Chasing the Dragon's Tale

Today's MiamiHerald.com story, Arts Center Puts Spotlight on Technology, includes a quote by Tod Machover, who heads MIT's media lab. Machover said, "Be ahead of the curve, but don't try to be `future-proof' ''. The article explains, "Selecting technology today that will be acceptable and usable in 10 years is practically impossible to do."There are points in this article that those of us in higher education may miss. Use the technology that is available to you currently, be as creative as possible with it, and don't let the chase for the future get in the way of what needs to happen now. The article references camphones as an example of an adaptive technology that our students use today. Are we making the most creative use of that technology to enhance learning? Can we partner with what might sound like strange bedfellows to enhance education in places where our students hang out? ...and THE most important question raised in the article (at least for me): Are we brave enough to adopt a technology that may be ephemeral in nature, knowing that it will be passe' in the future?

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NewsMax.com ran an article yesterday with a relatively unbiased perspective on the Bush and Kerry campaign positions regarding Internet access. The article, Kerry on the Record: The Great ?Digital Divide?, written by Dave Eberhart attempts to describe the thin line that separates the positions of the two major candidates in the 2004 presidential race. First of all, let me make it clear that my position on the issue is that any sort of federal control over access to the Internet or any aspects of its functionality belongs in the private sector. If we really want to see technologies screwed up over the next couple of decades, then add federal bureaucracy to the business formula (end of Paul's sermon). Both candidates are pushing for universal service. Now what universal service means is a little ambiguous but appears that it involves the following features:

Internet access that allows connectivity without federal taxation

Distribution of broadband services in rural areas and low income area similar to what is available in major urban centers...and using federal resources (tax dollars) to do so

Possibly allowing local electric companies (state and federally regulated) to become Internet providers, implying that local phone companies may have to compete with utility companies for Internet customers in under-served areas.
The unanswered, great digital divide, question regarding the difference between the two candidates is probably, "How much will universal service cost the American taxpayer". There seems to be little philosophical difference between the two positions when it comes to the noble objective. So, in spite of the rhetoric to keep federal taxation out of the Internet access arena, if indeed broadband is expanded using federal funding...those ARE my tax dollars and your tax dollars.

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I will have to resist writing only about my experiences in Rio de Janeiro for the next several days...I have a lot of information that I need to sort though on a personal level as a result of this trip. This was not my first venture into a developing country, but it was my first time with extended periods of contact with the urban poor. It was both amazing and heartbreaking. My pre-conceived notions on the acceptance of technology among the poor has been destroyed...I hardly know where to start.My initial response to my observations look something like this:

The urban poor have redefined public utility when it comes to getting electricity (more, later)

Satelite television is well accepted and may dominate delivery systems (other than rabbit ears) due to the lack of infrastructure for cable delivery.

For a similar reason, cell phones may dominate communication systems...the towers seem to be everywhere, and although not what I would call pervasive, cell phones are not uncommon among the poor (many work in service industries...that may be the reason for this).

Personal computers seen in cyber cafes and school labs are recognized as essential tools...not as options for enhancing education, but essential to ICT. There seem to be few computers in the actual classroom, but I saw well organzed, well staffed, and well used computer labs in schools and community centers.
Among the poor in Rio, there is hunger, mixed levels of infrastructure for basic needs (water, sewer, electrical, telephone), and there are certainly cramped quarters... but there is a cognition of technology that I found surprising. The poor are not well educated, but seem to understand and hunger for what technology can do to improve their conditions. Something about Maslow's triangle is amuck here...mixed in with the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter is a thread of technology. I am amazed...but I am still heartbroken by all that I have witnessed. More later...

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Graduation at Belmont is over. The campus is quiet. Faculty have, for the most part, scattered into the wind (and rain). And I am headed off for 10 days with Belmont's sports evangelism team to work in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. My first trip to Rio was 39 years ago (ouch) to participate in the first Pan American Boy Scout Jamboree...that was a life changing experience for me, my first venture beyond the borders of the USA and an awakening to other cultures. This trip will be a life changing experience for all of us, I am sure. This time, one of my responsibilities is to record what happens throughout the trip, much like an embedded journalist (which I am not)...but with the participants/leaders actively involved in a blog, The Rio Journal. I have high hopes that the blog will accomplish several objectives:

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Catching up on some of my aggregated reading this morning, I learned of the change in licensing and price structure with the release of MovableType Version 3. Dr. Lawley at mamamusings expresses shared concerns over the transition. I am not ready to jump ship just yet. My boat is already pretty full for the next several months and from what I understand, we are OK hanging on to version 2.5x for now. I am, however, asking for options from readers here, particularly, since I have asked my department to install a new server with the intent of using it exclusively for academic blog applications. I appreciate any thoughts that you may have to share.

