI. Thanks to the Internet, the project was a big success.

Withdrawal symptoms

I have been attending a three-day professional training conference of the National Coalition Building Institute. We are staying at the Wyndham Andover Hotel, and they have no wireless Internet access. I can arange for a high-speed cable access for an extra $9.99 per day, but that seems excessive. Anyway, that is why I did not post anything yesterday.
Not having access to the Internet feels terrible. I feel like I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms being cut off from the Internet, my e-mail and other Web things. I can't blog or even post my diet on the Weight watchers site!
I will be back online again Friday night.

First Class: The Morning After

This is my first post on my new blog.
I have assigned the 12 students in my class for Suffolk University's program on Cape Cod (CJN342 Internet Communications) to keep a daily blog. I guess I had better do it too!
The first class went very well, I think. At least I was pleased with it. My goal was to help create a closeknit group of friends, or a "learning community." I think we made good progress. Then I wanted to identify the key questions we all have about the Internet. We developed a long list of questions to consider as a starting point.
I learned that there is a wide range of knowledge among the class members. Some know a great deal about certain areas but very little about other areas.