The 2020 Workplace

I love this time of year. I know, crazy, isn't it? Even with the seasonal hardships and the mid-winter blahs, it's a time when everything outside is resting, a time when the nights are long, a time to reflect and make plans, a time to dream. And as the days grow longer, I find myself already in mid-February Valentine's Day and I have not yet posted my first blog article for 2011!

Anyway, check out this article: Ten Ways the 2020 Workplace Will Work for You.

I love visionaries. In the immortal words of John Lennon, let it be.

Peace,

JuneBug

Moving on to Illustrator

Changing over from Photoshop to Illustrator in my computer graphics class midway through the semester was a bit of an adjustment for me. I had just come off the cookbook exercises and the poster ad project, both of which had been very immersive experiences with Photoshop. The abruptness of the switch coupled with the fact that my online technical writing course started October 19 and ran through December 19 kind of cramped my style or at least stalled my momentum in my graphics class. When I started Illustrator, I guess I felt like a fish out of water. I was lost for a while even though I was not unfamiliar with vector graphics. In fact I had used vector graphics tools before I had used raster graphic tools in my computer career. In the late 80's through the 90's I used MacDraw and Word and Excel Drawing tools to do charts and system documentation. I knew about grouping and rotating and drawing shapes. Only when digital cameras came along and I started "developing" my photos in Photoshop (and more recently in Lightroom) - did I develop basic familiarity with bitmap graphics tools - and then only to develop photos.

So, even though I'd used (sometimes intensely) basic vector graphic tools first, I found Illustrator to be challenging. Of course it helped that some of the commands from Photoshop carried over to Illustrator. Two of our projects in Illustrator were to design a super-hero logo and a cd jacket for a band of our choice. I chose Sailor Moon as my super hero and combined two images to make it look like she was sitting on a moon (sort of like Betty Boop actually).

For my band, I chose Monkey Puzzle, a postmodern "rockapella" type group out of Bloomington, Indiana. I had heard them perform as the lead-in group for another singer at Lafayette's Long Center in the 90's. I don't know if they are still actively performing, but at the time I was so impressed, I bought both their CD's on the spot.

The CD cover project in particular was an excellent project to challenge me and help me to focus. I had to do a lot of research to find images and inspirations that fell within my ability to actually do something with them in Illustrator. Unfortunately, the approach suggested by our instructor - that of coming up with two drawings at the start - just didn't work for me. That was too top down - at least for this assignment. Instead I needed to search for bits and pieces, and try different things with them, and in the end was fortunate to put something together that worked. My instructor offered lots of helpful guidance to get my muse going. I also pulled the group's CDs out of my library and listened to all their music. I think that helped.

In the end, here's what I came up with:




I have to give credit to 6 wonderful resources I found on the web which served as my inspirations:

• the Biffy Cyro Puzzle Album Cover
• the wonderful family tree drawing (for which alas I can no longer locate the website)
• the yellow sky image
• the labyrinth graphic
• the gemfonts failed font
• the hanoded photography fancy rainforest font

Also, apologies to Monkey Puzzle for changing the name of their CD to one of my favorite songs on it.

Reflecting back on the semester, I am still struck by the strong psychomotor component involved in learning how to use Photoshop and Illustrator. Never has that been so apparent in my other computer classes - but then again, while art and programming both involve design, the root of art lies in actually being able to take a pen, pencil, brush, or some artistic tool and render something amazing. So why should that be any different just because the process now takes place on a computer?

JuneBug

Photoshop Ads and Posters

My previous posts have sported a series of assignments in Photoshop effects from the Photoshop Cookbook for my computer graphics class this fall. I had lots of fun with those. The next assignment in that class was to design a poster ad on a product or service. I chose to feature our mules Kate and Annie, who have appeared on these blog pages before. Benny hitches Kate and Annie up almost every day during the spring, summer, and fall and takes them for a ride up and down our county roads. Sometimes instead of hitching them to the wagon, he and Bonnie saddle up and ride them. So now that the neighbors have seen them do their thing, Benny gets invited frequently to give hayrides for local outdoor events. Hence, this series of posters (click on each image to get a larger view, if desired):









JuneBug

Woodcuts, oils, and water colors

Continuing on from my previous post about my computer graphics class this fall, following are some Photoshop Cookbook effects that make photos look like oil paintings, water colors, and woodcuts. You can click the thumbnails to get the full-size image - in many cases doing that will help you distinguish the effect from the original photo more clearly. In some cases I tried different effects with the same photo.

