My Thoughts and More

Can graduate school be funny?  I actually prefer the question "Can graduate school be fun? This way I can take a look at the fun times. And then ask, "Are there situations, phrases or moments in that fun time that were funny?"

One day, I found myself complaining about some problem project and a fellow classmate reminded me that "we'll laugh about all of this one day". Would I classify this moment as funny? No. In fact many of the situations, phrases and moments are not funny at this point, at least not yet.  I'm not trying to be cynical, I'm still at the point of trying to figure things out.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "people may age", however unlike some of my fellow classmates, I didn't arrive here fresh from an undergraduate program. I decided to trade in a very different life in Texas to come up here to attend school.  There I was a wife, mother, daughter, sister and sister-in-law. Yes, I am still all of those things, just via phone and email these days. Some people may see that as funny, but I don't.  Especially with the holiday season approaching.  My family in Texas has many traditions which I helped organize and took part in at this time of year. Those family times had funny moments which we usually recalled as we picked out the Christmas tree, decorated the tree and house, baked cookies and wrapped presents together.


Right now, I'm working on building new traditions and special times here in State College.  Once everything falls into place and I have more memories and good times to reflect on with the new people who have entered my life I do believe I will find that grad school was not only fun, at times it was also funny.  

With my first semester almost over I ask myself "How have I survived up till now?"  This week, we were asked to read articles on surviving graduate school.  They were very informative, though to tell you the truth, while making my decision to come here I read many survival guides to help me prepare for this new life. Some of the advice in the Alice Domurat Dreger article I have used for many years.  She stated something similar to what my father always told me and my brothers, "If you don't like what you are doing, you won't be any good at it." Has the semester been different than I expected? Not really. I knew I would have to adjust to living without my family nearby and it would be hard to do. I also knew that I would be inundated with assignments that required a lot of reading and writing.

So what am I doing in particular to help me transition into this new life? 

• Attend Seminars - The school has offered many different types of seminars. I really enjoyed the writing seminar held by the graduate school earlier this semester.  I found this seminar to be very useful, especially since we tend to write so many different types of documents and highly recommend it,
  
• Personal Time - I reward myself with personal time. Depending on the work-load I tend to alternate the time frame and activity accordingly.  For today's blog writing session, I'm going to reward myself with something quick and fun, then return to the next item on my task list.
  
• Task list -  I have a calendar and task list.  To keep my stress level in check I try very hard to only concern myself with what is due this week. That doesn't mean I don't plan for what's coming. 
  
• Plan Early - I begin planning larger projects early. A time line with smaller tasks is helpful to break manage the project and make it seem more reasonable to handle. Leaving everything to the last minute tends to increase stress and also reduces the quality of work. Two things that I try very hard to avoid.
• Personal Assessment:
  

• "Do I really enjoy what I'm doing?"  This is the question that I ask myself, especially when times are tough. So far my answer has always been yes. 
  
• With finished assignments, "Am I proud with what I accomplished?" So far, I can say yes. I have found that though the work may be difficult and time-consuming,  I am proud of everything I have accomplished up to this point. Have I made mistakes? Yes. Did I learn something? Definitely. Can I do better next time? Of course.

I find that I am here to learn as much as I can, if that means that I have to read thousands of pages of journal articles, then so be it.  If I have to re-write my documents, well that is something I was taught to do a long time ago. Coming here to study is something I chose to do and yes I do enjoy the work I am doing.

This week I am deviating from the required topic. There are a number of reasons for my decision. For the most part I found a different topic this week that intrigued me more than joining an organization or club.As everyone in the country and world knows our country held elections this week.  It was an historic moment for this country.  We elected a black man to the office of President of the United States, something I think should have been done a long time ago. I especially like it when one of the commentators on election night held up a chart of all the past American presidents, a chart many of us have seen in elementary classrooms and commented that it will no longer be a chart of only white men.  

However, there were other historic contributions occurring this year in this election and this is what caught my attention.  The following excerpts from an article titled "Essay: Obama's transcendence is beyond race" written by Ron Fournier, an Associated Press writer stated: "Consider this: There were just a few hundred Web sites when Clinton took office and virtually no blogs when Bush entered the White House in January 2001....Obama, of course, raised millions of dollars via the internet. He tried to announce his selection of Joe Biden as his running mate with a text message. One of his favorite platforms, YouTube, did not exist when Bush began his second term. ...When Obama needs help on Capitol Hill, the world's largest lobbying shop -- millions of supporters strong -- is a mass e-mail away. His campaign Web site, a virtual community, could evolve into the 21st century version of a political headquarters -- the place you go to help the party or ask it to help you."

