Bridging the Gap - Learning on the Road

One of the things living and learning mobile allows us to do is not only to work from the road, but to also learn from the road through courses that are offered online.   Navigating so much opportunity is not always easy.  People who know me,  know I'm always  exploring and learning about new technologies.  But being officially enrolled in Intro to Physical Computing Course from Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies means I have deadlines that conflict with some of the opportunities to enjoy the view or socialize with new friends. I completed by last assignment while traveling in 4 states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana). Here's a short video of combining traveling and learning for your enjoyment.

And for those who are interested in learning more about learning, I've cross posted my latest reflection  from my Make, Create, Innovate  blog/journal from my course. 

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I See the Light - Exploring the world of Microprocessor Circuits

My learning journey in the world of physical computing continues to bridge the experience gap for me as I complete the 15 circuits from the the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit for the SparkFun RedBoard.

As I worked through these circuit building exercises from my Intro to Physical Computing Course from Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies, I became more deeply aware of how the experience gap widens as kids miss out on the opportunity to learn some basic science about the world around them.  I’m not sure when budding scientist usually get introduced to circuits, but I don’t remember it from my elementary school days.  It certainly didn’t happen in my household of 5 girls.  I don’t have any memories of doing this type of thing with my parents either. So by the time I got to high school, I found myself accepting the fact that my understanding of the world of science was “muddy” and learned to live with that and cope.  I put off taking Chemistry until my senior year, and then used my ability to ‘play school’ well to get through that without any deep understanding.  Needless to say, I never made it into any physics classes.  

I was pleased to learn that my science/math distribution requirements in college could all be fulfilled with math classes, which offered me yet another way to stay in the dark with my understanding of science.  Ironically  I am fascinated by science and frequently in awe of engineering, but I’ve learned to accept that this is something I can enjoy the marvels of without ever being able to do it (or truly understand it) myself.  After all, we can all enjoy music without being able to play an instrument or art without being able to draw or paint -  so it must be with science.  Maybe!  But by curiosity always made me wish I could have had a deeper understanding of so many wonders that could be explained by science.  I learned to accept the fog--which of courses increased the gap in experience and in understanding. [photo credit: doug.siefken via photopin cc]

As I proceeded through the first couple of projects in this Inventor Kit, I had a real meltdown.  Circuit 1 was pretty easy to put together. But as I was completing Circuit 2, I became very aware of my lack of any deep understanding of what was happening outside my ability to follow directions and assembling wires and components accordingly. The tension made me want to shut down and not move further.  There was no way that I would be able to complete the next 14 projects feeling this incompetent. So I took a step back and did what I usually do when I feel over my head - and that is to become a student and tune into my learning style.  I copied the code to the circuits into a Google doc and started to break it apart 1 line at a time, using yellow to highlight important concepts, orange to highlight any actual snippets of code as I dissected it, and pink to  highlight any points of confusion that remained.  The comment feature allowed me to add free form thoughts and ideas as I worked through the circuits.

But that was not enough.  I was seriously lacking some very basic basics.  Thankfully my husband is an engineering type and was more than willing to help me fill in the gaps.  After some of the fog had lifted about the basics of circuits and circuit boards,  I went back and redid the first project and moved through the next several projects with increased confidence each time.

By circuit 3 I was able to look at the little schematic and understand what was going to happen, even before I turned the page and read on.  I found myself color coding the wires I selected according to the energy flow and polarity.  Anything that went to + or 5 volt got a red wire.  Anything that went to ground got a black or white wire.  Wires back to certain pins got a different color.  As my confidence and understanding grew I started playing with positioning the wires and resistors in locations that worked for me that would yield the same results. I ran into another challenge when I hit the project that introduced transistors and relays. My curiosity and unwillingness to wander in a state of fog lead me to grill my coach/mentor/husband once more until things became clear enough for me to have a basic understanding of the role of transistors and relays in circuits.  

I completed a video of each circuit as I completed it.  Explored it further by playing with the code and then sailed through most of them (except 14 - which gave me a real hard time).  Here is my documentation.