Water Color Effect	Original
	Original
	Original

Following are oil effects:

Oil Effect	Original
	Original
	Original

The following effect converts a photo to a woodcut (remember doing those in art class?)

Woodcut Effect	Original

In many cases these effects aren't necessarily an improvement on the original photo, but they were fun (and sometimes frustrating) to do!

JuneBug

More Photoshop Effects

Continuing from my previous post on my computer graphics class this fall semester, here are some more fun Photoshop effects from the Photoshop Cookbook. This first one is called Summer to Fall (click on images to view larger version, if desired):

Effect	Original

The following photos demonstrate a vintage hollywood glamour effect:

Effect	Original

Stay tuned for more Cookbook effects!

JuneBug

Back to Beginnings

When I first started this blog in 2006, it was with the intent of chronicling my job search, after losing my job of 21 years. I hoped to connect with others in similar circumstances to perhaps find and share encouragement along the way. I also thought it would be fun to share my interests as a hobbyist photographer. Well, as time passed, I found a job, and branched out in other directions. I wrote about my family and the Cafe Rienzi, my great aunt Firma Phillips who was a local scenery artist, and several other other noteworthy personalities and topics. Then last year I lost my job again. So this spring I went back to college through Ivy Tech's Senior Scholar Program which allows people over 60 to take classes for free. Recently I have been blogging about that experience as it ties in with my interest in instructional design.

With this post I'd like to get back to the blog's original intent, my interest in photography. This past semester I had a wonderful opportunity to take a computer graphics class at Ivy Tech. The first half of the semester we worked in Photoshop and the second half we spent on Illustrator. Having played around with Photoshop version 7 for many years, I enjoyed this formal class immensely and thought it would be fun to share some of the products in the next few posts.

Our first series of projects were from the Photoshop Cookbook. I especially enjoyed the out of frame effect as shown in the following series of photos:

Effect	Original

Effect	Original

Effect	Original

More effects to come! Stay tuned ....

JuneBug

Reflections of a Senior Learner - IT Job Outlook

This past semester I had a wonderful opportunity to take an online course in technical writing through our local community college where seniors can attend for free after they turn 60. The course was an 8 week course - offered through the English department for full credit. It started October 19 and ended December 19, and so was extremely fast-paced. Our final project was to research and write a formal technical report on the job outlook in our field to other career consultants in our imaginary firm. The fields varied among the students taking the class. Some were majoring in business administration, others in the medical field, and so forth. I am a dual career person with training and experience in both the fields of information technology and instructional design (education), so I chose to write about the job outlook in information technology.


I have to say that this was an excellent assignment - I really learned a lot about online resources for this topic, if nothing else - such as the Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Handbook and its accompanying O*Net website. It was also interesting and kind of fun to get to "triangulate" my own perspective on the information technology field with all its transformations and permutations over the past thirty years.


I invite you to peruse my report: Occupational Outlook for the Information Technology Field: An Informational Report for Career Consultants. It defines the field and lists various occupations under its umbrella as well as common duties, functions, and activities. It briefly discusses educational requirements for various occupations in the field as well as occupational outlook, placement opportunities, and personality fit. It also includes some crystal-ball type predictions on new opportunities coming down the pike. Finally the references and appendix at the end offer some nice resources to researchers and job-seekers alike. 


JuneBug

Reflections of an senior learner - A Blackboard Organizer

For the last 6 months I have been a senior learner - at age 60 I went back to college while unemployed to catch up on changes in my field and to get certified. Since then I have thrilled on these pages about the joys of learning and groaned and moaned about the challenges. But now the semester is through, we are almost past the holidays, and I am taking the opportunity to put my money where my mouth is. One of our projects in my online Technical Writing Course was to write a set of instructions to accompany a new product of our own invention for the company of our choice. Borrowing from lessons learned in simplifying whilst designing the Report Tickler System at Bauer Family Resources (where I served as Grants and Compliance Specialist), I imagined an enhancement to the Blackboard product used in distance learning by many institutions. Essentially my enhancement was an interactive student organizer that would take the place of all the different course syllabuses. It would help students and teachers keep track of courses, assignments, projects, and exams all in one place. In short, it attempts to address one of those pesky and persistent human problems that I imagined technology was meant to solve.

