Hands up all of you who want a free iPad?

This is not one of those internet scams… this is what schools around the country are increasing choosing to do. They are dishing out iPads as a replacement for schoolbooks.

It certainly seems to make sense. First, no more hassle of schlepping around mountains of textbooks. Then there’s the advantage of a powerful digital communication network at all the students’ and teachers’ fingertips.

St Andrews School in Georgia claims to be the first school to make the leap in the Fall of 2010.

Now schools in Texas, New York, a Medical School and a Law School in California are among those jumping on the hi-tech bandwagon. Other iPad-like devices are also getting in on the action.

And the trend is spreading… to schools in Singapore and Scotland.

The iPad-ization of schools seems cool to us… but there has to be some draw backs.

Any thoughts?

MCS101L, Multimedia Literacy Lab, is a one-credit course offered in two sections. The class is taken in conjunction with MCS333 . Students were given 6 story prompts to choose from for their final digital story projects.

Sade Brown: Photography

Alexander Smith: The Ravens / Steelers rivalry

Allan Carey: Night Photography

Max Tucker: Trip to Utah

Victoria Milewski: Race

Donald Hankerson: UMBC Cribs Mockumentary

Brendan Lipton: Bee Keeping

Julianne Baskerville: Her family from the point of view of their couch

Justin Eisenstadt: His love for vintage vinyl records

Alyson Becker: Serendipity

Nakita Smith: Orchids

Marlie Somers: Her ultimate frisbee team

Abel Mengistu: Ethiopian New Year

The day began late due to ice-encased cars, slippery roads, and a delayed opening. However, the graduate students at UMBC are hard at work and they are putting in the time and effort needed to work on their dissertations.  This morning, students posted and shared their goals and objectives for the week and began to chip away at their respective projects. Dr. Wendy Carter, the Dissertation Coach for the campus, reviewed the goals with the students to make sure that they were measurable and reasonable for the 4-day period of the workshop.

After lunch, Dr. Robert Deluty (Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Presidential Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology, and published poet) gave a talk on working with committees and advisors that was filled with both wisdom and humor.  Dr. Deluty’s message of support for all of the graduate students at UMBC was that often, “nothing is utterly hopeless.” He provided some words and phrases that students can use when talking with their advisors and seeking advice from mentors. He also told students to be sure to seek multiple sources of encouragement and support because a solution can often be found with help of others, whether they be peers, faculty, or administrators.  The afternoon mini-lecture series ended with a great story by newly minted Ph.D., Dr. Adrienne Starks, an alum of the Dissertation House. Dr. Starks discussed her journey and some of the solutions that she used, including resources for an editor and a spa to de-stress!  She has shared them on the Dissertation House’s “Winter Challenge” section of the blog: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-2011-challenge/

Read more about Dr. Deluty: http://cocreateumbc.blogspot.com/2010/09/real-people-profiles-robert-h-deluty.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wpgAoprz8g

Join us online. You can participate in the Winter Online Challenge regardless of your department, school, state, or country!

Good luck to all who are working on their dissertations.

"They live in a society that prizes the development of career skills but is inarticulate when it comes to the things that matter most. The young achievers are tutored in every soccer technique and calculus problem, but when it comes to their most important decisions—whom to marry and whom to befriend, what to love and what to despise—they are on their own. Nor, for all their striving, do they understand the qualities that lead to the highest achievement. Intelligence, academic performance, and prestigious schools don’t correlate well with fulfillment, or even with outstanding accomplishment. The traits that do make a difference are poorly understood, and can’t be taught in a classroom, no matter what the tuition: the ability to understand and inspire people; to read situations and discern the underlying patterns; to build trusting relationships; to recognize and correct one’s shortcomings; to imagine alternate futures. In short, these achievers have a sense that they are shallower than they need to be."