Some of the technology that President-Elect Obama used in his campaign I have just started to use. Some I am still working on trying to figure out. I have heard so many women my age, who are not in the field of IT, say "It's my husband's computer" or "My kids know more than I do." If any of us, whether we are in school or not want to stay on top of world events and be a part of our society we all need to become comfortable with technology.  This also means that people of all ages need to begin to realize that we still have a population out there that is not comfortable with certain facets of the computer.  Yes, this campaign was a victory for technology use.  But it was also a wake-up call.  Who is being left out as we move into this new era of technology in politics?

This week we have been asked to write about someone "famous".  I actually have a problem with that word. Perhaps it's because I see the world a little differently than most, I believe a person can be famous to someone and never have their name published or placed on a marquee.  In fact, there are many people who are only famous for those few moments that we choose for them and then we move on to the next celebrity of the day.  My "famous" person was chosen because of her interests and her projects.  I have no idea if her name is even well-known in academic circles, however the projects she has worked on are of great interest to me and I would love to hear her speak at one of our lecture series some day.

While doing research for another project I stumbled across this person and became intrigued by the more I read.  Her name is Mary Flanagan. She is currently at Dartmouth College and according to an on-line article from the the Chronicle of Higher Education on Information Technology she is the first holder of the digital-humanities chair. However, that isn't what caught my attention, it was the research work she has done with computer games and middle school students.  Josie is a web-based game designed to encourage girls to explore math and promotes confidence in the math and sciences.  The other project she worked on with other collaborators was the Rapunsel Project designed to teach girls about computer programming.  I also find it interesting that she is working on infusing ethics and values into computer games, with the Values at Play project.  

My interests have always been in encouraging our young people to stay in school. Many times the courses students avoid in high school, such as math and science, divert them from a career in technology.  This isn't because they can't do the coursework, it's because they don't believe they can.  

Today IST held a Graduate Career Seminar. At first I thought the information discussed wouldn't be of much value yet since I just started this semester. However, before the morning was over I soon realized how important it is to start early in preparing for your next steps, whether you want to enter industry or academia. Even as a first year student I need to start thinking of where I want to work when I finish my studies, where I want to publish my work and who I want to include in my network of contacts. In fact, it was at the last session of the day when we began to discuss the importance of networking and were given tips on how and where to network that I began to tie the entire days discussion to this week's blog post.

When I hear other graduate students talk about wanting to publish or present at a conference it seems as if their focus is only on the paper or the event they will be attending.  However, conferences are also excellent avenues for meeting future career contacts.  So, with this in mind I began to think about the conferences I wanted to attend a little differently.  Instead of looking at the conference as a presentation or publication outlet I started to consider it as an opportunity to do career networking. I asked myself a few questions: "Where will my work make a difference? or Where do I think my work will make difference?".  And, "Where do I want to meet people who are also doing research in areas similar to my interest?"

Since I am interested in Education Technology, I believe SIGCSE is a natural choice.  I've attended the conference before so I know it's format and what to expect. It isn't as large as other conferences but the program has a lot to offer those of us that are interested how technology is used in education. I also know it isn't the only Special interest group of the ACM.  Another is CHI, the Special interest group for Human Computer Interaction(HCI).  I have never been to any of their conferences. However, what I've heard from other students and professors this is the conference to go to for those of us interested in HCI.

It's been a couple of years since I've been to a Grace Hopper celebration of Women in Computing conference. In fact, I've only attended one, but it was a great experience and I want to consider it as a future publication venue. The organization works on promoting women in computing, getting more women to consider technology careers and there are opportunities for anyone that is interested in doing work in gender research.  I am very interested in learning more about women, education and technology, hopefully my research work will lead me to incorporating all three.  I recommend all students check out this website. You never know when you will find yourself on a committee helping with the recruitment and retention of students.

The last conference I'm including is one that was mentioned in an email in the last week, IDC.  It has to do with Interaction Design and Children.  From what I have been able to find out from their website, it is a conference that I definitely want to discuss with my advisor to get more information. Since I hope to work with technology that will benefit children as well as adults, it may be a conference that will be a good venue for future presentations.