So without further ado, here are links to my imaginary Blackboard Organizer (and prerequisite cover letter):

Blackboard Student Organizer Instructions
Memo to Ray Henderson, Blackboard Inc.

JuneBug

Thomas Durant

I promised more to come in the way of my eulogy, when I wrote of my Uncle Tom's passing a few months ago. Uncle Tom was one of the co-founders of the Cafe Rienzi, and an artist in his own right - only one of his many accomplishments. He originally hailed from the suburbs of Chicago, and as a young man, roamed a sales territory in Indiana for his father's business. Uncle Tom knew just about everything and could do just about anything. He and my Aunt met in the labor movement in Detroit after he served in World War II. He followed Aunt Joan back to New York, her roots, and they lived on the outskirts of Greenwich Village for over 60 years until he died. I remember him taking me to his studio in the fifties and teaching me about abstract art. I was maybe eight or ten years old. He let me paint a picture. It remained with me for a while, I even took it to classroom show and tell as my parents moved around the hemispheres in pursuit of my Dad's geology career. It eventually disappeared into my distant childhood.

Uncle Tom and Aunt Joan were fabulous cooks. They tended to fight for control of the kitchen. Uncle Tom cooked me many a wonderful meal ... I still remember steamed mussels, seasoned with a sauce, probably consisting of garlic, olive oil, fresh parmesan cheese, and I don't know what all else, when I brought my girlfriend to New York back in the early 70's.

Yesterday I was visiting with my Aunt Joan on the phone to find out her and my cousin Anna's Christmas plans this year - their first Christmas without him. Aunt Joan gave me quite a few tidbits about Uncle Tom (and the Cafe Rienzi) that were new to me. So here they are:

The Cafe Rienzi was located in what was an old macaroni factory, with a grocery store in front. Uncle Tom, with his architectural affinities, designed the Cafe out of the existing facility - and all the founders worked to turn it into a reality. Aunt Joan has been a prolific writer in her life (not just poetry). I look forward to the day when more of her work is published, because I believe it is a great gift to future generations. Anyway, for a period she wrote plays for Off-Off Broadway, and Uncle Tom built all her sets. Many of Aunt Joan's plays were performed in Theater for the New City currently located at 155 First Avenue, New York 10003-2906.

image courtesy of bike snob nyc blog

This current location was originally an indoor market with vegetable stands and such. Again Uncle Tom provided the architectural drawings and plans to convert this area into a theater. Aunt Joan says the artistic director Crystal Field still provides her with complimentary theater tickets as a thank you.

Uncle Tom also played a key role in assisting a long time (albeit younger) friend of the family artist David Maurice of Star Metal in setting up his metal works business. Star Metal does decorative and architectural metal work for downtown New York buildings among others. 

Well, I will close for now, but I am pleased to add these new details to the online record. One of the fond images I have of Uncle Tom - in addition to all the wonderful family discussions over the dinner table, and growing up with his inspirational paintings decorating my Aunt and Uncle's New York apartment is as master gardener. Uncle Tom brought his midwestern roots to New York. He put out garden every spring. For years he had a wonderful roof garden in Manhattan, complete with a fig tree, which we all enjoyed. He even grew sweet corn up there. And wonderful little strawberries and all kinds of vegetables. Even after the roof became unavailable for gardening, he continued to grow tomato plants on their tiny metal window seat balcony off the back bedroom.

I hope some of the folks who have purchased Uncle Tom's paintings will eventually find these writings and perhaps provide photos of his work. 