I had 3 circuits to complete by the time we had to leave Grayton Beach, Florida on Monday, but I managed to complete and shoot the video documentation for those last 3 circuits on the road while we travelled from the Florida, through, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Throughout this wonderful learning opportunity, I found myself thinking about the importance of  Curiosity, Confidence, GRIT, Motivation and understanding your learning style.  Had I not had the curiosity, I would have never sought out this experience; had I not had the motivation and GRIT, I would have given up; had I not had the understanding of my learning style, I would have failed to see a way through the challenges and had I not gained confidence along the way, I would not have enjoyed any of it, nor built any desire to explore further.

In education today, we are doing more and more student centered learning, and offering students more choice in determining their learning path. But what does it take to create the curiosity, confidence, motivation for students to venture into unknown territories or discover areas of knowledge that might never cross their natural path? What if a desired path leaves you in the dark lacking major understanding of what is and what’s possible in our world? How can we move forward in the personalization of education without failing our children?  Providing access and opportunity to learn is not the same as providing students with the ability to reach beyond where their natural path or choices might take them.  My choices left me void of understanding of many scientific concepts.  But should my educational system have allowed this to happen? [ photo credit: Auntie P via photopin cc}]

Some would say this is why we have high stakes testing - to spot the failures and fix them.  But is that fixing the problem or making it worse. Not only do these test not reveal much data about Curiosity, Confidence, GRIT, Motivation and understanding one's learning style, they don’t yield improvements in the design of learning that increases any of these essential components. Often, they have done the opposite in that they have brought about an increased focus on remediation at the expense of creative learning environments that challenge learners to wonder, take risk, construct knowledge, and persevere.  Finding a path where learners can experience that joy of thinking hard, where they have choice, follow their passions, and unpack their own understanding of the world without missing important and key understandings will not be easy - especially in a world where knowledge is growing at an exponential rate.  Thankfully people are still asking the important question of “How do we do this.. where is the path that will yield the best results?”  [photo credit: NASA HQ PHOTO via photopin cc]

Holiday Traditions on the Road

Celebrating the Holidays on the Road

Living on the road involves redefining many parts of your life.  There are lots of decisions about what to hold onto and what to let go of.  The holiday seasons was yet another opportunity for redefinition as we sought out new holiday traditions.

Having a strong French Canadian heritage means that your holidays are filled with traditions from north of the border.   My childhood Christmas always centered around  le reveillon, (a holiday  feast and celebration that starts after midnight mass and continues throughout the night into morning - thus the name).

Although we’ve tempered the all night party somewhat through the years,  every Christmas I’ve spent in Vermont has included sharing a midnight toast and plenty of fun and munchies with family and friends.   The snow,  decorations, tree, gift exchange,  music and Christmas eve service all serve to put me into a holiday mood.   And there is nothing like kids and their anticipation of Santa to spread the Christmas spirit. 

This December, our bus was parked in a delightful, funky town called Cedar Key, Florida, but  there was no snow, no holiday concerts, no family tree decoration event,  and no kids around us counting down the days til Christmas.  I was finding myself lacking the usual Christmas spirit.   That’s when I decided to kick it in gear and do what I could to find that holiday spirit in our new lifestyle.

First we needed some decorations, so on our walk back from town, we picked up a red Poinsettia.  I used some colored markers to turn some packaging material remnants into a a makeshift tree, and set up the Hue wireless lights with red and green hues.

We took a trip to Chiefland and picked up the last package of ground pork available,  some baking supplies,  and rum for the eggnog.  Craig found a radio station that played Christmas music and I started to cook and bake.   When I was done I had chocolate covered caramel corn packaged in red cups and ribbon for all our new friends,  two tourtieres (Quebecois pork pies)  and a Buche de Noel.

I learned that the humidity in Florida is not optimal for keeping popcorn crunchy,  that a wine bottle can serve as a rolling pin, and that leaving the mixer behind was probably a mistake.   After 45 minutes of 'trying' to whisk egg whites into stiff peaks, Craig decided that he could find room for a mixer. 

