Social Networking Site for Collegians

CNET has an interesting article about the usage of social networking sites among college students and lists some sites that were new to me. Check it out.

Capo USD Adult Ed

Today I did my "iPod Generation" presentation for the Capistrano Unified School District adult education teacher in-service. It was a really nice group. We were crammed into a hot stuffy room at the end of a long day, yet there was a lot of great energy there. Their facilities were not exactly state-of-the-art (adult ed tends to be at the end of the priority list in a K-12 district), yet their passion for their work was palpable. I was speaking to several of them beforehand and it was great to hear of their love for teaching. Most of them teach ESL students and many of the classes are focused on basic life skills. None of the people in that room are going to get rich doing what they do, but they do it because they love teaching. What an awesome profession!

Afterwards a high school computer instructor pointed out that while students today adapt to technology in ways that are amazing, often that knowledge is not very deep. They may think they know how to use MS Office, but they are still lining up columns by hitting the space bar. This is a great point and one that I am going to incorporate into future presentations. Just because they often learn technology faster than us old fogies, we can't assume that this generations of students is technically proficient. They still need solid technical education.

Jott

I did an in-service presentation called "Geek Report" at each of our colleges this week and had a great time exploring geeky stuff with our faculty. I always appreciate their dedication to students and interest in learning new things.

I ran out of time at the Saddleback presentation and didn't get to mention one of the cool new services that I have been using a lot. You should check out Jott.com - it's an amazing service you can set up to transcribe voice messages into text and then have it sent out to email or a cell phone text message. I have reached that age where I forget things a lot and often remember them when I am driving home or somewhere where it's not convenient to write myself a note. I set up my email address on Jott and have their phone number on speed dial on my cell. I can make a quick call, say something like, "Don't forget to reschedule the design meeting on Thursday", and when I come into work the next day that message is in an email to me.

It's a great service, and for now it's free!

Steve Gaston

Today I am going to attend the memorial service for my brother Steve. He died last week one day after his 55th birthday, finally felled by the cruel effects of the Parkinson’s disease he fought so long with an inspiring level of grace and dignity. I have three older brothers and it seems so strange now to think that there are only three “Gaston Boys” around instead of four. My brother Dave and I going to deliver parts of the eulogy and my brother Mike, who is a pastor, will officiate at the service. Steve was the quietest among us and today it’s our turn to turn the spotlight on him.

It’s an impossible task to adequately summarize the life of anyone in a few short words, but I feel compelled to give you a glimpse of my brother, despite the futile task of reducing his life to a brief posting in a seldom read blog.

His life was marked by a series of obstacles. He almost died at birth and had to grapple with a number of neurological and physical ailments his entire life. He did so with his usual manner – quietly and patiently chipping away at the problem until he had it solved. To give you a sense of how he approached these series of obstacles, let me tell you of a conversation we had when I first learned of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. I asked him how he was doing and he said, “Other than learning I have an incurable brain disease, I’m doing OK”. Only Steve could have said that without a trace of irony or sarcasm. He had a new problem to solve and he set about it without a complaint.

Steve was the most helpful person I have ever known and he was always the first person to volunteer and the last person to leave. He derived great joy from helping others and had no desire to receive recognition for this work. The only complaint I heard him make about his disease was how it kept him from helping people – he was the one who now needed assistance and it tore him up inside. If you could have seen his rapidly deteriorating physical condition the last few years, you would have been amazed that this was his primary concern.

I suppose some might say that he didn’t ultimately overcome this last obstacle of his life, but I would disagree. Parkinson’s may have gradually chipped away at his body, but it never robbed him of his dignity or reduced him to self-pity. He may have lost the battle, but he won the war. Because of his faith I believe he is truly in a better place today - standing tall and straight again after years of being trapped in an increasingly constrained shell of a body. He joins my Mom in heaven and I’m sure he immediately set about seeing if there was anyone that needed a helping hand.