JuneBug

Reflections of an Adult Learner - Learning from Final Presentations

In my Visual Basic Class we had our choice of a gradebook as a final project - either as a database exercise or as a sequential file exercise, but using advanced controls. We had the options of adding enhancements for extra credit. So I tried to do a blended "animal" between the two assignments, something that would give me experience with the best of both. And it was a good exercise. I came up with a fairly decent design and working program. But oh how I learned from my classmates the day we did our final project presentations.

I often get compliments from my instructors. Some have even commented that they wish all students put forth the effort they see me putting forth. But when I hear this, I think, "Well it kinda all depends on where each student is in life ..."

A senior learner vs a young learner - since I went to college at both stages of life (and points in between) I can make the comparison firsthand.

Recently I was chatting in the cafeteria with my friend who had told me about the community college's Senior Scholar Program. She was recounting with relish the unknown role of women in the French Revolution, the topic of a research paper for her history class. She and I often share our journey ... What's different about this stage of life, we decided, is that we are able to be more focussed (oddly) about our education. That's because we have fewer distractions (again oddly). When you go away to college out of high school, your whole life tends to be about education and being a student. But the difference is that so much of life is unknown at that age, whereas at 60 so much of life has been lived. We know who we are, we know who we've been, we know, more or less, what we want, we have ideas about how to get there, and we have a lifetime perspective. We also have our challenges - like being unemployed and bumping up against the specter of age discrimination in our job hunt. We have aging health issues - like arthritis and bifocals. We tend to want to integrate new learning into our life experiences - which slows the learning process for us. The shelves of our memory tend to get a bit overcrowded, and sometimes things fall off. But we aren't trying to go to school, work full time, and raise a family (usually). That enables us to look at the educational process with a whole new eye and to see things about it we never saw when we were younger - things such as learning is a joy and a privilege, however traditional learning processes and institutions aren't necessarily laid out to optimize that aspect ... even though they still get the job done.

But I digress - back to the vb class final project presentations. I chose the database project out of curiosity and practicality. And I more or less stuck with the design suggested by the textbook exercises - which was pretty much having everything on one form but greatly simplifying the design for the user (uncluttering it). As a result of making that choice, I ran into many more challenges than if I had given each function or option its own screen. This was a fact I didn't realize until the final presentations. My solution was probably okay as an academic exercise. But as a viable solution that gives the best product to the user and requires less bending over backwards to make it work (which would make an employer happy), it comes in second to that of my very original thinking classmate. She came up with a nicely designed and friendly vertical screen. It had a greeting and a neat column of five buttons. Each popped up a screen for that function. So simple for the user. And less complicated for the programmer, although I'm sure that design also presented challenges.

Then my other classmate, a c++ programmer, showed me something I always wanted to be possible since the inception of databases as I knew them - back in the dBASE days.

He went through it pretty fast, so I'm going to write what I think I saw. He popped up a screen in VB 2010 that had two datagrids - a parent table and a child table. I believe if he added a student to the child table, the application created a record in the parent table - to maintain referential integrity. This worked both from Visual Basic and in Access 2010 itself. All without programming the first line of code, for the most part. Simply by setting the relationship and letting it do the work for you...

All in all our day of final presentations was a real eye-opener!

JuneBug

JuneBug's Final Project Presentation

Eating My Words - Reflections of an Adult Learner

Okay, the grumpy old fa - er, I mean, learner, has to eat her words - kudos to the Technical Writing Class's section on preparing job materials! It is the best and most comprehensive I've encountered so far. The text, the thoughtful discussion questions, along with the supplemental videos did an excellent job of preparing me for my interview on Friday!

JuneBug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zIQruPEDmg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opYjNr_4A5k

Reflections of a Grumpy Old Far - er, I mean Learner

One thing I remember about my elders, as I was growing up, is that they had both good days and bad. Some days they woke up feeling chipper as a robin in spring. Other days they felt slow. They complained of being bothered by arthritis and various aches and pains. Well, now, I'm 60 myself, and I can appreciate the truth of certain of those stereotypes. For instance, maybe I am getting Grumpy, but like Andy Rooney of 60 minutes, certain things really irritate the hell out of me. So be forewarned. This post is not only grumpy, it's downright grouchy. Furthermore, it comes out in fragments, incomplete sentences, and and probably breaks every convention of English (or, in certain cases, programming)  that we are not supposed to violate.