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I try hard not to be cynical when it comes to news releases from Microsoft, however, today's article in biz ink, "State of Washington and Microsoft Address Technology Skills Gap Through U.S. Partners in Learning" included one statement that jumped off the page: "Gov. Gary Locke's office and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced their intent to work together over a five-year period to develop and implement long-term sustainable education models as part of Microsoft's U.S. Partners in Learning." In all fairness, the plan is to use existing and emerging technologies... it was the 5 YEARS that screamed at me. What is 5 years in technology time, 15 years? 20 years? So, in five years, Microsoft will deliver this well tested and documented technology for teaching/learning...of course, teaching techniques may be required to freeze in the meantime while Microsoft comes up with a new standard (meow). OK, I couln't resist the sarcasm/cynicism. I vent. I feel better.

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I really hesitate to jump into any sort of political debate over the ethics of war... I take General Sherman's "war is hell" literally. Regardless of your political position, use your power of the ballot to set the direction your elected leaders may choose... in my opinion, it is THE most under-used right of US citizenry...and regretfully so (stepping off soapbox). Recent events regarding the distribution of images by allied (not all of the terrible images were American, by the way) troups and the response by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, point to what I have described before as the generational gap in technology. Right or wrong is not my concern here, but what underlying differences in the way different generations have been (and are) able to communicate during wartime is worthy of note. Robert Plummer's article in the BBC Online, "US powerless to halt Iraq net images" , includes a quote from Secretary Rumsfeld:

In his testimony to congressional committees, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld indicated that the flood of pictures was now beyond the US authorities' control. "There are a lot more photographs and videos that exist," he said. "If these are released to the public, obviously it is going to make matters worse... I looked at them last night and they are hard to believe."

Rumsfeld, born in 1932, was in his teens during World War II and served in the Navy(1954-1957) in the period between the Korean War/Conflict and the Vietnam War. I am confident in assuming that his A.B. degree from Princeton in 1954 did not have a technology emphasis (please correct me if my assumption is erroneous). In a nutshell, here is my generational analysis:

Senior leader, white male

Age: early 70's

College experience did not include computer literacy (not a fault, just a fact)

Personal communication experince in war years - primarily handwritten or hard copy postal communication, telephone, and perhaps telegraph/telegram included

In 2004, knows how to use e-mail and can surf the Internet - when he has time, refering to his quote above regarding seeing pictures on the Internet: "...I looked at them last night and they are hard to believe."

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The phone rang a couple of months ago and the lady on the other end of the phone line ask me and my wife of nearly 30 years to provide support for a sports evangelism team going to Rio de Janeiro. Since that time, we have been through orientation, met all of the team members, emailed some of the local missionaries, and acquired a ton of stuff to take along to give away as gifts and souvenirs. Today, we launched a blog for the project. The Rio Journal will be the official reporting tool for the trip's activities. The chase for the Dragon on this occasion will include a mad scramble to deliver photo stills, video, and copy in a country where we do not yet have good information...only that there are cyber cafes near the hotel where we will be staying. Bloggers from other parts of the country have pooh-poohed the use of Flash as a delivery system for multimedia, but thus far, it appears to have more functionality than any similarly priced package. If you are interested, follow The Rio Journal over the next three weeks. After that, I will be back to Chasing the Dragon's Tale.

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Southern Kentucky schools are reaching out to parents in order to engage families who traditionally have been on the periphery of technology...in essence forming a learning community of parents who are referred to as 'CyberParents'.

The Kentucky.com article quotes from the Lexington Herald-Leader article, 'School advocates named CyperParents(sic)':

"...the program will increase parents' computer skills. While their children might have been using technology in school, many parents have not had access to computers or they own outdated equipment. Their increased familiarity with a computer can help them develop job and research skills they didn't have before. These parents also will be good examples of lifelong learning to their children."

Posted by admin at 08:04 AM | Permalink

My Dragon is miles behind me? I have run to the forest to be with my thoughts and a favorite North Carolina river. The Nantahala in western North Carolina is my retreat this weekend. This is the view from my camp site and I have claimed it as my space to reflect on the semester behind me. I have written, composed, hiked, fished, cooked, photographed, shot video, and slept enough for a full week of activity in just a few days. Early this morning I succumbed to an effort to put my thoughts into words and music?somehow I hear and visualize the memory of this place as some sort of historic southern movie (something besides Deliverance's Dueling Banjos, please)...perhaps some combination of Stephen Foster's Sewanee River and Sidney Lanier's Song of the Chattahoochee would be more appropriate. There is something inspiring and nostalgic about this place and I understand why the people who live here love it so.

As for the young men who paddled the river for two days: Matt (pictured), Austin, Kenny, and Justin... I salute you on a job well done. Anyone executing an Eskimo roll in 43 degree water and coming up with a smile gets a 'thumbs up'.
Now about finishing that term paper...(maybe a nap, first...)

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