I’m about to leave on a five-day mental reboot: no computer, no Internet, no cell phone, and lots of sunshine and pleasure reading. For the last month I’ve been feeling kind of drained of energy and motivation, and a vacation away from all my high-level thinking and technology obligations sounded like a good idea.
While I was feeling kind of unproductive and slug-like, I began reflecting on what I have done this year. This is my version of a Year in Review.
- Math & Technology Workshop in Madison WI on Jan 8
- Spent a month in India (Jan 11-Feb 12)
- Presentation at math event in Mississippi on Feb 19
- ITC eLearning Conference in Portland Feb 21-24
- Presentation to faculty at University of Maryland on March 3
- Presentation at math event in Denver CO on March 6
- Built a new Mindmap: There’s more to the web than Facebook (for students)
- Presentation to students at WSCC in Ludington MI on March 9
- Built a new presentation: VYEW: The next great LMS?
- ICTCM Conference in New Orleans March 13-15
- Six weeks of intense dissertation reading and writing on Literature Review in which I became something of a hermit (March 16-April 29)
- Trip to Utah for Mental Reboot April 30-May 9
- Built slide version of Organize Your Digital Self
- Keynote presentation to faculty & staff in Traverse City MI: Choosing a Web 2.0 Tool on May 13
- Wolfram|Alpha launched (May 15) … rocking our math world a bit
- Math & Technology Workshop at University of Wisconsin Stout on May 18
- Innovations in eLearning Conference at GMU (June 3-5)
- Won Game Jam contest at IEL (and met Will Wright!) on June 4
- Webinar (recorded) for UW Extension Office on June 11
- Built slide deck for Online Course Design for Math
- Featured in Chronicle of Higher Ed article on June 12, 2009
- Featured in Wall Street Journal article on June 16, 2009
- Webinar (recorded) for MAA PREP Calculus Online on Online Course Design on June 23
- Finished Literature Review for Dissertation June 28
- Trip to Wyoming to see family (July 3-5)
- Trip to California to see husband’s family (July 5-7)
- World Future Society Conference in Chicago (July 16-19)
- Webinar for ITC: Web 2.0 for You (July 21)
- Week-long MCC Math & Technology Workshop in Muskegon MI (Aug 10-14)
- Attended Edward Tufte Course in Indianapolis August 24
- Built new mindmap: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age
- Presentation to faculty on my campus on August 27
- Wrote technology column, Jing and Math, for MathAMATYC Educator (September 2009)
- Webinar for ITC (Organize Your Digital Self) on Sept 22
- Final push for completion of new book: Algebra Activities, 1000 pages (August-October 2009)
- Wrote article eLearning Tools for STEM for eLearning Magazine (published October 6, 2009)
- Built new Prezi presentation: How can we measure teaching and learning in math?
- MichMATYC Fall Conference Oct 9-10 in Dearborn MI
- Built new presentation: Wolfram|Alpha: Recalculating Teaching & Learning
- Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day (interview and discussion October 21 in Champaign IL
- Mathematica User Conference Oct 22-24
- Interviewed Stephen Wolfram October 23 (article will be published later)
- Met Keith Trigwell and Michael Prosser in Bloomington Indiana Oct 25
- Built new presentation: Engage, Delight, and Excite your Math Faculty
- NCSPOD Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota Nov 5-7
- Built new presentation: Best of the Ed Tech Freebies
- AMATYC Conference in Las Vegas Nov 12-15
- Webinar for MCCVLCC on Mindmaps for Learning on Nov 20
- Built procedural pilot survey for dissertation research, tested and revised three times (Oct – Nov 2009)
- Taught 9-hour Continuing Education course for MCC: Presentations in the Digital Age (December 2009)
- Webinar for MCCVLCC on OYDS on Dec 4
- Webinar for ITC on Online Course Design for Math on Dec 8
- Built complete online course shell for Math for Elementary Teachers from scratch (Aug – Dec 2009)
- Spent at least 326 hours working on my dissertation
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the 140 blog posts published on this site in the last year. (Wow! That was a LOT of writing!) You can view collections of some of my favorite posts about general topics, about math, and about Wolfram|Alpha while I am away from the digital world on a vacation mental-reboot in Punta Cana.
