Monday, May 2, 2011

MEDA 5400 - The Final Project!

http://comedymeltdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/the-end-2-450x339.jpg
Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching
Chapter 12 - Technology in Social Studies

1. Technology Integration Example
       not submitted by group member
2. Introduction & Issues and Problems in Social Studies Instruction
       http://jmae-musicbrain.blogspot.com/
       http://www.polleverywhere.com/survey/BIgbAOah7
3. Technology Integration Strategies for Social Studies Instruction
       http://prezi.com/njbs_gmhi4e7/technology-integration-strategies-for-social-studies-instruction/
4. Summary
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_7tiC44Apk

Content supplied by Jennifer Eavers & Scott McIlquham

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Tri-Cities Mattress Firm Open For Business!


After 9 months of labor, the first of the triplets hit the ground running today - the Kingsport store is open for business and has already sold our first mattress!  Bristol and Johnson City stores should be open within a month, with more to come in the future (but not TOO soon!)  "Best selection, Best Prices", "We Deliver Dreams", "Save Money, Sleep Happy", "Locally Owned, Nationally Known" ... we've got all the slogans!  Now the fun really starts!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Don’t mess with Mother Nature!

I like to think that we’ve always been a little ‘green’; we recycle, never litter, and generally try to care for our earth. But we've really had our eyes opened up in our travels about how short-sighted man can be in solving problems with the environment…

While in Egypt, we spent some time in the Nile River town of Aswan, then we crossed Lake Nassar on a ferry to get to the Sudan. Lake Nassar was formed not many years ago by building the huge Aswan Dam on the Nile (just upriver from Aswan, as it happens). Hundreds of square miles (at least!) of river land formerly occupied by thousands of people and many ancient ruins now lie under the lake. At least they moved the most famous ruin, Abu Simbal, to the (new) lakeshore. The dam was constructed to eliminate the annual flooding which has occurred for millennia along the banks of the Nile. Sounds like a good idea, right? Worth all the one-time investment and inconvenience to make life easier for everyone else along the river, especially the farmers with the low-lying riverfront land. We thought so too – this is how 20th century technology can really help people.

Wrong. It seems that the annual flooding of the Nile was what brought sediment downriver to keep the river land fertile year after year for the farmers. In fact, we saw ancient flood markers which were used thousands of years ago for tax purposes – the higher the floodwaters, the more tax the farmers paid because their harvest would be better that year! We learned that since the dam was built, the use of chemical fertilizers has increased each year, with negative effects on the water supply (through runoff) and the farmers’ income. Oops. I guess the culture that built the pyramids knew a bit about ecology too!

The introduction of foreign wildlife has caused its share of problems, especially in Australia and New Zealand. A country of 3 million people and 70 million sheep, a little-known fact about New Zealand is that the sheer volume of livestock has a measurable negative effect on the nation’s air quality. It seems they have a methane problem, what with so many sheep eating flatulence-inducing grass. Their scientists are actively seeking a solution – some kind of grass without gas!

Travelling in New Zealand, we were surprised by the amount of road kill. While on a late-night drive with a local after some kiwi-spotting, we learned that most of the casualties are possums, introduced from Australia about 100 years ago for their fur. With no natural enemies, the possums have become such a nuisance that it is now a point of national pride to knock off as many of the little blighters as you can while driving at night. The possums assist in this endeavour by freezing in the headlights and raising their heads, putting them right at bumper height. I’m sure you can guess the rest.

Did Australia learn from the NZ experience with possums? Not by a long shot! Some early British settler had the bright idea to bring out a few rabbits so he could do a spot of hunting – now literally millions of rabbits denude the flora in many parts of the Outback and bordering regions, with equally dire effects on the local fauna. Oops. Aussie scientists are introducing a genetically engineered disease to get rid of the rabbits, but who knows where that will lead!

In the Northern Territory, they introduced water buffalo to help farm in the coastal swampland. Many of the animals escaped to the wild and multiplied, and by bulldozing channels through the tidal swamps they have allowed the sea water to penetrate much farther inland than previously, raising the salinity of the water, and drastically changing the environment. Oops.

In the Outback, camels were introduced in the 1800’s to help with the desert conditions. No worries, right? Well, the camels haven’t caused much of a problem, even though there are lots of wild ones now – the problem was their saddles. When they brought the original camels from Arabia, they also brought along their grass-stuffed saddles. As the saddles wore out, the grass seeds dropped to the ground and took root, thus introducing a particularly hardy strain of desert grass which has virtually taken over from the native grasses in many parts of the Outback. Oops.

