MAC Week 4: Wrap Up

What a long road this has been and now we are moving on to month 12, the final stretch to the finish line. What an experience this whole thing has been and it still feels like yesterday that I just got into the EMDT program and now, I am just about done. The MAC course was a good final touch that put everything that I had worked on into a more finalized form so, as I walk into month 12, I have a pretty much completed presentation and solid goal on where to take all that I have done and show it to others. I did have an enjoyable time in this class and the reading alone was a good eye opener for me. Now, I must push forward and complete the final tasks set before be before I am truly finished, then I can sit back and fully reflect upon my experiences from the past year. What an amazing ride this has been.

MAC Week 4 Reading: Art of Possibility Ch. 9 - 12

I will say, these last four chapters were pretty much the best part of the book I really enjoyed reading, though the whole of the book was still highly insightful and educational.  The last four chapters really dived into some of the things that really plaque our society today, namely not creating that spark in others and pushing the blame. I think the first chapter in this reading stood out for me the most and was one of the more powerful, thought provoking reads, and that was on the concept of doing things face to face to light that spark in others. This is one thing that I do firmly believe many should do. If given the option of calling or meeting a person face to face, currently, most will end up opting to do just the phone call. When we do this, it will not show just how passionate you are about a topic and you will most likely end up finding disinterest in the person you are trying to light that spark in if you didn't meet them face to face.
This is one of the reasons why I do miss teaching in a brick and mortar classroom. I did love teaching my students face to face, where I could ignite that spark in them to make them want to learn. Nothing gave me as sense of accomplishment than seeing one of my students suddenly light up and crave all knowledge I could impart upon them after I was able to sit there one on one with them. Being an online instructor is rough in trying to do this for the students as I cannot be there face to face with them, to show them that enthusiasm and passion that will make them want to learn and succeed.
The concept of 'being the board' instead of 'being the piece' really stood out for me as well. How many times have you heard someone tell you to 'be the ball'? I found this new concept to be quite the eye opener as 'being the board' means that you are the foundation upon which you place all of your life on instead of 'being the ball' and being carried through life one move at a time. This was a pretty profound analogy in this one.
Another concept that stood out for me in the reading was assigning blame. How many times have we assigned blame to another person when it was not really warranted? This instinct is one of the ones that come from being taught since a young age to be competitive. Throwing blame out on another shows their fault and can raise us up to get ahead, which is not a good thing to do. If we just took a step back, analyzed the situation and tried to come up with a less accusing tone and not just throwing the blame at people, we would cause a much more positive response in others that could turn around an ugly situation into a more positive one.

I found this book to be a very good read and it shows us some good ways to try and change our views and interactions on the world to make them a more positive and influential. Sadly, this world does need to get out of its competitive nature and learn to treat others as equals and to truly help one another. This would make life much more pleasurable to be in and we all are here only a short time so why not live it to its fullest?

MAC Week 4: Response to Lionel Jacques

Wk4 Reading – Art of Possibility [9-12]

What a great read this week!  The Zander’s manage to remind us about positive things in such a delightful manner.  This week we cover passion, apologies, blame and a host of other heavier type aspects of discussion but shared with stories and a refreshing view.

The start of this weeks reading grabbed me – mainly because the story about Some things are just better done in person was one of my childhood memories as well!  Great to see some thing echoed throughout the world.  It really covers engaging others with the possibilities.  They key trait to this though is not cajoling them into joining in, but by opening up the doors to share the way.  One of the stories Ben shares is great in the way it unfolded – the trip to London to get a company on board with his companies desire for sponsorship turning into Ben enrolling into their plan for education! 

This truly comes up a lot in education, especially as we move up into possibly more administrative/political arenas – you cannot always insist on the way things may be carried out – but by really being committed to what we do we can get others on board supportively more readily!  Ben’s school tale in London is the best example of this – awesome things happen if we share our passion and share possibilities with others.

We move on later to discuss being the board – seeing ourselves as the framework for all that happens in our lives.  This was a great twist – as almost universally I think folks view themselves as pieces on the board – moving around in response to stimuli and such.  What a refreshing change to take the active role and understand that our life itself is the stage upon which all things happen instead of just reacting to the moves of others.

They also cover the whole aspect of blame – of apologizing – but in a refreshing manner that is also a different approach than we may do out of habit.  It is not to say that others have no fault in things that go wrong – but that a kernel of all faults lay within us as well.  What could we have done differently to avoided getting into the conflicting situation?    Making the act of apologizing not being a sign of our remorse over an action, but instead taking it as responsibility in our part.  These are all great things to remember when we interact with others throughout our lives and open up doors of possibility!

I am grateful for the chance I’ve had this month to read The Art of Possibility – it is not the normal sort of book I delve into as I am an avid non-fiction fan in the form of history books.  This pushed me outside of that and was a wonderfully refreshing reminder of things we can keep in mind in OUR lives and enjoy more satisfaction.  

