Education Technology – My Journey

I just read Screening Out the Introverts by By William Pannapacker in The Chronicle of Higher Education and found this article refreshing. In a world where one can be famous simply for being famous, where statements such as "It's always the quiet ones" make those of us who tend to be more self-contained, introspective and yes, shy, feel even more like outsiders, it is nice to see someone take note and say not so fast. I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator several years ago and landed so far down the introverted scale one might wonder how I ever manage to leave the house. Yet I talk to my neighbors, I lead discussions at work, and I participate in class. The difference between myself and many around me is that I typically rehearse what I am about to say and am terrible at small-talk. I observe those around me, get a feel for the room, and react when I think I have something to add. Introvert is not a four letter word, but as educators we often feel that it is necessary

Today I read an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Dissertation . As one who is currently struggling with completing the writing for her qualifying project I was hoping for some ah ha moment reading this article. In stead I ended feeling "so I'm not the only one." Confirmation that motivation and the research muse is fickle. Early on I sat down and wrote 17 pages concerning background, literature review, and identification of need. I figured that by the time I was done with the research I'd just need to go back and edit, fill in some blanks, and add the results. Oh how silly of me. Looking back at what I wrote several months ago I feel utterly disconnected from it. So now I am back to procrastinating, looking at an ever looming deadline and the hope that inspiration suddenly hits. I used to keep a notepad by the bed, as I would always seem to find solutions to issues of wording, transitions, or methodology at 2 AM. R