Poet Ponders the Digital

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley October 2008 Issue September 11, 2008 From the Virtual Highway to Highway 99 Spending hundreds of dollars a month on gasoline meant my wife and I were cutting dinners out, DVD purchases, and our day trips to the national forests. My beloved Jeep was affecting our lifestyle. We made the decision to buy a new, high-mileage car. Like many people, we first looked at the cars in person. I like to look after hours, when the sales staff is not around. Sure, I could look online, but it’s nice to see the car. Once I had seen the cars and looked at sticker prices, I went to the Web site of each manufacturer. The sites are all nicely designed. Most let you see previews of various colors and options. I have to admit, the Mini Cooper site was a lot of fun, but my wife had already ruled out the car as impractical for trips to Home Depot or Costco. I settled for looking at practical cars in their mix of exterior and interior colors. Having studied the option...

My first week of teaching this year was frustrating. The initial classroom was unfinished, lacking electrical outlets and the standard overhead LCD projector. This killed my original lesson plans. How I can teach a technology based course with no ability to demonstrate technology is beyond me. The second room I use was double-booked with first-year composition course. The room itself has a low-resolution projector on a pushcart. It's a lousy setup for the instructor, but the students have nice workstations. I need more time to demonstrate concepts for students, so I cannot wait to have my classrooms finished. The university should have completed all remodeling during the summer. Oh, well.