Response:

@ Lionel

I, too, had kind of an eye opener with this book as well. At the beginning, I just really could not get into it, but as I worked my way through it, I saw the different aspects that the book was trying to impart on us.  Assigning blame tends to be something that most of us fall into easily, especially when the mistake also affects us. Sadly, this is another one of those things we are taught early on as we are shown that we have to be competitive with one another. It is amazing just how easily we can fall back into this situation as it has become habit to us the older we are.  I found these four chapters to be very insightful and I see from your post here that you pretty much had the exact same experience as I did when I read them. Very insightful post, Lionel! I am glad you enjoyed the journey through the book.

MAC Week 4 = Response to Thomas Moore

MAC blog wk. Reading: The art of possibility

Once again, the Zanders excell with their "practices" in the chapters that were in the reading for this week.  Using the "one buttock" technique was funny, but it had a message:  play, work or do life with full attention to the important "stuff."  The cello player that didn't get one job because he played the first way, but got a better job when he played the second way (one buttock) for more pay drove the point home.
Also, doing things that are important, in person, does make a difference.  I weigh whether to make a phone call or see a person face to face.  Sometimes, it does make a difference.
The adage, "bloom where you are planted" came to mind when Ben talked about his experiences as a young conductor.  He has made all the difference where he is placed.  On a white piece of paper, he has fit the chord of life in proper sequence.  This class has been blessed with musicians this month.  A great group of people to work with!  I have enjoyed the class.

Response:

@ Thomas

Good points where hit in your post. The biggest thing that I find is that if you are face to face with someone, they can see your passion and read your body language so things will most likely turn out better than if you just did a phone call where all the person heard was your voice. There are times where doing a face to face with someone just cannot be, but if you can do it, it is better that you do. I think that chapter in the book was the most powerful for me as it was like affirming something I already practiced, which further steeled my resolve to continue on to do face to face where I could, not only at my workplace, but in other aspects of my life.

MAC Week 4 - Final Publication/Leadership Project

The goal of my Action Research Project was to show how Second Life could be used as a tool to increase motivation, collaboration, engagement, and creativity in online education. My literature review showed how others used Second Life in their research to see just how viable the virtual world could be in education and other aspects of social networking.  Both cycles had students using Second Life as a collaboration and creativity platform for the group work they had to do. Each cycle had two surveys the students had to fill out as well as random interviews done as the main data gathering technique. The data collected showed a high percentage of success in the students using Second Life and the final projects they produced were some of the best I have seen to date.

My two places I will be sending out my presentation to see if I can present at their conferences are listed below:
ASHE, or the Association for the Study of Higher Education, holds a couple conferences a year where educators from all around can come and collaborate on different ways to increase ways to make higher education better.  They also put out a full journal of all that was focused on through research, conferences, and other journals for educators to read and catch up on all the new innovations that might end up showing up in education.  One of the reasons why I chose this is because this would be a good conference to present at and this association has been around for awhile and has gotten a good backing as well as there will be many instructors from all over that do attend the conferences this association hosts.  I may or may not get in, but it would be a good place to present to if able.

EDUCAUSE is the second place that I would be interested in doing a presentation at for one of their conferences. This one deals more in the technology and since my project and presentation is talking about the benefits of the use of Second Life for education, I feel that this would be a good fit for a conference here.  EDUCAUSE is another well known in the education field and would provide me with a way to get my presentation out to other teachers and instructors to show them my research and how they could use it to supplement their own teaching. Ideally, I would love to at least be able to present one time as I am passionate about my topic and I feel that many more would benefit from what I concluded.

 The Publication/Leadership Project summary

As online education became popular, the need to keep students engaged increased greatly as well.  The problem I focused on was how to use Second Life as a tool for collaboration and creativity for students to increase engagement and motivation in online education.  I tackled this problem by first researching others work that they did in Second Life and then did a two-month data collection through the use of two surveys, special work assignments, and random interviews on the participants in Second Life.  The ending data collected showed a 90% success rate in student engagement using Second Life. The conclusion of my research showed that Second Life could indeed be a tool to help engage students in online education.

First Think Out Loud Post

http://krisnewton.blogspot.com/2011/05/mac-week-1-presentation-vs-paper.html


Second Think Out Loud Post

http://krisnewton.blogspot.com/2011/05/extra-post-think-out-loud.html


Link to my Presentation:

Kristopher Newton's Publication/Leadership Project

Presentation Download:

Newton_Kristopher_PubLeadProject.ppt

MAC Wk4 Publishing/Leadership project part 2 of 2: Presentation Findings

After doing some steady thinking about exactly what I want to do for my Publication/Leadership Project, I am definitely going with the Presentation way.  I am not very good at writing papers and I feel that I would do much better at presenting my material to an audience where they can see my enthusiasm and passion for showing it than having a long, data intensive paper that probably would not get read. What better way to draw interest than showing interest and passion in the work by standing up and talking about it. So, I searched for a bunch of conferences on the web. Needless to say, this was much more difficult than I had anticipated as most of the conferences were done overseas and I really did not want to have to travel out of the country to do a conference as I do not have the financial backing for that.  I did end up finding two places that I would like to send my material to so I can see if I could get a chance to present my ARP to. Here they are:

