Use Your Tools
"Technology gets better everyday. That's fine. But most of the time all you need is a stick of gum, a pocket knife and a smile."
- Nathan Muir
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| Pocket Knife: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2025
Sunday, November 8, 2020
NATIONAL S.T.E.M./S.T.E.A.M. DAY
National STEM/STEAM Day
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| STEM: photo by Cliff Hutson |
November 8 is a day meant to inspire kids to explore and pursue their interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.
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| STEAM: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
April 2018 Reading
The books that I finished reading in April 2018
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| April 2018 Books: photo by Cliff Hutson |
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
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| Marlon Bundo Book: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Day 2400
“Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me, yeah.
I'm stayin' alive.”
- Bee Gees
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| 2400th Day: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Healthy Aging
Various studies have sown that “healthy aging is associated with a decline in sensory, motor and specific cognitive functions. However, such declines depend on various factors, such as genetics and lifestyle. In particular, physical activity and training not only improve physical and motor but also cognitive functions, and reduce risk for cognitive decline and dementia in later life.”
This past Monday marked a milestone of 2400 days since I made a commitment to regular exercise. The photo is of the display of the Wii Fit application on my Nintendo, so I think the data is close enough for our purposes.
To be sure, I have not worked out on every one of those days. But, I did something on most of them; missing occasionally due to illness. One streak was broken when I was out of town last year. I like to believe that my activity has helped improve my mood, well being, and energy level.
This morning marked my 1785th day of playing a variety of video games with my "other" hand. There are those whom argue that this is a bad thing, but I found it to be an intriguing challenge. And, there are others citing its benefits.
I can’t prove that this exercise has improved communication between my left and right brain hemispheres which might benefit creative and abstract thinking, but I don’t think that it been detrimental to my wellbeing. Neither do I consider myself to be ambidextrous and would never consider eating not writing with my left hand unless forced to do so.
This past Monday marked a milestone of 2400 days since I made a commitment to regular exercise. The photo is of the display of the Wii Fit application on my Nintendo, so I think the data is close enough for our purposes.
To be sure, I have not worked out on every one of those days. But, I did something on most of them; missing occasionally due to illness. One streak was broken when I was out of town last year. I like to believe that my activity has helped improve my mood, well being, and energy level.
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| High Score?; photo by Cliff Hutson |
On the Other Hand
One of my activities is playing tennis on Wii Sports. Three years ago I reached the skill level of 2399. Some say that this is the highest score possible. I am very proud of this as it was done playing left handed, and, like Inigo Montoya, "I am not left handed."This morning marked my 1785th day of playing a variety of video games with my "other" hand. There are those whom argue that this is a bad thing, but I found it to be an intriguing challenge. And, there are others citing its benefits.
I can’t prove that this exercise has improved communication between my left and right brain hemispheres which might benefit creative and abstract thinking, but I don’t think that it been detrimental to my wellbeing. Neither do I consider myself to be ambidextrous and would never consider eating not writing with my left hand unless forced to do so.
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| Architecto - Model 01: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Cognitive Skills
The concept of some type of neural or cognitive pool of resources that protects against age-related cognitive decline has been an important idea in both the cognitive and neural aging literature.
Spatial thinking is a collection of cognitive skills. The skills consist of declarative and perceptual forms of knowledge and some cognitive operations that can be used to transform, combine, or otherwise operate on this knowledge. The key to spatial thinking is a constructive amalgam of three elements: concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning. - “Learning to Think Spatially,” by NationalResearch Council.
Wikipedia tell us that “Older adults tend to perform worse on measures of spatial visualization ability than younger adults, and this effect seems to occur even among people who use spatial visualization frequently on the job, such as architects . . .” So, in order to maintain my visual perceptual abilities, principally the ability to understand spatial relationships, I decided to play with blocks.
I have amassed several sets. The most challenging of these is Architecto which provides a series of increasingly difficult plans and asks the player to build the structures. Another, which is simpler in nature, but intrigued into studying more about architecture is Blockitecture Series 1: Brutalism. Designed by James Paulius for Areaware. They seemed to have renamed it "Habit", but it is still a set of architectural building blocks than can be used to create a variety of structures.
If building projects stimulate creativity, and sharpen crucial skills in children the activity might help me maintain mine.
Spatial thinking is a collection of cognitive skills. The skills consist of declarative and perceptual forms of knowledge and some cognitive operations that can be used to transform, combine, or otherwise operate on this knowledge. The key to spatial thinking is a constructive amalgam of three elements: concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning. - “Learning to Think Spatially,” by NationalResearch Council.
Wikipedia tell us that “Older adults tend to perform worse on measures of spatial visualization ability than younger adults, and this effect seems to occur even among people who use spatial visualization frequently on the job, such as architects . . .” So, in order to maintain my visual perceptual abilities, principally the ability to understand spatial relationships, I decided to play with blocks.
I have amassed several sets. The most challenging of these is Architecto which provides a series of increasingly difficult plans and asks the player to build the structures. Another, which is simpler in nature, but intrigued into studying more about architecture is Blockitecture Series 1: Brutalism. Designed by James Paulius for Areaware. They seemed to have renamed it "Habit", but it is still a set of architectural building blocks than can be used to create a variety of structures.
If building projects stimulate creativity, and sharpen crucial skills in children the activity might help me maintain mine.
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| Blockitecture Project: photo by Cliff Hutson |
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Analog Lives!
Blue Books
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| Blue Books: photo by Cliff Hutson |
I am a subscriber to the quarterly editions of Field Notes memo books. Occasionally, we get a little something extra in the mail. The latest was three blue books. It has been at least 45 years since I last took an exam using one of these; so, I wondered if they might really be a thing. Surly, after all this time something "new and improved" - iPads or the like - would have taken their place.
This question was quickly resolved with a query to my daughter who informed me that blue books are still being used in colleges, especially for final exams in social science courses: psychology, philosophy, political science, and sociology, by her and other "older professors".
Perhaps, this should not have surprised me as I had just finished reading "The Revenge of Analog," by David Sax.
Analog Matters
Sax writes convincingly about "real things and why they matter". Digital technology has encroached on, if not taken over, much of our lives. The book is not against this, per se; it, instead shows that analog technology can not only coexist with the digital world, it can enhance it as well. But, then, he really takes to task the emergence of digital devices, such as the aforementioned iPads, in education. And stresses that one of the greatest promises and failures of educational technology is the online course. Studies show that these courses have very low completion rates. One source states that typically 90 percent of students drop out, and that those who stay with it learn less than students in a classroom.
This really intrigued me as I am enrolled in just such a course (Making Sense of Climate Science Denial - offered by the University of Queensland, no less) scheduled to begin on May 29.
Correspondence School
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| FN School: photo by Cliff Hutson |
The blue books from Field Notes were accompanied by a letter giving me instructions for a Final Exam. Just as if it were a correspondence school whose motto is, "Getting Smarter, One Letter at a Time".
It just so happens that I have had some real world experience with traditional correspondence classes. My favorite example is the competition of a seminar in Bird Biology at Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, in 1993. This done by actually mailing assignments back and forth, to and from Ithaca, with what could have only been an actual person.
Now, I will be the among the first to maintain that the preferred method of education is having students and teachers interact with each other in a classroom (or the field as in my current situation). But, I got a lot out of that seminar, and still use that information to this day. One point that I bear in mind was that i still had to put pen and pencil to paper. A technique that many consider far superior to using a keyboard, touch screen, or stylus. I am eager to see how this online course will work for me.
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