By Any Other Nerd

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes I mentioned in my last post that I'd be talking a bit more about something that is giving me hope and a way to think about how to navigate the next few years (or rest of my life--take your pick).   And while I don't usually make blog titles so explicit, I really needed to with this one. I listened to  Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching by Jarvis Givens a few years ago and it's all I can think about since the current administration decided it wanted to root out anything related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. I recently had to relisten to it and read sections of it as well. Since January 2025, I've mentioned the book dozens of times if I've mentioned it once.  The book explores the work of Carter G. Woodson and other Black educators in the 1900s.  Carter G. Woodson 's impact is significant.  He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912 and would play an important role in shaping t...

Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes I've been reviewing books, audiobooks, and graphic novels for years. Currently, it's mostly been young adult graphic novels for Publishers Weekly. Recently, I was enjoying a really great graphic novel. One that had me smiling because it focused on a young teen coming into their sexuality. The story didn't talk down to its reader and yet was sweet, kind, and complex with everyone in the story. It sought to understand the tensions and elevate the love. It's the kind of book that was non-existent in my teenage years. And the thing is, the reoccurring thought going through my head as I read was this: this book is going to be banned in the very communities that it is needed.  The thought played into all the feels I've been navigating--for the last few years but more heightened in the last year, when it felt very evident that Trump would win re-election. And now, in the face of the first monrh of his administration, has left me in a chal...

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash For those early on their doctorate journey or not on it all, after one defends their dissertation. there are often edits to be completed.  So for those just tuning in, I defended my dissertation on December 10, 2024. It went well but as is expected, there were edits that I need to work on.  The edits recommended by the committee were not anything that I felt was unexpected. They all made sense and were things that once they mentioned them (in the defense itself or afterward), I could clearly see why they were needed.  They're not that bad, but they do require time.  If I was a bit more focused, I could probably have done them within 1-2 weeks of when I defended, but instead, I passed them in early February. Right after the dissertation, I decided to take most of December off. Between starting a new job and defending my dissertation in the first week and half of December, I was largely done for 20...

Estimated Reading Time: 25 minutes As promised, here is the text of my defense for those that couldn't make it or were interested in revisiting it.  You can also check out the slides here .  If you haven't read about the experience, well, you can check it out here .

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes Source: ChatGPT Well, it's done. I successfully defended my dissertation; I'm now just have edits to incorporate and getting it through the institutional process.  Damn--I finally did it!  After writing some 60+ posts on this subject ( Started here and continues with this tag ), I'm within a handful of posts to wrap up the (chronologically) longest series I've done on this blog.   So how was the defense?  It was everything I needed it to be and more.   I spent the few weeks before trying to work to construct the presentation so that it would make sense both to my audience and my committee.  I got a draft and recorded it for my chair.  He provided rich feedback that told me I was on the right track and that I needed to refine a few parts to keep the focus forward going.  I practiced a few more times and felt largely ready for the presentation part.  After all, presenting complex ideas to folks that ...

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes Welcome! This blog post is part 3 and the last installment of my side of an ongoing conversation between myself and Stacey M. Johnson . Since we met a few months ago, we’ve been in an ongoing dialog about some of our favorite issues in teaching and educational technology. We decided to take the dialog public on our blogs. Image source: Chatgpt Want to review past posts? Stacey’s Part 1 –  Dialogs on Teaching: We Need Less Innovation Lance’s Part 1 –  Dialogues on Teaching #1: innovation vs. Innovation Stacey’s Part 2 –  Dialogs on Teaching: We Need More Connection Lance’s Part 2 –  Dialogs on Teaching #2: transformational and transactional learning Stacey's Part 3 –  Dialogs on Teaching: We Need Room to Flourish This is my response to Stacey's last post and my final post in this series...for now.  Stacey, you've done it again—you brought thoughtful and compelling considerations that elevated questions and th...

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes About 5 months ago, I let folks know that I had a completed draft of the dissertation .  After working on it with my advisor and other committee members, I'm now set up to actually do the defense.  Finally! XKCD It's been a long trek ( Read all about it as I've documented it here at length ) and I know it's not over yet.  There's the defense, the edits from the defense, and then all the formatting BS for publication of the dissertation.  But the key part--the part where I publicly say, "Hey all, I did this, I can justify what I did and why, and here is what I found"--that part is upon us.   And I've been getting the "are you nervous?" and the truth is that I'm not, which I take as a good sign.  I feel confident in my work and in my findings.  I know that I am the expert on my dissertation and that I'm making a contribution to the literature.  I also know I have a strong, thoughtful, and supportive dis...

Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes The Story So Far :   Welcome! This blog post is part 2 in an ongoing conversation between myself and  Stacey M. Johnson on her blog . Since we met a few months ago, we’ve been in an ongoing dialog about some of our favorite issues in teaching and educational technology. We decided to take the dialog public on our blogs.  Stacey's first post Lance's first post Stacey's second post I thoroughly enjoy these conversations. So, thank you for continuing this. I appreciate your guiding frame: "Does a policy or practice increase our internal capacity and build on the professionalism of our faculty and staff, or does it outsource key functions and fail to consult experts already on campus, devaluing and demoralizing the experience for all of those left behind?"  Applying this to a technology is a thoughtful practice given that many in the ed-tech space push tools that replace community experiences with individual experiences. Wresting T...