ASHE - http://www.ashe.ws/

ASHE, or the Association for the Study of Higher Education, holds a couple conferences a year where educators from all around can come and collaborate on different ways to increase ways to make higher education better.  They also put out a full journal of all that was focused on through research, conferences, and other journals for educators to read and catch up on all the new innovations that might end up showing up in education.  One of the reasons why I believe this would be a good conference to present at is due to the fact that this association has been around for awhile and has gotten a good backing as well as there will be many instructors from all over that do attend the conferences this association hosts.  I may or may not get in, but it would be a good place to present to if able.

EDUCAUSE - http://www.educause.edu/

EDUCAUSE would be the second place that I would be interested in doing a presentation at for one of their conferences. This one deals more in the technology and since my project and presentation is talking about the benefits of the use of Second Life for education, I feel that this would be a good fit for a conference here.  EDUCAUSE is another well known in the education field and would provide me with a way to get my presentation out to other teachers and instructors to show them my research and how they could use it to supplement their own teaching. Ideally, I would love to at least be able to present one time as I am passionate about my topic and I feel that many more would benefit from what I concluded.

These would be my two primary choices where I would want to present my project to as they are both well established and have a good amount of memberships so I could tap into that database of knowledge and also impart some of my own to help better the educational cause.

MAC Week 3 - Free Choice: Pushing the Envelope

Now that most of my ARP work is finished, I have already contacted a few other instructors and have setup a Second Life round table on the 26th to see if I can get more instructors interested in learning how to incorporate the virtual world into their curriculum to help bring about more engagement for their students.  This is just one way that I am wanting to show that using this virtual environment can indeed bring more engagement and creativity for the students. I do not know why so many tend to be resistant to at least attempting this really.  Full Sail is supposed to be a cutting edge technology school so why are we still afraid to really plunge into this type of technology and see exactly what it has to offer? Is it because some instructors don't want to take the time to learn how to use it?  Is it because they haven't really spent a good enough time delving into it perhaps?  This is why I pushed for this round table Continuing Education time, so I can speak to the instructors and help them learn more about the many different aspects to Second Life and perhaps brainstorm with them to come up with different ways to use Second Life to fit in with their courses.

It is all about engaging the students, getting them motivated, to want to learn, especially in the online educational environment.  Here is a tool that could help in that aspect, but as of yet I have only seen a few dabble in it and have not really pushed the envelope in using it. This is what I want to challenge others in. If they want to give their students a more engaging educational experience, get out of that comfort zone, push that envelope, dive into this technology and see what it can really do. Quit dwelling on the negatives and keep an open mind about it, this is what we were taught how to look at things after all. Think outside that box...Push that envelope...

MAC Week 3 - Wimba Session Reflection

The week 3 Wimba session that was held on Tuesday, May 17th, was both highly informative though frustrating at the beginning. I tried to login to Wimba a couple times but it would end up either kicking me back to the login screen or when I finally got into the room, things were flickering and I could not use any of the features in Wimba at all. I finally got frustrated with dealing with it so ended up just shutting it down resigning myself to the fact that I will just have to watch the archive later.  I found out the next day that the new Firefox is having issues with Wimba and that using Safari is the work around for it as the new Firefox tends to glitch the Wimba controls.

So I switched to Safari to watch the archive. I found this session to be very helpful in what I need to know about the Abstract that needed to be done as well as more detail as to what is expected for the Publishing/Leadership project Wimba session. I was kind of curious as to how the Week 4 Wimba session was going to be done and this one answered all I needed to know on making sure that the project is ready for my session on Friday. The two 'Think Out Loud' blog posts confused me when they first showed up on the Wimba slide but then I realized that I did one part of it already so all I need to do now is focus on getting the second "Think Out Loud" post done and then the quick post for the Publishing/Leadership project done with the links in them. So far, I am on track with everything that was shown in the Wimba session. I just need to tweak my presentation slides just a little more to be more in line with what the Wimba session clarified and I hope to see all the nice projected during the Wimba sessions for next week!

MAC Week 3 Response - Josh Tolar

  Josh Tolar's Post

Week 3 Reading - chapters 5-8

Image by Flickr user: wadem

The past 4 chapters of the “The Art of Possibility” started to remind me a little about Buddhism and a book called “The Power of Now”. Looking at the way things actually are instead of resisting everything around you is one of the characteristics of Buddhism and one thing that is discussed in “The Power of Now”. This is one of my major downfalls too. When something happens unexpectedly, I often get upset and become disappointed in my own little world. I have learned throughout the years to not focus on material things and these last 4 chapters are a great reminder of that. I like in chapter 7 how it explains negative emotions and not to bury them deep inside or cast them out, but rather realize that they are there. This is very powerful as you somehow step outside your self and see how you are acting. Being present to our emotions takes a lot of practice, but it gets us one step closer to being more optimistic.