These are the conferences I have come up with so far, I know there are some I am not considering, mainly because I don't know about them...yet!  

This weeks discussion is a little different for me. The topic concerns communities we see ourselves a part of someday and also the importance of networking within these communities. I already consider myself a part of an academic community. Having worked as a systems analyst, corporate trainer and college professor I have had the opportunity to  attend different types of conferences, attend workshops and meet people that I now consider in my network of professional contacts. During my decision process for graduate schools I contacted people in my academic community for information and advice on graduate schools. Some might say they did the same thing. Just go to your professor and ask, however I went to people I met in my academic community. In fact, it was at an Alice workshop at Georgia Tech that I spoke to Dr. Stephen Cooper, who recommended that I consider applying to Penn State (the school wasn't on my list at the time). How did I find out about the workshop?  I had gone to a conference. Every year since 2003 I have been attending the SIGCSE conference. This conference is for people interested in Computer Science education. It isn't one of the larger, more prestigious conferences some of you may know about but have always found the sessions and keynotes very informative.  Also, the people I've met at conferences like SIGCSE have led to opportunities to work as a panelist for the National Science Foundation, start a Women in Technology group at our college, develop kids technology summer programs and more. Each of these events also expanded my academic community.

Conferences are a great way to meet other people in your field, they also have a lot to offer graduate students and many times if you volunteer at them the benefits are pretty good. Many have opportunities for students to showcase or compete with their research.  Either way, I've always thought it was a great way to get feedback on your work. There are other conferences I have attended and I'll discuss those in a future posting.

Is my community complete?  Far from it! I hope to be a presenter at the conferences I have attended and I also want to see my work published in some of the Journals of the ACM, especially the ones that have an HCI (human computer interaction) focus. I also hope to keep in touch with members my current academic community while I'm at Penn State.  I realize that going to SIGCSE will probably not happen next year since we are kept pretty busy here, but I know I'll get there or somewhere else in the next few years. Who knows what the future will hold for any of us?

It always amazes me how technology is used. It wasn't until my sister-in-law came to Texas that I really started to use text messaging.  Yes, I realize many people cannot live without it but it just wasn't something I grew up with nor was it a technology that I had any reason to use.  But in the last year that has changed.  I text more than I used to, probably not as often as some but definitely more than many of my generation of
friends.

So, who else is texting out there?  Well, it appears elephants are now using texting.  This weekend I ran into one of those technology articles that your catches your interest. It seems that in Kenya at the Ol Pejeta conservancy there is an elephant, Kimani, who is wearing a
special tracking collar that can send text messages back to the rangers.  This is done with a mobile phone card placed in his tracking collar. These text messages alert the rangers when Kimani is too close to a village or crops and allows them to herd him back into his territory before he can cause any destruction.  This collar with text messaging capabilities puts a virtual fence in place for the elephant. This way the rangers have more options to choose from to handle the elephants, previously they had to resort to shooting the elephants that were
destroying crops and attacking villages. Google Earth is also being used to help track the animals, in fact on the Save the Elephants website you can locate the elephants they are currently monitoring.

You may be wondering why I found this article so interesting. Here I am, a person who has never been shy about using technology, yet I had problems with texting and there's this elephant texting in Africa. That was part of it, but it goes deeper.  I think it is wonderful that organizations that want to preserve these wonderful creatures and beautiful countries are able to use a technology we take for granted and are at times reluctant to try. What other technologies are out there waiting to be used in ways we wouldn't expect?

During my first few days at Penn State another student happened to say hello to me when I was looking a little frazzled.  She was friendly and encouraging on a day that had been a little hectic.  Her name was Hansa Sinha, one of the advanced IST students. As we talked I learned about her research interests which were similar to mine. We discussed our programs with high school and middle school students, shared some of the lessons learned and found we had a lot in common. She really helped turn a day around for me, helping to make the first few days seem a little less overwhelming. Its interesting how one person we casually meet in a hallway can help us feel more welcome.

When we were reminded this week that we should interview a student who was in at least their 3rd year of the program, I thought of Hansa. As I gathered information on her I realized we had a lot in common. She has been a resident of State College for as long as I have lived in San Antonio, has a family too, published papers and attended conferences.  In her free time (yes, I did wonder if that would be a strange question to ask a graduate student) she enjoys painting.  I thought this was interesting since I have always wanted to paint.  I have brothers and a mother who can paint but sadly that was one gift that was not granted to me.
 She would like to travel to Switzerland, so would I, as I child I didn't appreciate going there with my parents.  Sometimes we seem to appreciate places more as we get older; it's strange how that works.  