Craig and I invited our new friends over for Christmas breakfast.  I made traditional French crepes and Craig made his amazing French toast.  Friends brought over fruit salad, Canadian bacon,  coffee, and eggs and veggie casserole.  It was a bit nippy so we ended up huddled around the communal fire pit which was conveniently located right next to our site.

                          

Later in the day, I brought my tourtiere and Buche de Noel to the campground community potluck.  They were a big hit and it turned out to be a good day.   I can’t pretend that it was all  ‘okay' since  a phone call to  the kids didn’t fill the void I felt by their absence during the holiday season — but bringing in some of my French Canadian traditions to Cedar Key did make a difference in my getting some holiday spirit.

Craig and I were scheduled to leave Cedar Key the day after Christmas, but were able to extend our stay a few extra days to surround ourselves with our new friends for the rest of the holiday week.  In those last few evenings, we got to hear Patt and her guitar entertain a local crowd at the Pelican Rail,  watch Josh and Natalie kick ass at karaoke, see Eric  apologize to Jeannette for leaving her stranded without wifi the day he unpacked his Google Glass, and enjoy some amazing clam chowder and seafood at Tony’s with Lynn & Clark and Robin & Jeremy.  Cheng worked a knot out of my neck, Jason and Kristin introduced us to Snowtinis   Chris gave Craig a private lithium battery workshop and Cherie and Chris gave us a sneak preview of a promising new project they are getting ready to launch.  Those extra three days turned out to be a great decision.

As we were getting ready to leave,  Craig suggested that we check with the office to see if they had any spots open for a quick stop back on our way to Texas.  Lucky for us,  we’ll be able to stop back in at Sunset Isle for February 1 -5.  This made leaving a lot easier! 

After saying so long for now to new friends, we drove across the state to the east coast of Florida and set up camp at Prince John County Park for the month.   The second half of the holiday week provided some of what we were missing — Time With Family.  We picked up Craig’s daughter,  Maggie at Miami airport and headed to City Place Center, in West Palm Beach for some great food, people watching, and “The Hobitt”  at the iMax.   On New Year’s day Craig, Maggie, and I enjoyed more French Canadian traditions  and a wonderful feast that included turkey, more tortieres, and tarte au sucre with my Dad, Christine, Uncle Jean, Ma Tante Helena,  MaTante Helen, Cousin Jocelyn, and other family friends.

And in less than a week… I’m flying home to hug my grandchildren!

Saying Goodbye to Cedar Key

Being "Mobile" means seeing new sights, it also means saying goodbye.  Today is our last day at Cedar Key.  The time to move on has arrived. 

We have spent many delightful hours with the community of people who have congregated here, people who we have gotten know on line before we became their neighbors here at Cedar Key.

Every evening we gather on the dock to watch the sun go down.

Sometimes we move to the dock of the Tiki Bar that is a short walk down the road.

Christmas morning we had people over to our campsite for breakfast.








Then everyone at the campground shared a potluck Christmas Dinner.

This is the community that we have said good bye to.  It was a wonderful experience that has left us with friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

Ten Lessons LEARNED from the LIVING MOBILE School of Hard Knocks

Every new stage in life involves some new learning.   No matter how much anyone tries to prepare you for a new stage of life or how much you read about your new destination; there are some lessons that are only learned through the school of hard knocks. And since this blog is about LIVING LEARNING mobile, why not share some recent “learning”.

I'm not usually a high maintenance girl,  but one thing I've accumulated over the years is a very fun and versatile collection of glassware. I knew that 9 champagne flutes, 4 martini glasses, a dozen wine glasses,  a half a dozen cordial glasses, juice glasses, beer glasses, tall water glasses,  and  the ever so practical size milk glass weren't going to accompany us on this trip, but I could not bring myself to give or sell my collection.  So these made the cut of things that would survive storage in somebody's attic.  

But that doesn't mean I succumb to drinking wine in the multipurpose LL Bean blue plastic cups which Craig has assured me can be a coffee cup, soup container, measuring cup and any other container one might hope for on the road.   I rearranged the dishes and was pretty tickled when I found room for 4 wine glasses and 2 martini glasses.  Craig just shrugged, smiled, and accommodated me.

School of hard knock lesson #1 - Stemware was not made for small RV size kitchen.