“The Art of Possibility” has surprised me several times when music is mentioned, and how orchestra players play with intense passion. I admit that when I was younger I never thought that orchestra players could ever feel the passion of the music because they were always so stiff when following the conductor. In so many cases I saw people play in orchestras and symphonies and never once saw any passion in what they were doing. There were however various virtuosos that would come on stage and warmed the audience with pure passion for the music. I soon started to think about how passion in music, or anything else for that matter, can be transferred to another person. Is it how you look you when you play the instrument or how you act when working on something you love? I love asking these questions and I started to ask them again when I read about the quote that Stravinksy supposedly said about wanting to hear someone trying to play the passage instead of someone just playing it. When we enter into the unknown, we might fail or we might succeed, but there is something there that enables us to feel alive. This is what I feel when I play music. There is something about the guitar that really makes you feel when you bend the strings. Every bend becomes a part of the spirit and soul of the song. You can feel the tension in the string as you bend higher and higher, leaving way to passion. 

“Possibilities” by Flickr user wadem used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.  

Website Address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wadem/2268968968/

 

Response:

@ Josh

I know I still suffer from resisting things at first and not looking at the way things actually are. I really do believe that the longer we continue doing this habit, the longer it will take to get rid of, if it can truly ever be gotten rid of. Since birth, we are taught this specific way, to be resistant to things that do not fit in our narrow vision that most of the time we fail to step back and look at the issue from an outside perspective. This, I feel is one of the major downfalls of our species as a whole. The negative emotions talked about in Chapter 7 of the book can also be attributed to this resistance as well, as most of us still tend to hold those emotions, bottle them up inside, then release them when it gets to be too much. I do also agree with what you summed up with the orchestra players. It is better to have a person who doesn't know the piece well that will bring passion and drive in trying to play that piece versus the person who knows the piece by heart and can play it without really feeling it. To the player who already knows it, they would be just going through the motions missing out that passion and energy. This is really how we should push ourselves. Pushing those unknowns, taking that leap so we can bring that drive and passion back so it can indeed make us feel truly alive when doing it. Great post Josh!

Kris Newton

MAC Week 3 Response - Lionel Jacques

Wk3 Reading: Art of Possibilities Chapter 5-8 Blogpost

There was more great info – or I should say reminders – in this weeks reading.  I am still enjoying the book and the stories shared within but this week found more of other inspirational and guide books sort of “wrapped up” in the book.  Not that the message isn’t good or a different take on it – just that there is an echo of those other books within this ones message.

Chapter 5 was a reminder that we do not teach alone.  Every single person at you school – from the financial aid person to the security guards – has an impact on not just the student’s journey through your institution but also YOUR ability to impact the student at well.  There is great strength in networking with others outside of the classroom to help establish a foundation from which your teaching can soar to the next level. 

Chapter 6 is a delightful reminder that we can have fun at our job and in our lives and that will lead to a richer return.  Prepare yourself for the role you have in your classroom of course, but don’t forget to enjoy the experience and make it your own.  Laughing and letting go of the minutia to see the overall picture is a better option for our lives and increases the impact to those around us.

Chapter  7 reminds me a great deal of the message of Daoism [Taoism] – that we each have a place in things and by being in the way of things allows us to make changes to them.  By focusing only on the ‘way things are’ and not actually being present in that moment our thoughts are shooting over in directions and aspects that may already be addressed if we clear away the clutter of the what if.  This is a hard chapter – it is difficult to be present in any given moment in your life let alone EVERY single moment.  Just trying though makes us better equipped to enact change. 

Chapter 8 access the passion that drives us and use it throughout your life.  I hope that each of us entered the teaching profession due to our passion for education.  As we travel through the foibles of various education institutions it is important to hold onto that spark – or even more importantly to reignite it!  Grab onto what we love and bring that passion and energy into what we do – make your classroom a ‘one-buttock’ classroom! [that had to be said – as I laughed out loud at that particular story and hope you did too!]

 

Response:

 

@ Lionel

Great work in breaking down what the chapters meant to you.  I pretty much came to similar conclusions as you did after reading them. I do think that the overall theme of these chapters was just how powerful positive thinking can be for us in ways that will bring about positive change to those around us, whether it be in the classroom or just casual interaction with others.  Out of these 4 chapters, I think I am more in tune with the concept of 'Rule Number 6' as I try to not take things as seriously as I could make them, as that can lead to the downward spiral of negativity.  We do have to make sure that we do seek out that passion that keeps us wanting to teach our students and I do hope that you or I never lose that passion and energy as we strive to impart that passion and drive to our students.