One item that Hansa did not mention but I will is the 2009 IST Graduate Symposium.  She probably didn't want to say anything about it since she has been advertising it to all the classes for the last few weeks. However, I think it is important to note that she is the committee chair this year. Being the committee chair of a Symposium of this size is quite a major undertaking and can be very rewarding.  All the members of the committee are working well together and this speaks well on Hansa's leadership skills. So far from what I can see she is doing a great job and it should be a great event all should plan on attending.  

This week we take a look at the academic careers of our advisors.  Most people are familiar with resumes, the document that lists a person's education, experience and previous employers.  However, in academia, the document that is used to list a person's life work and accomplishments is the curriculum vitae (CV).  For those of you who are reading this blog that are not familiar with the CV, the first thing that may seem strange to you is its length. While we are often told to keep our resumes to 2 pages and should only consider a 3^rd page if absolutely necessary, a CV has no maximum length requirement.   My advisor, Mary Beth Rosson, has one of those rather extensive CV's and for good reasons. Dr. Rosson is a frequent presenter at a variety of conferences on topics such as Human Computer Interaction, Human Centric Computing, and Design of Interactive Systems. The conferences that you may frequently see her the ones held by the ACM or IEEE organizations.

 

When it comes to publications the list in the CV is quite extensive.  Dr. Rosson has been writing journal articles and books for many years.  Although her work is found mostly in journals such as the Communications of the ACM, IEEE Interactions on Software Interaction and Human-Computer Interaction; articles have also been published in Educational Technology & Society and Learning Technology. Dr. Rosson's interest in Education Technology as it relates to IST is one of the reasons I am excited to have the opportunity to work with her over the next few years. 

 

Before attending grad school I was at a special conference BOF (birds of feather) session that was held to help answer questions about grad school, it was hosted by grad students, at different points in their studies, from schools around the country.  For those who aren't familiar with these types of sessions, basically they are round table discussions.  It was at this session that I learned how important it was for a student to find the right advisor.  The advisor-student relationship can make the journey through grad school a great experience or one that is unpleasant. 

I was very fortunate to have met my advisor Dr. Mary Beth Rosson when I came to the "meet and greet" weekend (I'm sure they called it something else but that is what I've been calling it since February).   She actually sought me out in the crowd of students and immediately introduced herself to a fellow Texan.  It's interesting how people who have connections find each other so easily.  She told me that she had attended Trinity University (I've been there for seminars and graduation ceremonies) and even worked for IBM in Austin, Tx.  Here we have another connection, my husband's uncle retired from IBM and lives in Austin.  Such a small world!

Since that initial meeting I have learned a lot more about my advisor, I have been married 10 years longer than she's been married and she is just as proud of her daughter as I am of my two sons.  She also loves animals; I couldn't leave my cat

(Sashi) in San Antonio but did have to leave my dog (at least my husband has someone there while I'm away.)  Though, one of the major differences we have is with plants. My advisor can touch plants and they will live.  With me, I can walk into a craft store and the artificial plants begin to wilt.  Don't know why but just can't seem to grow a simple house plant.  However, I figure if this is the only thing we don't have in common things should still work out between us.  It was also interesting to learn that we both enjoy singing in choirs.  I was actively involved in a choir many years ago (at least before I lost my voice).  At this point, people would probably pay me not to sing. Hmmm, I might want to consider that at the end of the month to earn money...anyway.

The one thing that I would say surprised me the most about my advisor was that she is married to Dr. Jack Carroll.  It all makes sense now when I look at the "evidence" in front of me but I never put it all together until she mentioned it in class that first day.  I commend her for being able to work with her husband at the same institution and in the same field.  My husband and I, while we get along fine, I don't think we could work at the same place.

Prior to arriving in February I had hoped to meet Dr. Rosson during the weekend events.  Her research work played a part in my decision in applying to Penn State.  Meeting her was important to me and I also wanted to confirm what I believed to be true. I had already determined that she would be someone I could talk to when I had concerns about my studies and also someone I would want to receive the advice and guidance I needed to complete my PhD  here at Penn State. So far I have not been proven wrong.