Poet Ponders the Digital

NXT Robot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley November  3, 2014 Deadline December 2014 Issue Robots for Home: Not Yet the Jetsons Rosie the robot maintained the Jetson household more than 50 years ago. To the disappoint of many of us who still enjoy the classic 1960s cartoon, Rosie remains science fiction. The only robots in our houses are round bumper cars that vacuum floors. The iRobot Roomba offers no witty banter and no sighs of exasperation. Growing up, I expected Twiki, the android that followed Buck Rogers about for no apparent reason, to become a reality. After all, Twiki didn’t do anything except carry a much smarter talking computer about his neck. Sadly, Rogers was stuck in the twenty-fifth century. All the good androids and robots seem to be way off in the future or in other galaxies. Although we have no Rosie, robots are on the rise. They build our cars, deliver medications, defuse bombs, explore planets and even perform surgeries. M...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley January 2, 2014 Deadline February 2014 Issue Rise of the Machines, Decline of the Workers Historians will compare the current economic shift to the Industrial Revolution, and that might understate the seismic change to our workforce. Our schools are not preparing students for the changes underway, a structural change in the workplace that rewards the “superstars” and leaves many others behind. Our private and public institutions are also failing to prepare, despite contributing to these changes. If you wonder why both the Occupy and Tea Party movements rose to prominence, you need only ask what unified them: a sense that our system is failing the middle class. How they protest and their solutions differ, but underlying the broad discontent lies a realization that economic imbalance is increasing. Although members of both groups believe that Wall Street was bailed out at the expense of Main Street, what many don’t realize is that the financial in...

Online education is an accommodation to life's realities. For years I denied that online education was in many ways inferior to physical campuses. But, now that I'm working at a research university, my views are evolving. There simply are things that online education cannot do. Denying the differences, the strengths and weaknesses of various "locations" of education, can lead us to become promoters of either online or physical campuses. We should instead admit the space in which an institution exists matters. I once argued that online degrees awarded by leading universities could improve a regional economy. Now, I admit that the most a handful of degrees can do is improve the lives of a fraction of residents. A quick tangent: most online degrees aren't from leading universities. I've taught in an online program at a regional university and online was not equivalent to the on-campus degree. I don't blame the instructors who did all they could to ma...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley June 27, 2011 Deadline August 2011 Issue Online Universities: An Opportunity for Valley Residents Individuals with college and university degrees have a substantially lower unemployment rate than others in our community. Every political, business and educational leader I’ve met in the Central Valley has told me that education is essential to improving the quality of life in our region. Unfortunately, for many Valley residents the dream of a college degree remains merely a dream. While I have a doctorate specializing in technology and literacy education, I remain skeptical when anyone starts talking about the potential promises of online education. My research identified many barriers to success online, from poor visual design of classes to teachers not interacting with students. Too many students do not finish college degrees they start, either online or in traditional classrooms. This leaves many people burdened with debts they cannot repay. O...

Last week, the university program from which I earned my doctorate hosted its annual "visit day" for potential doctoral students. I wanted to e-mail each of them, "Don't do it!" Not because it isn't a good experience (it wasn't) and not because you don't learn something (you will learn something, mainly about humanity). You should reconsider a doctorate in the "digital humanities" because the job market is saturated, driving down wages for the few jobs that do exist. I had a state college hiring committee tell me they could only offer $38,000 to $42,000 a year for a new professor. That's simply not enough money to justify selling a house and moving in my case: my wife is an engineer and technical writer with a great employer. Taking such a post would be impossible, financially. My wife's career and our overall security do come into play. Plus, we have already cut our expenses dramatically. Student loans must be paid, and they are ...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley September 2, 2010 Deadline October Issue Nurturing the Valley’s Tech Economy   “What can we do to improve, or even create, Tulare County’s tech economy?” When I receive messages after a column is published, they tend to ask technical questions. This summer, I received poignant messages about topics of special interest to me: our schools and our economy. There is no quick and easy way to nurture a high-tech economy. Sadly, there are more examples of failure than success. In the Midwest, states have been trying to transition from manufacturing to technology for the last quarter century. Driving through these states, one finds empty business parks, faltering science-focused charter schools, and cities with uncertain futures. Tax breaks, special incentives, and substantial federal aid have not produced rivals to Silicone Valley or the Route 128 “Tech Corridor” of Massachusetts. However, this summer I visited Texas, where high-tech is expanding...