MAC Week 3 Reading: CH.5-8 Art of Possibility

For this week, we had to read chapters 5-8 of the book, Art of Possibility. These four chapters were an interesting read as they mostly dealt with thinking positively and how to go about doing that to change the way you view things in life. I did find the concept that we had two selves, the calculating self and the central self, to be an interesting concept. I do agree that we as a species are always trying to one up others just so we can get ahead, regardless of who it hurts in the process. This concept of the calculating self is one that I can see in just about every aspect of our lives and in how many act and react to other people. Sadly, this is something that has been ingrained into us since an early age to be competitive and to look out for number 1 first and foremost. I do feel that if we could just shrug this notion off and treat others without seeing it as a competition or survival, we would be able to advance much quicker as a society that would allow others to flourish and be able to express themselves without worry or ridicule from others.

Another part in those chapters that stuck out for me was the 'Rule Number 6' that was talked about. This one dealt with not taking yourself so seriously on things. I am all for this rule, though there is a time to take things seriously. Allowing yourself to not be too critical of yourself when you make mistakes is one aspect that I follow quite religiously. Everyone makes mistakes and learning to treat those mistakes as a learning experience and not the end of the world helps you to see the overall picture that goes on around you in life.  This rule also keeps you from falling into that self-centered aspect in your life and shows you that you really do not need to be constantly controlling everything around you, as that is just about impossible to do so just take things with a smile on your face. All the drama that happens in a person's life can be turned around and looked at in a positive light as long as you keep in mind that it is just one aspect of life and not to let it drag you down into that downward spiral of negativity.

Really, these 4 chapters were more of a reminder that things are really not so bad as we perceive they are and need to stop thinking and viewing things so critically. Lighten up, think positively, stop trying to impose your will on everything and laugh at the silly things and your life can be a much more rewarding experience!

MAC Week 2 - Response to Karl Peterson

MAC Week 2 - Post 1 Reading

The Art of Possibility (or should it be the Art of Perspective?)

I have noticed on a reoccurring basis, throughout these last 10 ½ months that I have been in the EMDT program, a reoccurring theme. That theme has been the importance of looking at things from a different perspective. After reading the first four chapters of “The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life” by R. Zander & B. Zander (2000), that is the major theme that I walked away from the reading with. In fact I am a hard time looking at this book in any other light than that. That isn’t a bad thing, this I am certain of. As I have gone through course after course, and run into countless challenges, I have always had something occur that has forced me to take a step back and reevaluate the situation from a different perspective. Every single time this has happened, I have managed to find a way to work through or around the issue as a result. The four chapters of this book have only served to open my eyes to new ways or ideas on how to do this more frequently in my everyday life. I really like the ideas of “give an A” and “game of ‘contribution’”. I think these are fantastic ideas. My hope is that if I am able to implement some of these ideas into my life, I can reduce much of the stress that exists in my life and to try to view more things in life, thusly opening up more possibilities as a result.

Thanks for reading,

Karl Peterson

 

Response:

@ Karl

I did get that feeling as well when I started reading this book. Everything we have been going through in the EMDT program has been about looking at things from different perspectives or 'thinking outside the box'.  We all have been trained to only see from one specific perspective for most of our lives that we need to re-train ourselves to get out of that habit, to push beyond what we see in front of us and use a different approach to tackling things. Once we can do that, we can then teach our students to do the same so they too can grow more as individuals.  The EMDT program has indeed opened my eyes to more possibilities that I and the others in the course I teach are already making changes to better reflect this view. It has made for better students overall, though we must continue tweaking it to make it better and never fall back into the rut that has been taught to us for many years.  Good post Karl!

MAC Week 2 - Response to Lional Jacques

MAC Wk2 – Reading: The Art of Possibility

This class we are using a wonderful book called The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.  It has been a wonderful read so far and this week the class has gone over chapters 1-4 of the book.  I wanted to discuss and share a few areas and items that really struck home with me in these opening chapters starting with a little blurb by Benjamin in the Intro chapter. 

Ben discusses a cello lesson when he was 11 in which after trying three separate times on a passage he grew frustrated and put down his bow.  His teacher, and elderly man, gave a sarcastic quip about young Ben not being able to learn the piece the THREE minutes he had worked on it.  This is one of those facets of life that I feel either gets glossed over or just isn’t picked up on by some folks.  Everyone pursuing something they wish to do must practice in order to master the skills and improve – even those who are naturals for a particular talent.  I never thought I could draw, and certainly know that I couldn’t ‘doodle’ out a picture on a napkin that was inspiring or amazing.  However I ended up at one point in my life in life drawing classes – to better understand physiology and aid my sculptures.  I grew to love drawing and found that with time and effort I produced quality pieces that I was ‘mostly’ happy with.  I didn’t have the knack of a five-minute sketch – but over a few hours I could happily work and refine the image I was trying for.  It took practice, hours and hours of drawing and gestures, to get to a point where I ‘could draw’.  Practice – it really makes anything possible.