I'm taking a graphics class - we are supposed to go out on the web and find tutorials. We're supposed to avoid youtube.

Grumble #1: Teacher, get over it - everybody is going to eventually use that venue, professionals and amateurs alike, just like Wikipedia, Facebook, texting on their cell phones, and whatever else new comes down the pike.

Granted students need to distinguish between professional tutorials and amateurish ones, especially those that may not teach the best approaches. But it strikes me that at this particular stage of our learning, the ability to differentiate online tutorials is not our primary job. We're just trying to learn Photoshop and Illustrator.

Grumble #2: It irritates me to have to spend a precious two-hour block of time surfing the web to find a suitable tutorial on a particular topic. They are not always out there. They are not always easy to find. They are not always on the right version of the software - and how the hell would I know if that even matters? This is not conducive to adult learning. Adults learners are busy people. How many are actually going to take the time - or find the time to do this? Granted, utilizing the amazing, plentiful, and various resources on the web is a WONDERFUL way to teach / learn Photoshop and Illustrator skills. Frankly, I find a textbook to be an awkward medium for teaching skills in these particular products, especially Illustrator (we use the Classroom in a Book Series). A well executed three minute video ( or even short web page tutorial) can effectively convey the same information in fractions of the time. I understand the need for professional artists to be adept at finding quality resources on the web in these days and times, but often they will be researching a particular task that is way beyond basic. So really, teacher, you need to scaffold that assignment a little bit better - unless you want your students to spend more time on your class hunting for something than actually working in / and learning Illustrator and Photoshop.

Today, we have 2 chapters, complete with exercises, an additional reading, and two web tutorials due. No lates accepted. The day after tomorrow, we have another 2 chapters, complete with exercises due. Wonderful. I'd LOVE to do it. I WANT to do it.

Grumble #3: But I also have to finish a chapter and do a project for my Visual Basic class and prepare for an upcoming exam, visit a grieving sister-in-law (out of town), check on my eighty-year-old mother, apply for jobs so I can get my unemployment and keep my family fed, winterize the windows on our 100 year old farm house, feed and water the chickens and clean their coop, take the dog to the vet, cook supper, go to the dentist, and post two discussions and write a memo for my Technical Writing class. And it's Indian Summer and lovely outside and we'll  have such a long cold stretch before we'll enjoy such weather again. (Yeah, I know, so what adult learner, or teacher for that matter, doesn't face these challenges and distractions?) But wait a minute - let me take a look at our syllabus. Hmmm ... for the rest of the semester, it looks like we don't have anything but a project. Hey, teacher, can't you space that work out a little? I'd really love to do all the work in all my courses.

Sometimes, when your students do poorly, it's not always their fault.

While we're on the subject (of grumbling, that is) how about matching the appropriate educational strategy to the task at hand? If it's a psychomotor skill, as in Photoshop, and Illustrator, there are very specific best practices for teaching psychomotor skills, including breaking down the learning tasks and providing adequate time for practice and two-way feedback for each sub skill. The student may grasp your wonderful explanation. But a good way to scaffold them and reinforce that into their long-term memory is to allow them verbalize it back to you, perhaps as they are actually trying to do the steps. Yes, it takes some time. And yes, some students will grasp the whole picture sooner than others. But if you don't do your work up front, the rest of us will probably remain a little fuzzy and confused on the finer points of Pen tools and Bezier Curves  for years to come - unless we take the time to sort it out on our own, that is.

I'm taking a Visual Basic class. The author really did a great job with the book - efficient prose and examples, lots of exercises, but who has time to actually do them on our course schedule? I did try for the first few chapters. The chapter on arrays was (oddly) about a third of the book - the course assigned the chapter to be completed in a week's time, just like all the other chapters. The chapters containing more complicated and less familiar material to most were condensed down to the last three weeks of the course - almost as an afterthought. This newer material takes a little longer to absorb, learn and apply. So not enough time was allowed to integrate the new knowledge with that learned early on. Besides, some of the later stuff SHOULD HAVE been learned early on. Okay, get ready, I feel a rant coming on:

Public Class RANT

Private Sub btnStartRant_Click(...) Handles btnStartRant.Click

Rant.Text = _ 

"What's WRONG with the IT CURRICULUM?  They still spend 90% of the time teaching structured programming and 10% on OOP.

