Easter break and more confusion
I spent most of my Easter break trying to get my house clean, so that when family arrived they wouldn’t think that a tornado hit the inside of my house. I also spent some time catching up on sleep and picked up some extra shifts at work to try and pay some bills while getting my masters. I also attempted to not procrastinate and get a head start on some of my upcoming projects for grad school. That didn’t go great. I find myself surfing the Internet and spending large amounts of time and energy trying to sift through worthless information to find the information I can use. I worked with the ERIC system and was able to find several articles, but many of them are not retrievable through ERIC and I am not sure if their are other sites or other ways to get these articles other than through ERIC or going to a college. I found doing the research for my technology paper on technology in the science classroom to be very interesting, yet I found it hard to sift through alot of irrelevant information for decent information. I also ran into many sites that appeared free, but once I tried to access other areas, I was informed I needed a membership. I wish these Internet sites would allow for a pay for the time you are on the site, rather than a flat fee, as I might need the site for an hour, yet I will have to pay for a year and never use it again. So, I feel like it has been another week of procrastination, leading to frustration in that I always bank that I will be able to turn to the world wide web to bail me out in the end, yet I often spend more wasted time on the web than I do anything else. I still love technology and the vastness of the avenues on the Internet, yet I miss the old fashion look it up in a book and write a paper, although in a topic like technology in a science classroom, the Internet is the best place to find up to date data. The grasp of the Internet over my existence grows daily, I am just glad I am trying to learn the tools and the ins and outs to make the Internet my tool, not the other way around.
Hope all have a great Easter and think of me next week when I am stressed out and staying up late because the Internet dragged me in yet again. I will eventually learn, but I guess it takes a few all nighter to really let it all sink in.
March 23, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I know exactly how you feel. This semester more than any other. I’m only taking two classes, but with 1-week break, two times just doesn’t seem like I’m accomplishing anything. Along with those two weeks off, in my other class, our teacher has been sick twice and was forced to cancell class. Added on to all of this, the excitement of our first child, a surprise 30th birthday party for my wife (which I had been planning for over two months), and some problems at work have will make the past few months NOT missed at all.
The way I look at it…. is: this semester is almost over. Let’s all get there quickly and safely — together.
LATE
March 24, 2008 at 7:58 pm
@Charlie – This research paper may be more difficult than in other content areas, as our library does not have many educational technology journal holdings. Hence the need for early research and time to inter-library loan those articles of interest. The other option is to go to U of R and see what they have. These are the two fallback methods that have always been used in the past. I think a danger here is thinking that we no longer need to use them because of the Internet. And you are finding that perhaps this is not true. Authoritative, refereed information is still largely protected behind subscription and membership. And, with our small library with limited subscription across many disciplines, we still need to fall back on the traditional means of research…. a lot of legwork and digging.
March 27, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Charlie- I too was struggling to find articles for this paper and one for my Literacy class. Then I remembered a service offered by Naz that i learned about in undergrad. You can go to the reference desk in the library and fill out a search form with your topic. The librarian will then research your topic and in 24-48 hour give you an extensive list of possible articles to use. The service is free but you will have to get out of your car in the parking lot
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