Ok back on task!  The book opens by discussing perceptions and how we view the world through our own set up mind filters and preconceptions.  It was a great bit and through it you really get an appreciation for ‘why’ kids are in their own little world and maybe a bit of inspiration on how to handle that with positive reactions and responses.

The start of the book had some very interesting discussions on measuring vs possibility.  Discussions on the world of measurements and how it is one of the driving forces in our lives, measuring success, grades, etc and pushing to end up ‘better than you were’.   Our world is a filter of measuring things, comparing them to other things or our selves, or contrasting things to highlight the differences.  Then it moves onto a slightly different view with possibility and even better – how to work the two together in balance to have a better life. 

‘A’ eye opener of a chapter follows, the moment it started with the ‘1/3 get C’s to the discussion of mastery and performance.  Grades are part of our measuring and comparing world.  They key part of the discussion for the chapter isn’t necessarily grades – but the fact that the competitive aspect of them can strain us.  Giving an A as the chapter says is not a “gradingism” but more a thought process.  You can give A’s to everyone you meet in life: it is more about helping them make the most out of their life even as doing so helps make the most out of yours.  It is a great chapter and one that encapsulates how by being the best person you can be can help others be their best as well.

So the start of this book has been an inspiration, far from being the ‘text’ I expected from our discussions of copyright laws and publishing.  I am happily continuing my trip through the pages of this book and will certainly be picking up some copies to share with friends and family. 

Response:

@ Lionel

Great post on the Art of Possibility reading! I too was swayed as I read these chapters a second time through as the first time I was still set in my ways that this would be a boring read. Once I got the idea of what the book was trying to convey, I had to start over and re-read it from the beginning.  I definitely agree with your assessment that many need to consistently practice on anything they do to get good at it. This generation is steadily slipping into the instant gratification stage where the kids want things now, without working for them. The world is indeed a filter of measuring ourselves versus others or comparing us to others. We really need to get out of this line of thinking, of needing to be competitive as it tends to hurt us as individuals. The 'Giving an A' chapter was an informative chapter to say the least, and your assessment of it was pretty much spot on. We really need to increase the ways of making most out of life instead of fighting each other for it. This does help others get the most out of their life as well as yours. I did like the book and I am glad that we both were able to gain some good knowledge that we could apply to our classes that we teach.

MAC Week 2 - Reading Art of Possibility

For this week of MAC, we were tasked to read the first four chapters of the book, Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander. At first, I really could not get into the book as I was trying to figure out the point of what the authors were trying to convey through the use of all the stories they told such as the conductor not feeling the tempo for the cello player to really get into it. In my own way, I guess I was actually looking at the book through the Measurement aspect that the book mentioned. Once it clicked, I started to notice just how true the book was in showing just how ingrained our perceptions are by this rule. When I came to this realization, I went back and re-read the chapters with this new thinking and the book and its stories made much more sense to me now.  As with the story of the kid playing the instrument for 3 minutes and being frustrated, that example is a prime one that is affecting all students and people today. They are looking for the instant gratification and are not wanting to put forth the effort or practice into their work to succeed and we, as instructors should really be encouraging them to practice without having to fixate about the grade, allowing them to take risks, which will help them learn.

I remember back when I was in 4th grade and I saw that 9 dots puzzle where you had to use 4 lines to connect them all. The teacher put those dots up on the board and then turned to all of us and offered a challenge, if one of us could solve it, we would not get homework for the week. The others were all excited about not having homework, that they stared intently at their papers drawing lines and the quick sighs of frustration that would come form them as they tried to solve it. I looked at the dots on the board and instantly raised my hand, letting the teacher know I wanted to do it. I walked up to the board and you could hear my classmates whispering that they are all going to end up having to do homework for the week.  Highly nervous, I placed the chalk to the first dot and drew my line. Instead of stopping at the last dot in the row, I continued on past that last dot until I could draw a diagonal line back through the diagram. I worked along solving the puzzle as the kids behind me groaned and snickered as I finished it. I put the chalk down and stepped back showing my work; all the dots were connected with only 4 lines. The teacher looked at me, smiled and complimented me on solving the puzzle correctly, to the gasps of all the other students.

Since that time, I have remembered so many different instructors use that to get their students to think outside of that box, but I was always the one who could go up and solve it.  This shows just how much we, as a society cannot think outside of that enclosed box, we are so focused on what we were brought up with that we forgot to really how to 'see'. When staring at the FedEx logo, what do many of you really see? Just words? Or can you see what the words hold inside of them? Can you see the arrow that the E and the X form? Most would never even notice that as we have been taught to only see what society wants us to see. This is how it is for many schools, they grade the students on their performance versus other students, like a competition, not letting them truly show creativity and that desire to think outside the box. We push them to perceive in that survival way, as the book made reference to a bit. We need to 'give them an A' so they cannot worry about their grades, allow them to learn from mistakes and take pride in pushing themselves to think differently. To do this, though, we need to learn to 'give ourselves an A' too, this way we can better focus on the student's abilities and let them flourish.  If we don't we are just keeping in times with old, outdated thinking and perception and we, nor our students can truly grow as individuals.