NOBODY DOES PURE STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING ANYMORE.

NOBODY HIRES ANYBODY WHO DOES PURE STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING ANYMORE.

Structured programming should be taught in the context of OOP from the get go. And I don't mean just having students write in an OOP programming language. I mean ALL OF IT. Students should be introduced to the concepts of OOP FIRST and then taught the structured techniques for the methods. Structured Programming is a way of thinking. OOP is also a way of thinking. If you want people to think OOP when they approach problem-solving, then teach them OOP. I came back to school at age 60 to learn newer techniques and 90% of the course is the same freakin' stuff  they taught 30 years ago - with the new stuff tacked on as an after thought. Don't get me wrong, review's always a good thing, but as a student, how far ahead do I actually come out for the time and effort I'm asked to put forth?"

End Sub

Talk about misnomers. I'm taking a "technical writing" course. It is a condensed (eight week) class, and we are half way through it. So far we've written an email, a business letter, a memo, and a persuasive memo with, get this, citing in APA format.

WHO DOES THAT?

Besides ... time for adult learners is short, especially in a condensed class - So, do you want to teach students how to write a persuasive letter or do you want to teach APA format? I guarantee you that if the students approach the assignment conscientiously, they will spend far more time gathering and researching sources and worrying with getting them in APA format than crafting a persuasive argument! I can almost guarantee that if students struggled with how to cite (let alone in APA format) - either because they were rusty or because they were just learning this skill - their prose was choppy.

Grumble #4: For my part, I have a freakin' master's degree for going on ten years now, and have published a scholarly piece, and if I'm a little out of practice with citing and APA format, THIS IS NOT THE VENUE. I'm taking this class to learn more about technical writing, (I have written system and user manuals at work without the benefit of formal training). I'm looking for technical writer jobs. Teach me the finer points of 21st century technical writing and project management - not emails and everything else but!!! 

Next we're going to do a resume and cover letter - do you have any idea how many classes and disciplines have had me do that same assignment? I don't, I've forgotten! All I'm wondering is when I'm done with this course, will I know anything more about technical writing than I did to begin with? And would any employer really believe the exercises in this class will qualify me for the technical writer position they are looking to fill?

Let's put it this way: not from the technical writing job descriptions I have read.

Okay. Apart from taking issue with some of the topics in the book, I do think the author of the text did an excellent job of modeling his definition of technical writing. In fact technical communication (Markel, 2010) is the best textbook I've ever seen in "practicing what you preach" or "modeling what you teach." (BTW, I have no idea if I cited that inline title correctly).

Conversely, Blackboard is an excellent NEGATIVE EXAMPLE of technical writing by Mr. Markel's definition. The student has to go to five different places just to figure out what the professor wants them to hand in and when and where. (And this is not the case with just the online English Class.) The sad news is that unlike Mr. Markel, we've missed an obvious and valuable opportunity in Blackboard itself to teach and to model the course objectives. The good news is that Blackboard does not have to be that chaotic. Well, not totally. I know because I took some rudimentary classes way-back-when in how to set up WebCT learning environments (before WebCT was assimilated by Blackboard). Again, institutions should scaffold and provide resources to busy professors in setting up effective distance learning environments in the institution's course management software rather than enforce some awkward "across the board" standardization of said product. The best approach would incorporate elements of both standardization and customization of online learning environments.

And wouldn't it be WONDERFUL if Blackboard provided some sort of one-stop-shopping view or organizer for students so that on any given day, or week ( or whatever or period of time) they could see on ONE screen what they had due for ALL classes? And if Blackboard just did this automatically for them? It's not unfeasible.

Grumble #5: Also if everything we write is supposed to be business format, then shouldn't the instructor be the model?

And putting a word count on posts while trying to teach how to write efficiently and concisely and effectively? I'm sorry, but that's just an oxymoron. I know the problem the teacher is trying to address - making students spend the time to produce high quality, original posts applying the knowledge gained in the course - but there has to be a better way.

