I Blog Therefore We Are...What?

Dream - This blog - collaborative journey.

In 2012 people seem to follow the philosophy "I blog therefore I am". I find the most difficult part of blogging to be asking the follow up question to that statement: "...Am what?"

I suspect we all are "complicated", a wonderful synthesis of interests, feelings, theses, and ever regrets. In this blog, I will be focusing on things that somehow relate to education, especially eLearning. So, if you are a Steeler's fan, then I toast to you, as I am a fellow member of Steeler Nation - yet, I will not be talking about the Black and Gold here. If you are a proud parent, as I am, then a pat on the back is well deserved. However, I will not be talking about anecdotes that involve my 14 and 20 year olds unless the story has to do with education. I believe staying within the area of interest, I have enough ground to cover that it will take some time. So what might you see here? What am I?


Presently I am a Director of Instructional Design for a large online education company, K12.com. I am mostly involved in math, science, and games. Daily, the challenge I address is "How can we most effectively address the needs of students while blending in the technologies of today and tomorrow?" I work intimately with virtual labs. Mind mapping and use of video are areas that I spend significant time considering. LMSs are an important part of delivering great online content. Also, keeping an eye on eLearning in general, and its childhood, which includes considering Khan Academy and tablet adoption among othe rmajor topics that affect how students will or will not learn in the future.


I was also a classroom teacher for 17 years and taught everything from 6th grade science to AP Calculus and Physics. The content areas are intriguing and making connections among them important! So you might see me discuss vector addition or positives about a graphing rubric that I may have come across.


I was also a NASA consultant for 10 years. Space weather and sunspots, weather satellites and high energy astrophysics may creep in here from time to time. I promise that they will be integrated in a gentle way. I will attempt to use words to paint these pictures with the beauty of a sunset and the awe of an aurora, and though I may fall short, promise that you will enjoy the experience.


So, take my hand, and let's begin the journey of this blog - and as we do this, not consider mostly "Pat is what?", but rather find out more about you and about we as humans. One thing that we all have in common, no matter what, is that we can all look up at night, and see unbelievable wonders!