When it does not work...

The past week has been a frustrating one. My email was not working and I felt the impact of being 'out of touch'. At times I would see a few messages pop up, then they would quickly disappear. Other times the spinning gear signal would spin forever without stopping. After hours working with Apple experts at the store and Apple experts online my stress level was growing. After even more hours and days working on the issue with our university tech staff, my stress level was ready to top out. Unfortunately our tech staff is not familiar with Apple computers!

Isn't it amazing how difficult it is when we are unable to use our technology? It feels as though you are totally cut off from the world and you are unable to do your work because email is such an important part of who we are today. The frustrations are intense, which makes me feel like we are addicted to our technology! I am sure at some level we are addicted at the ability to retrieve information and correspond with family, friends, and colleagues. If I missed your email in the past week, I apologize!

Podcast Training Videos On YouTube

I have been busy lately refining my skills on how to create a podcast that can be uploaded to YouTube! In an effort to refresh the memory of those I have trained and provide a simple training tool, I have designed three podcast that will help you prepare and record audio podcasts. My versions are primitive yet cover the steps you need to follow to get started with audio recording. Here are the YouTube links:
Preparing to Make a Podcast

Recording a Podcast on GarageBand (for Mac users)

Recording a Podcast on Audacity (for PC users and Mac users that don't have GarageBand)

I hope they are useful and motivate you to get started podcasting!

Latest publications in Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences

Life is good! After spending a wonderfully relaxing week on the Outer Banks, it was fun to start the new work week with news that two of my articles were published in the Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Volume 102-No 1. The article Online Video Calls: Guest Speakers for FCS outlines a way in which FCS educators could have guest speakers using online video tools such as Skype. I was able to conduct a three-hour in-service last fall for over 40 FCS teachers as they sat at their local Intermediate Unit in central Pennsylvania. My location was simple...my work studio at home, where I could wear my fuzzy slippers and be totally comfortable. Our connection was perfect and the session was a success. A follow-up survey of the participants proved that we could conduct a training via long distance. With some coordination, we were able to use PowerPoint, access videos on YouTube and TeacherTube to enhance the presentation. Our little experiment shows that we can save time energy and money by using the Internet for speaking engagements.

The second article, FCS Careers: Middle School Teacher Transitions to Cooperative Extension, tells the story of how my 25-year public school teaching career prepared me to move to Assistant Professor/County Agent at Rutgers Cooperative Extension. With a career filled with learning opportunities one can find ways to transition into new career fields. Our prior experiences add a richness to our educational palate and enable us to communicate will all types of audiences in and out of the formal classroom. FCS prepares us to practice the art of flexibility and advance our communication skills. Marilyn Sweirk was correct.....everything we learned in life we learned in Family & Consumer Sciences:)

Good news for wiki-lovers!

How did we ever conduct business before wikis? They are time, money and energy saving tools. For the last three years my FCS colleagues and I have developed and taught graduate courses at Penn State for FCS teachers using a wiki. We can easily share information, presentations, links to resources, pictures, and video on the wiki. The best feature is that we are certain that everyone involved is reading the same material on the same page. Awesome! There is no doubt that we will continue to use wikis to do our work in FCS and Extension (not to mention family gatherings, reunions, etc, etc). Check out the article we had published today in the Journal of Extension, The Wiki as a Time-Saving Mentoring Tool.

So many apps, so little time....

I am amazed at the depth of the functioning of the iPhone! There are so many things to learn yet. Yesterday my son (a genuine tech guru) shared some apps that I might find useful. Useful is probably an understatement! Apps are seriously helpful when out and about locally and also when traveling. So far I have chosen eleven apps (from literally thousands of apps) for my phone. The tools I have chosen are so simple and user friendly....they make good sense. They are the type of tool you wish you should have created yourself. I love the 'aroundme' app because it can help you locate essential services that you are around no matter where you are. So simple, and so useful. Other useful tools include Facebook, Twitter and Skype on the phone. It truly is like having the world at your fingertips. Pandora looks like it will be interesting too. Can you image that the tool creates/customizes a radio program for you based upon the type of music you enjoy. Why couldn't I think up something like that???

Why did I wait so long to get an iPhone?

Last week we took the plunge and purchased our first iPhones. What took us so long to make this change??? The hassle of changing phone companies and learning a new system definitely played a role. My key concern was blue tooth connectivity to my car. I decided to purchase a compatible portable blue tooth system to allow for hands-free driving. My next step is to configure that system and use it while driving any vehicle.

The iPhone's technology is awesome to hold in your hands. I think the speed of its connectivity is faster than the computer's speed. Is that possible? The phone is easy to use and has a tremendous amount of capacity. I can check personal and business email anywhere and the process is simple. Although I am still on the early-learning phase, I think we made the best move by changing over to the iPhone. Thank you Apple for consistently making user-friendly products and providing excellent technical support for your customers!

Inspiring People to Use Technology

Last week I had the opportunity to collaborate on a presentation with Anne Adrian (Auburn University Cooperative Extension) at the 10th Annual Eat Smart New York Conference in Albany. We encountered a delightful group of nutrition educators from across the state of New York. They seem very interested in finding ways to better reach their clientele using social media/technology. Our session, Using Social Media/Technology to Reach ESNY Clients was fun to present and gave us a chance to meet lots of new people. So far I have received email messages from participants expressing thanks and also updating me on their progress since last week. Can you image some people are already desiging their path to efficiently use social media in their work! As a presenter this is the best you can hope for....inspiring and motivating professionals to work smarter not harder with technology!!! Thank you Cornell Cooperative Extension and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for the opportunity to speak at your annual conference!