Okay…I get it, now.    So when we got down to a single wine glass,  I  had another bright  idea and measured the opening of the wooden glass holder, and found stemless wine classes that were narrow enough to fit these.

School of hard knock lesson #2 -  Stemless wine glasses are  no better at surviving the RV kitchen.   

Down to one solitary wine  glass,  I noticed a set of red trimmed goblets in a thrift  shop in Cedar Key that looked like they might survive our lifestyle. Who would have thought that plastic wine glasses would have made their way home with Lucie.  Ah well.

School of hard knock lesson #3 -  Be careful when opening the overhead bin - contents may have shifted during transit

We  have all heard it many times, but what does it take for us to actually prepare for "shifted content".   Well for me it was when my Chromebook (that was neatly tucked away in my overhead office bin)  came flying out and landed squarely on my once unblemished Macbook air (sitting on the living area table - a.k.a. Lucie and Craig's shared office desk). Who would have thought that  this wimpy little plastic Samsung Chromebook could put a huge dent into my shiny well built Macbook  Air.  Sigh!  I guess having a dent in ones Macbook is something I can live with.

School of hard knock lesson #4 - Strewn wires in small spaces are a trip hazard

Much like an old house, our old bus could use a few more outlets around the couch area. Unfortunately, that’s where I like to sit and my old Windows laptop usually needs to be plugged in making its power cord the perfect trip hazard. In a recent entanglement, my old Lenova offered just enough resistance to bend the connector so the power cord no longer fits snuggly enough to keep the laptop charged.  With just the right amount of tweaking I can get enough of a charge to do the few things I still need my Windows machine for.

School of hard knocks lesson #5 - My Macbook Air does not like coffee - not even a little sip   

Despite the fact that my coffee was in a covered travel mug nestled in one of the two cup holders on the bus ,  enough java managed to to jump out to splatter on my Macbook.

School of hard knocks lesson #6  don't assume that the shiny new red protective cover you just added to your Mac book protects it from all types of damage. Especially when that protective skin traps a dash of liquid inside so you don't know that you have actually marinated your computer for days, until the screen starts to flicker and dark and dim sections of the screen move around from left corner to right corner.

School of hard knocks lesson #7 Don't assume that Apple Care covers all possible damages to your computer

I assumed that the Apple Care I have been buying with all my Apple products was there to help people like me that are hard on their technology.  Last week I learned that all it takes is a little bit of moisture to trigger a liquid sensor that disqualifies your  $700 computer repair  from  being covered by Apple Care.    When we drove to Gainesville to retrieve my “unrepaired” Macbook Air from the Apple 'hospital", I did get to handle a new Macbook Pro Retina and was impressed by the lack of difference between its weight and that of my Air.  (something to ponder) Thankfully I can continue using the Air with an external monitor for now.

School of hard knocks lesson #8 Moving your “work space” from inside to outside sometimes requires a 3rd hand

It’s been great to bounce back and forth between inside and outside workspaces, but all that moving around requires extra precaution.   Hours after unpacking and setting up a brand new iPad mini, Craig gathered his ‘mobile’ tools to move inside when his new iPad mini slid out of his hands and landed on the cement pad outside our bus.  The screen now has a 3 inch crack.   ;-(  Thankfully Craig’s experience handling the technology needs of schools has included repairing  many iPad screens.  Parts are on order.  We’re thinking that the iPad might have had a better chance of survival if it had landed on the the outdoor patio carpet instead of a concrete slab. Note to self:  Always roll out the carpet for yourself!

School of hard knocks lesson #9   Always double check and triple check the pressure of all tires before moving to a new location

We have no idea what caused the right tire of our tow dolly to shred (8 miles before our arrival at Cedar Key)  but we took it as a reminder that we needed to be more diligent about checking the air pressure on all tires (not just the bus, but also the dolly).   Thankfully  this lesson happened on Route 24 instead of on Interstate 95.  A friendly local musician stopped and offered us both help and advice about where we might find a replacement and another local resident agreed to let us store the dolly in his driveway for a few days while we secured a new tire.  We’ve decided to take heed of this warning to double check our tire health frequently.