MAC Week 2 - Free Choice: Burnout and Reflections

Well, here we are, second to the last month of the EMDT Master's program and I must say, I am looking forward to it being over. I did enjoy the journey of the program and found each course to be quite informative and thought provoking, however, I believe I am in burnout currently. I do feel that it is mostly due to the fact that I work in FSO all week and then when I come home, I had to work in FSO for the class work and after almost a year of doing that, I am just really wanting to take a step away from it for awhile. Since the MAC class is the second to the last one, I am trying to hold out until this is all over and done with before taking that break, but I know I am definitely going to need one.

I must say that I have learned quite a bit going through this program. My background before working at Full Sail dealt mainly with computer systems and network administration. so my techniques for teaching were straight to the point and 'bulletpoint-y' in nature. This program allowed me to see all the different ways to be able to engage students and give them a more enhanced learning experience. From the Multiple Intelligences to learning how to best utilize multimedia and web 2.0 tools, it gave me the tools to help revamp the course I teach to incorporate these techniques and philosophies to better engage students. Now I am trying to find ways to further what I have learned to make the learning experience even better for them by trying to find more ways to use virtual worlds to really motivate the students. So far, I have written quite a few assignments and discussions that I could use as course work and am trying to spread the knowledge to other instructors on how they could incorporate Second Life into their course for a more interactive experience with their students. I do feel that this is the next step that online education needs to take to give the students that interactivity that many online courses still lack. Overall, my experiences through the EMDT has made me a better instructor, I feel, and am now armed with the tools I will need to continue to bring an engaging learning experience for the students of Full Sail.

MAC Wk1 Publishing/Leadership project part 1 of 2: Paper vs Presentation

When I first heard about this assignment for Week 4 of the MAC class, I knew that I would have to make a decision on it pretty quickly so it will leave me time to accomplish the task.  I am really not a paper writer, especially when it comes to talking about stats and other dry data as I would end up tending to repeat myself and having to do a 2000 word paper would most likely not get done in time. So, I find that I will be focusing on getting a presentation done on my whole Action Research website as I feel that is more my style of showing what I have accomplished for my ARP. Working with 1300 words with images in a PowerPoint or Keynote format would be better for me as I will be able to show more creativity in designing the slides so that they convey just what my ARP was on and make it so viewers of it would want to watch it from beginning to end.

I was glad that this information was given to all of us now so that we can plan for this as I really didn't want to be caught off guard on this and having to make a mad dash to get it done and it turning out to be of poor quality.  So, I figure I will go with the presentation route as I will be able to create something engaging that will allow people to learn what I have done without being bored of reading a dry document from me.

MAC Week 1 - Wimba Review

I do have to say that the week 1 Wimba session was filled with a bunch of good information that I found extremely helpful. I found that the breakdown of what week 1 entailed, not to mention the other weeks as well, so I was able to clear some of the confusion I was going through on what exactly we were supposed to do just in week 1.  One big confusion I had was about the Wk1 quickies posts as I think there could have been more clarification in the resources as to what was needed there.  I had to play the Wimba session through twice, since there was so much information in it, I couldn't fully digest the information in one go.  One part that was really informative was about starting to think now about whether I wanted to do a presentation or a paper for Week 4.  This is one that I have to make sure that I start work on now so I don't end up rushing it at the last minute.  Due to this first session, I was able to grasp what is expected of me and my work and with that knowledge, I am confident to move on and complete everything within the time allotted.

MAC Week 1 - Reply to Amanda McGhee

MAC - Week 1 Reading - Copyright

Copyright is definitely a hot topic, particularly now as media becomes more easily accessible via Internet. I worked in the music industry for 6 years. I managed Wherehouse Music (which later became Blockbuster Music), and also recorded two songs at a studio in downtown Nashville. I personally witnessed the sharp decline in CD sales as file sharing became a national craze. So, I can believe that the music industry took a 7 billion dollar hit as mentioned in the “Good Copy/Bad Copy” video. The videos my husband was given during his tours in Iraq were a testament to the size of the black market of video piracy. I have heard several people comment that they had no problem paying the artists for their work, but paying the record labels was a different story. Interestingly, though, was the comment in Anderson’s (2010) article, “Effects on the economy as a whole, then, are terribly speculative and seem more likely to be simply redistributive.” I can’t wait to learn about the ins and outs of “fair use” as I believe that this is most likely a misunderstood aspect of copyright. I can personally identify with the music mixes. When I was first introduced to mixing software, I had a blast mixing music. In my traditional school, I generally mixed the music for all of the motivational events and pep rallies. As I return to that environment, I need to be more aware of what is and is not allowed so that I can model and teach my students.