All in the distant past, you say? Not so. Relatively recently (1935) cane toads were brought to the Queensland sugar fields for some very logical reason, I’m sure. These are huge toads with such an obnoxious taste that they have no known enemies. So, do you think they stayed in the sugar cane? Not likely! Each year the scientists report how much further they’ve spread – they’ve been reported as far away as Sydney, 1000 miles from where they were introduced. Oops.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

When did every student suddenly need a car?

I know I'm showing my age, but I remember when we used to ride our bikes to school ... in elementary school, in middle school, in high school, and yes (gasp!) in university!  Parking lots were either for teachers or, at the Universities of Waterloo and Guelph, they were placed on the perimeter of the campus with wide walking and bike paths between the various classroom buildings.

Now I'm feeling bad that my poor son won't have a car when (if) he passes his driving test tomorrow morning - his high school's student parking lot is almost bigger than my entire high school was!  And at ETSU where I'm taking my classes, there are acres of parking and it's still THE #1 issue ... how hard it is to get a spot, how far it is to get around campus, how "unfair" it all is!

Guess what?  I park at the far reaches of the campus (there are always spots) and walk about 5 minutes to my classes.  If I have to go to the other side of the campus to the library, it's another 5-10 minute walk.  Inconvenient in the rain or snow, but I take an umbrella and wear shoes (not sandals) and a coat!

I don't waste any time looking for parking, I get exercise, no money is spent or trees killed to build more lots and multi-level garages, AND I'M AN OLD MAN NOT A YOUNG KID!  As my Uncle Homer says, "It's not rocket surgery!"

So sorry, son, you won't be driving to school until you buy your own car.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Parallel Parking 101

That's right, the bane of every driving student ... parallel parking!  My 16 year old son is going for his test on Wednesday, and after finishing a successful practice session on the driving portion I pronounced him fit and ready!  "What if they want me to parallel park?", he asked, "I haven't done that since last fall in drivers' ed class!"

So I parked my wife's car and my dad's car on our court and we practiced parallel parking.  First, I had to show him how, dredging up 34 year old memories and somehow NOT making a fool of myself.  Then it was his turn, and thankfully he got it almost straight away.  Either I'm a very good teacher, or his driving instructor was!

By the way, sorry to break it to you new parents who thought it got easier after the diaper phase, but the first 15 years are just training so that you're equipped with enough patience and forbearance to teach your kids to drive in the 16th year!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Wiki Leaps

So, I'm talking to Nathan yesterday, eh, and you know I'm Canadian, eh, and he says, "I just love the song Northwest Passage, the unofficial anthem of Canada!"  EH?!

Well, it's been almost 20 years since I lived in Canada, and even longer since I said "eh" at the end of every sentence, but I had to admit to Nathan that I'd never heard of the song.  My Canadian wife of 30 years has never heard of it.  It just so happens that my parents are visiting from Canada, so I asked them last night ... never heard of it.  We got on YouTube and listened to the song ... horrible, and now we were sure we'd never heard of it.  Called my sister in Canada who lives in the REALLY frozen north and listens to public radio all the time - she'd vaguely heard of it.  Googled it, and sure enough wikipedia reported that no less than the prime minister of Canada had called the song the "unofficial anthem".

My point?  Based on my extensive research, I'm betting most people in Canada have not heard of this song and certainly don't consider it any sort of "anthem" of Canada - yet with a few keystrokes and an entry in wikipedia the rest of the world (in this case, Nathan) can be convinced that it's some sort of Canadian classic!  I have no idea whether the prime minister really said what is quoted, but we all know about trusting politicians!

While the internet has made so much knowledge so accessible, this illustrates how easy it is to be fooled or misled.  We need to teach our students, and remember ourselves, to check, double-check and triple check all information ... and if you have any doubts, call a Canadian to set you straight!

P.S. You know how we spell our country's name, right?   It's  "C", eh, "N", eh, "D", eh

P.P.S.  For vintage Canuck comedy, check out "Bob and Doug Mackenzie" and "Great White North" on YouTube

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

It's in the genes (and the jeans!)

I thought it would be my 16 yr old son who would carry on the family tradition of being "into" technology, and he certainly is as a consumer and user of cell phones, iPods, video games, social media, etc.  But despite my encouragement he has resisted my attempts to hook him on web page design, photoshop, and video editing.  Imagine my pleasure then when my 12 yr old daughter asked me to show her the rudiments of iMovie so that she could edit some footage she'd shotof my baby great-nephews on her cell phone!  Given that I was in the middle of an assignment of my own, I gave her a quick 15 minute intro and left her to it.  Less than an hour later she had a hilarious 45 second movie of the babies dancing to "Walk Like an Egyptian"!  Unfortunately YouTube cut out the soundtrack, but we all got a kick out of the original and hopefully this is the start of something beautiful!

Oh, and as for the jeans, she's also started wearing holes in the knees of hers, just like I did at that age!