True confessions time: For a brief while, I was addicted to Angry Birds. For years and years, technology has been part of my "wind down" routine just before I close my eyes and attempt to fall asleep at night. I know, the research says I shouldn't turn to my phone or iPad just before bedtime (Sutherland, 2012), but I can't help it. Solitaire, Tetris, Facebook, Houzz, CraftGawker, Pinterest..they all help me wind down. For a few months, Angry Birds was on the list, as well. |
I can't recall exactly which level I was trying to beat when I finally gave up the game, but I agonized over the fact that I just couldn't overcome a certain level. For crying out loud, it was a game I played on my phone, and I obsessed over it. That's embarrassing...but it's true. Technology has some kind of magical pull; it engages users in ways that other media simply cannot; it so easily sucks users in via competition (against ourselves or others) that we just can't put it down. There are definitely lessons to be learned from this truth.
Finally finishing my research proposal today (a couple weeks after it was actually due), including ALL required parts, felt a whole lot like beating a super-challenging level on Angry Birds. It was like winning the lottery. I wish Lee or Nicole could issue a badge for my accomplishment.
During separate phone calls with two of my own children, both of whom are traditional college students at UAF, I admitted to feeling tremendously guilty for submitting my work past the deadline. They were both aghast that I would do such a thing, since I have admonished them since early childhood for submitting anything late, and insisted that they should never, ever, ever miss a deadline. Ever. I do hate the fact that finalizing my proposal has taken more time than it should have. On the other hand, the proposal I submitted today is something of which I can be proud, unlike the document I would have submitted a couple weeks ago. Apparently, the same is true for colleagues in this course. Their blog posts also reveal struggles, frustrations, set-backs. It illustrates a couple of things: First, that we are all working adults who have a billion other things that take priority in the day-to-day life of an educator; and, secondly, that we are passionate and serious about the subjects we have selected for our research...and crafting a research proposal that is meaningful and worthwhile takes time.
References:
Sutherland, S. (2012). Bright Screens Could Delay Bedtime. Scientific American, V. 23 (6). Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bright-screens-could-delay-bedtime/.
Finally finishing my research proposal today (a couple weeks after it was actually due), including ALL required parts, felt a whole lot like beating a super-challenging level on Angry Birds. It was like winning the lottery. I wish Lee or Nicole could issue a badge for my accomplishment.
During separate phone calls with two of my own children, both of whom are traditional college students at UAF, I admitted to feeling tremendously guilty for submitting my work past the deadline. They were both aghast that I would do such a thing, since I have admonished them since early childhood for submitting anything late, and insisted that they should never, ever, ever miss a deadline. Ever. I do hate the fact that finalizing my proposal has taken more time than it should have. On the other hand, the proposal I submitted today is something of which I can be proud, unlike the document I would have submitted a couple weeks ago. Apparently, the same is true for colleagues in this course. Their blog posts also reveal struggles, frustrations, set-backs. It illustrates a couple of things: First, that we are all working adults who have a billion other things that take priority in the day-to-day life of an educator; and, secondly, that we are passionate and serious about the subjects we have selected for our research...and crafting a research proposal that is meaningful and worthwhile takes time.
References:
Sutherland, S. (2012). Bright Screens Could Delay Bedtime. Scientific American, V. 23 (6). Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bright-screens-could-delay-bedtime/.