Copyright image from Creative Commons

@ Amanda

It was shocking to hear that the music industry took that big of a hit financially in that video. The sad thing is that is what ends up happening as technology changes and things become faster and more accessible. Either companies adapt or they fall, sometimes either by normal means or by the piracy that has spread. Even with the concept of 'Fair Use' out there, companies still try to enforce the copyright laws on a person even though the person did fit in that narrow window that Fair Use falls in. The companies tend to intimidate with lawsuits, which, for the person who tried to make something creative, ends with them usually taking the work down as they couldn't afford a fight with a company.  This is one aspect that I think really made piracy so heavy as well as just how accessible things are on the web now. Really, the copyright laws will need to adapt to the changes that were brought about by the digital aspect and the widespread use of the internet as we have to teach our children at a young age to realize that everything on the web is not free and available for use.

MAC Week 1 - Reply to Lionel Jacques

 Reply #1 for Wk1 Copyright blog posting. This is my reply to Lionel Jacques on his post on the copyright issues. The link below will take you to his post on his blog where my reply is at.

 Lionel Jacques' Copyright Blog Post

 

MAC Wk1 - Copyright Thoughts!

A lot of information was compressed into the readings for this week.  The shorts gave insights to our governments laws and reasons for doing things, and the documentary covered those as well but also spanned out to other nations and movements.  I would go so far as to say I went through a progression of sorts myself; at the start I really did feel strongly that taking and using copyrighted material is stealing and laws were needed to help ensure intellectual rights.  

However as the documentary unfolded and the Nigerian, Swiss, and especially Brazilian scenes were covered I felt more in tune with what Peter Jenner. The laws and corporations need to evolve and change to a new model.  The industry itself is the one that will find the eventual solution for the copyright issue, as in the truly digital age it certainly isn’t up to a single government to stop [see the Danish example in the video].  It is true there are casualties; you can’t argue that Tower Records is closed down – but does piracy kill it or the digital mp3?  If the model changes new avenues and options open up and will lead to a sort of rebirth for the music industry.  

As we traveled through the documentary especially, we get to the end where an original song has traveled around the world be sampled and remixed to end up where it started and contributing again – that is an awesome lead to follow.

@ Lionel

There was indeed a lot of information on copyright and the details surrounding it for this week.  I know I kind of felt the same way as you did that using copyrighted material is stealing and to get permission had you jumping through so many hoops that it would leave many frustrated in attempting that. I did also like the Nigerian documentary as well. Laws need to evolve just as society and culture has to evolve and copyright is no exception.  In the Nigerian documentary, you can see the Nigerians being able to express themselves more in film and audio as they are able to take another persons work and add to it, creating something more than the original. Within reason, this is what our copyright law should evolve to reflect.  To the answer to your question about did piracy kill Tower Records or the digital mp3, I would say it was a little bit of both to be honest.  Piracy most likely started the trend and the advent of the digital mp3 to put the nail in the coffin on it. Your assessment of the need for the copyright model to change is spot on, though, in reality, I think it will be a long and tedious road before that does change.

MAC Wk1 Discussion -The "Copyright Issues" Debate

The videos on copyright, fair use, and creative commons that were given to us for class contained a wealth of knowledge about copyright and what can be done without infringing upon it.  As a Full Sail instructor, we always have to stress to our students just how important it is to be careful not to copyright infringe when they do their projects.  It is especially true in this day and age when students are immersed in digital technology and the internet, they tend to think anything out on the internet is considered free use. That is why it is up to us as educators to guide them so that they understand what they can and cannot use out on the web.

On the flip side, however, copyright has gotten more stringent over the years to the point where anyone having an idea that is based off of a previous work, they have to jump through hoops to get permission and it might not even be guaranteed that they will.  Before, copyright only lasted 14 years before becoming public domain, now it is lifetime plus 70 years for individuals and 100 years for companies. This change really hurt the creativity of people as our culture thrives on innovation and using what has come before us to improve our society. It was interesting to see how different countries handle the copyright, such as the video about Nigerian copyright and how theirs is much more lax so others can spread their creativity. I know that anytime I start looking at other people's work and think that I could compound on it and make something better out of it, I tend to hesitate as I know I would have to spend time trying to get permission to use it or be forced to have to make it fit within the narrow loophole in the copyright law. This strict way is what causes some of the piracy out there today as artists and creative thinkers are feeling stifled in their creativity.

This is why I like the idea of the Creative Commons.  It ends up putting more control in the creator's hands than in the governments and gives others a way to be able to use others works as long as they abide by what the original creator set the Creative Commons as.  It tends to keep things much more simpler and understandable for people so they can see exactly what they can and can't do with the work.  I feel that this is a more suitable compromise to the copyright laws as most of the works that are under copyright are sitting gathering dust in a vault rather than being used to bring about more creativity and innovation for us.  I think that if we educated more in this, not only would it lessen piracy on the internet, it would hopefully allow government to lighten the rules that binds so many creative works that are out there for others to use.  I am all for protection against others from completely copying your work, but if they have an idea to use my work as a base to create their own, improved work, I feel that it should be allowed as long as they give credit for the original work.