Comments for Geeky Mom

Comment on The morning view by airport

airport — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:05:20 +0000

Hi, I do think this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it I’m going to come back yet again since i have book-marked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

Comment on Taking Responsibility by Luci

Luci — Tue, 14 May 2013 02:25:51 +0000

Yes, it is very important for people to learn and make experiences for themselves, but at the same time, why make the same mistakes. If you know something, why not pass on the knowledge especially when it comes to the security and safety of others using technology? Internet and technology safety is really important to understand these days especially as the technology keeps getting increasingly smarter. It can do almost anything these days. Understanding the “rules” of the internet can save time, lives, and so much more.
Privacy, representation, reputation, sense of exposure, and audience are all things that should be payed close attention to. The internet makes it easy these days to get privacy invasion and identity theft. Computer technologies have so many ethical implications that no one really pays attention to. They truly test a person’s character. Also, using a person’s ethical implications can help decide what is accurate and normal on the internet based on context. knowing what internet sources to look for like “.com” “.org” or “.edu” when researching can save so much time.

Comment on Being an expert by Laura

Laura — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:28:00 +0000

Yeah, I sat through the rite of passage classes–in CS and in Biology. They don’t do that in History or English. And as for spreading ideas, it’s why I keep putting stuff here when I can. I try.

Comment on Being an expert by Garth

Garth — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:17 +0000

I know a thing or two myself. The trouble is one of those two things I know is how to operate a slide rule. I am not quite sure what the second thing I know is but I will find it some day. But I have lots of experience and can base some very unscientific opinions on that experience. My experience with college CS professors is mixed. I have worked with some old school guys that could not teach a duck to float. I have met some new school guys that are real pissed at the old school guys and are trying to rewrite how CS is taught. “This is the way we did it when I was a student” is not a researched based methodology. That “Programming 101 – Essentials of Java” should not be a Rite of Passage or a “thin out the weak ones” type class. No wonder we cannot get anybody to teach high school programming. After the typical Programming 101 anyone mildly interested in teaching Programming/CS is looking for something a bit more entertaining.

Why write a book? Just put good ideas on the internet through a blog and watch them spread on their own.

Comment on Being an expert by Justin Geeslin

Justin Geeslin — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:58:16 +0000

Great post! Encouraging me to contribute in my organizations even in the face of competition/opposition. Thanks!

Comment on Being an expert by Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:17:45 +0000

Yes, some ed theory is bad, I agree. And I have run into my fair share of education researchers who are frankly, not that smart. My experience in higher ed, though, was that an awful lot of faculty didn’t give teaching (or more importantly, learning) any thought at all. And I’m currently embroiled in a heated debate with some professors who are just spouting off. Long story. And trust me, I’ve seen plenty of K-12 teachers who don’t think about it as well. I wonder if in both cases, if your job is to teach, shouldn’t you be fired for not thinking about it or caring about it? And I don’t care so much if they follow a particular philosophy. I just want people to have good reasons for the way they’re teaching. If they say, well, it seems to work because of x, I’m okay with that. One thing I find in my field is that faculty aren’t sensitive to the ways their assignments might turn off particular kinds of people: women and/or minorities. That’s something I think about quite a bit.

Comment on Being an expert by nicoleandmaggie

nicoleandmaggie — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:22:01 +0000

As someone who suffered mightily on the receiving end of constructivism, not knowing what it is isn’t the end of the world… and may actually be a good thing. There are plenty of excellent ways of teaching that don’t require knowing a thing about John Dewey or whatever the in-vogue educrat philosophy is (can it still be constructivism? That’s soooo last century). A lot of educational “research” is actually just unproven theoretical garbage, or “research” that makes causal claims about correlations without understanding things like selection bias, reverse causality etc. That’s why many professors are skeptical.

Sorry to slam that part of your post– the other stuff is good and yes, imposter syndrome is bad. However, slamming college professors for not following a specific teaching philosophy… well, it’s not justified. Sure there are plenty of lousy college professors out there, but it’s not because they didn’t take ed theory courses. There are plenty of lousy ed theory professors out there too! And there are plenty of college professors who spend a lot of time thinking about teaching and plenty of K-12 teachers who don’t.

Comment on Making and MakerEd by New #makerEd chat – Tuesday 5/7 | Tie And Jeans

New #makerEd chat – Tuesday 5/7 | Tie And Jeans — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:43:46 +0000

[...] to wrangle as many K12 Maker folk as I can find into my Twitter feed. Laura had the bright idea to anchor a Twitter chat and try to bring all of those voices [...]

Comment on Friday Tabs by Friday Tabs | Geeky Mom

Friday Tabs | Geeky Mom — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:30:11 +0000

[...] Another Friday, another collection of random links. I think, though I’m not sure, that they’re all different from last week’s. [...]

Comment on One thing (maybe two) by What Now?

What Now? — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:33:30 +0000

Our house has become a disaster area this spring, so just this week I came up with the idea of putting away 5 things each day — totally do-able, and if I keep it up, everything should be much less cluttered by the time work eases up and I could do actual cleaning. (And unloading the dishwasher doesn’t count toward the 5 things!)