Moving on from my classes to some general topics:

This whole concept of education as drinking out of a firehose is freakin' STUPID. It BLOWS. Yup, you guessed it - another rant coming on:

Begin Rant:

When you approach education in that fashion, often all you get is wasted bits and pieces of knowledge scattered all over the ground along with the dead bodies of students' (or employees') talents and abilities that with nurturing might have had a productive life in society. I don't care how busy business is and how fast they want their employees to learn. It has almost become cliche for an employer to say they want a fast learner in a job description. In this era of rapid technology change, we all know that's a given. What employers often mean, when they say this, is they want someone who either already knows the job and the organization perfectly, is magically on the same wave length, or is a genius or savant. Well, who can blame them for that. Those folks don't need training - but like the rest of us, they likely do need the employer to at least stay out of their way or not throw hurtles and barricades in their path in the form of an onboarding program run like your worst reality tv show nightmare.

End Rant

For my part, I would like to enjoy my life, and that includes ENJOYING this wonderful second chance I have been given to learn (as opposed to being rushed through it once again).  And at age 60, who can blame me for that? By the way, I've been at the top of the class throughout my academic career, and to my surprise, I still am. I also helped break plenty of new ground at work during the desktop revolution and beyond. So I must have been able to learn "fast enough."

It's ironic that the education that (usually) costs money to get often has the poorest teaching techniques - while  the education we get for free at least raises the odds that we get a professionally trained educator who knows what techniques match each task and how to apply them effectively. I know it takes a while for professionally trained educators to get up to speed with the demands from industry, especially in the IT field - because the folks out there learning and doing, and breaking new ground are not trained teachers - they are engineers and artists and what-have-you. When they return to academia to share what they have learned and created, they may or may not be effective teachers. If they are not, much of the cause can be attributed to lack of knowledge of good educational principles and best practices. And who can blame them for that? They were trained to be engineers, not teachers. However some of the problem can also be attributed to a professional or academic arrogance we don't even realize we have, and some to just not caring and lazy attitudes which ALL of us blindly have. And finally, some of the problem can be attributed to a highly inflexible imposition/implementation of standardization by the institution or state that disempowers and discourages teachers from plying their craft - as well as a lack of investment by said organizations in instructional support to scaffold teachers in making the most of their resources.

When I was young, the burden was put on me to learn - sometimes in spite of the teacher. However, now that I'm sixty, I'm no longer buying that crap. Yes, I have to construct the knowledge in my own head - and put forth that time and effort. And yes, it is true that you can learn something from everybody. But students, young and old alike, deserve to be scaffolded with thoughtful, effective, appropriate teaching techniques. And guess what, folks - that takes some up-front work, forethought, caring, and investment from the educators, the institution, and the state. And in educating the various stakeholders about that need, ATTITUDINAL learning may pose our biggest challenge - because not only teachers, but also administrators, politicians, and even students must question their basic beliefs about how to educate.

Maybe if we ALL were not so busy pushing and shoving ourselves and one another through life, students might actually take the time to learn and teachers to teach.

At any rate, teachers and students have to figure out how to meet in the middle. Ultimately, we should be molding learners who know how to take charge of their own learning and education. We should be scaffolding learners as they pursue their learning goals - because once they understand what is required, they alone may best understand how they need to accomplish it.

For example - perhaps I wouldn't find my adult learning experience so frustrating at this point, if I weren't sixty, faced with job-hunting, and struggling to stay out of  the Walmart uniform for the rest of my working life (which now looks to be a lot longer than the traditional retirement age if I want to have any degree of  financial security or comfort) - even though I've done some darn fine, useful, and lasting work in my career. I have been taking these courses gratefully, hoping they will scaffold / prepare me to take certification exams - if I can just grasp and retain all the material needed to pass them. Not only that, I enjoy my field, and I really do want to learn and understand this stuff.

But approaching every lesson like I'm going to have to remember it and be able to prove myself perhaps as much as a year from now takes me a lot longer than just flipping the pages and going through the motions of skipping, scanning, and cramming. After all, I am 60. How much longer do I have to get this right?

JuneBug