School of hard knocks lesson #10  Don’t ignore your body when it says “step away from the technology”

Probably the most important lesson learned so far in this trip has been to pay attention to how your body is reacting to change!  Although I was still able to use my Macbook Air when tethered to an external monitor,  it no longer served me when I wanted to move outside.  Craig lent me a new Windows 8 Lenova that he uses to support the students and teachers back in Vermont .  As soon as I started to use this slick new laptop, I found myself cursing the trackpad .  I decided that it was just a matter of my learning the new Windows 8 gestures, and that this would be a “good”  thing for me to practice and would help me better support educators who use this platform.  The more I used it the more I felt  my neck strain as my right hand tried to use a trackpad that was trying to emulate the “touchscreen” functionality built into Windows 8.  (BAD IDEA!)  Craig has deployed 100 of these Windows 8 Lenova laptops  and almost 90% of them have been downgraded to Windows 7 OS by request of the user. 

Between the trackpad and my already questionable posture,  I kept feeling the strain in my neck increase, but I kept working in 5th gear for  long hours at a stretch to support students' final projects, get grades in for my 3 online graduate courses, and also launch a few new projects before everyone left for holiday break.  Unfortunately, I am now going to be spending my holiday break looking for remedies to make my arm, neck, back strain go away and regain the range of motion I seem to have lost in my neck.

I bet that those of us living and learning mobile could add a few additional insights to this study of New Technologies, New Behaviors, and New Postures. I wonder if Steelcase might consider creating a “mobile” chair that could accommodate today’s new generation of mobile workers!

This lesson (listening to my body) has persuaded me to go ahead and order a New Macbook Pro Retina.  I wasn’t quite ready to upgrade yet, but eventually decided that adding a new member to our Apple family”  might be worth it IF

• the retina display reduces the eyestrain I’ve been feeling lately;
• the super smooth track pad combined with a few ergonomic tweaks relieves the tension in  my hand/arm/neck
• the price tag might reduce my tax liability  

But one thing I am enjoying with my new purchase is that being untethered again is absolutely helping me take fuller advantage of living learning mobile!

What is it about Cedar Key?

There is something about Cedar Key that makes the days go by slowly, yet when you think back you can't quite figure out where all the time has gone.

It is a place to lose track of what day it is, even what month it is!

As our family and colleagues back home in Vermont slog through snow storms and sub-zero temperatures we go from having to run the fan at night because it is too warm to great sleeping nights with a couple of quilts on the bed.

Every night we gather on the docks to watch the sun set with our fellow campers. 

Each sunset slightly different, but the consistency of stopping to enjoy the evening with our new friends giving us some measure of the days that are passing.

Many days Lucie and I walk the mile each way to Cedar Key's Main St, maybe to mail a package or buy a few things at the little grocery store.  Those errands in town are really just an excuse because what we really like is the walk along State Route 24 that ends on yet another dock looking out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Several evenings we have taken seats outside at the restaurants on the dock in the village to eat seafood and enjoy drinks and companionship overlooking the Gulf with people we have met at the campground. 

Most recently we watched the Lighted Boat Parade.  Even gaily decorated boats and Santa Clam can't quite spark the Christmas Spirit for a couple of New England natives.

Every day we sit at our computers working, Lucie has created wonderful resources for Vermont Schools to use for the national Hour of Code week that has seen school kids across the country be introduced to computer programming.  She has also completed the college courses she has been teaching for St. Mikes, UVM and Marlboro College.  I have been doing database work and remote troubleshooting for St Albans City School.  It is comfortable sitting outside under our tangerine tree, looking up at the palm trees to rest our eyes.  The campground WiFi is pretty good, enough for my database work.  Sometimes we switch to our Verizon connection to get Lucie the bandwidth she needs  for video conferencing with her students.

All around us there are people who are full time RVers who are working full time too, drawn by the laid back pace of this Florida Key with its good Internet connectivity.  Yet every evening we close down our computers and gather on the dock to enjoy the sunset, scritch the dogs (lots of dogs here) and discuss work and life this laid back December in Cedar Key Florida.