Joyful Jubilant Learning

My Tools, Techniques, and Ideas about Digital Learning

I remember growing up much of my digital education involved installing some software on my Apple II computer. I had some math programs and reading programs that I would play with as a kid. This was when I first started to realize that I wanted a career that involved computers. I remember going into the software store and drooling over all the wonderful titles I wish I had the money to buy. In that day and age, digital learning was confined to how much money you had to invest in buying software. Times have changed and most importantly the web has changed the accessibility to information and an education for just about anybody that has a computer . However, sometimes surfing through the pages and pages of sites out there can leave a person feeling as if there is too much information and not enough time to read and absorb it all. Therefore, I wanted to focus on some of the tools I use to help reign in some of this information and organize it in a matter that I can continue to use in the future.

You can’t go far in the digital world without hearing or using Google. My primary personal e-mail account has been with Yahoo for many years. But lately, I have also begun to look at the many tools that Google offers. One of my favorites is Google Notebook (http://google.com/notebook). When you are doing some serious web research and learning you need to be able to capture critical information in an accessible and easy to use tool. Google Notebook fills that need for me. With the add-on in Internet Explorer capturing information is only a click away. Retaining and saving critical pieces of digital learning is key for me and Google Notebook helps me with this every day.

The other tool I use daily is 37 Signals Backpack application (http://www.37signals.com). This is one web application that is bound to grow and grow. Their homepage states that over 1 million people use their products to manage their lives. I use it to take notes on books, digital reading, and anything else that I want. We also use the calendar feature to coordinate our family. Having one central calendar the entire family can access and change makes our lives a lot easier.

I have never been that interested in social bookmarking, but after reading a lot about del.icio.us I figured I would give it a try. The more you surf and the more you research the more bookmarks you have to keep track of. I finally got sick of keeping these bookmarks up-to-date in Internet Explorer. (http://del.icio.us) del.icio.us takes away the pain and hassle of bookmarking. Convenient tags allow you to get back to where you want to go in a flash. I have it installed on all my computers now and now my bookmarks are easily accessible and available to share with friends and family.

With so many sites and so many user ids and password, there is no better tool to use than Roboform. (http://www.roboform.com). Although this software costs a little money, it is worth every dime. A convenient browser add in as well provides for quick navigation and password entry. I also use its secure storage to save confidential numbers and other info I need to have handy, but don’t want accessible to the general world.

My final digital education recommendation is that you check out Capella University. (http://www.capella.edu) In 2005 I received my MS in Information Technology. Although I don't think that an online education was a great as my undergraduate degree at Rensselaer, I did enjoy the opportunity to learn in a very structured on-line environment. Having your own money invested is bound to make one spend the time to learn and grow.

My final tip is nothing digital. It is a simple timer that I have on my watch. I set my timer to help me focus and be productive. When time is up I know it is time to take a break or do something else. I share this with you because I believe we need to check the time and length we spend in front of our computers. As much as I love the computer and doing my own educational exploration on the web, I realize that I also need to take time to enjoy the nondigital learning experiences in life. This includes spending time playing with my family in the backyard and taking a walk in the park and feeling the grass between my toes. I work at home and sometimes I don’t know when to stop. Interconnectivity and digital learning are wonderful and I wouldn’t change them, but I also realize I need to set limits for me so I can improve the other areas in my life. After all my keeping a well-balanced life so I am successful in all areas of my life will help me focus even more when it comes time to more digital learning!

I am a rookie blogger just getting my feet wet in the blog world. You can check out more of my thoughts and ideas by visiting my blog (http://dlnewman70.typepad.com/orl/) where I try and share little things and ideas that make my ordinary life, radical!

The Jewish Phenomenon

My freshman year in college I met my lifelong best friend. For the sake of privacy I will not share his last name so I will just call him by his first name, Rob. Rob was Jewish and the smartest person I had ever met. He was unlike most eighteen year old guys that I had known or grown up with. He had what I believed were almost super hero qualities when it came to education and life values and habits. He had abilities and knowledge that nearly everybody else in the dorm was missing in some sense. We became close friends and to this day we still are despite living thousands of miles apart. I always wanted to know what made Rob tick and influenced his choices in life. Now, almost twenty years later I found a book that I think helps give me some answers to this question.

In the book The Jewish Phenomenon, Seven Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People, Steven Silbiger sheds some light on the inner working of Jewish heritage. Regardless of your religious beliefs or background, I believe this book can help you think about how you could apply seven powerful keys to shaping your life or those of your children.

The book breaks down the seven keys into the following concepts:
1. Understanding that Real Wealth is Portable; It's Knowledge
2. Take Care of Your Own and They Will Take Care of You
3. Successful People Are Professionals and Entrepreneurs
4. Develop Your Verbal Confidence
5. Be Selectively Extravagant but Prudently Frugal
6. Celebrate Individuality: Encourage Creativity
7. Have Something to Prove: A Drive To Succeed

The book is full of research and supporting statistics that back up these key ideas and concepts. I especially enjoyed the way the author explained the historical impact on the Jewish people as far back as the Old Testament and how it has shaped Jewish society today. It is also spiced up with some great Jewish humor which I plan on adding to my own book of humor to keep me laughing. Best of all, the author gives some how to tips at the end of each chapter so you can try and implement some of these ideas into your own life.The author has also compiled several appendices that are very helpful and informative if you are interested in further understanding Jewish heritage. They include an appendix on Yiddish, Hebrew, Yiddish Proverbs, and Jewish Calendar and Holidays.

As I finished reading each chapter I thought about how it applied to Rob and his family. In the case of an understanding that real wealth is portable it is knowledge, Rob graduated from college in two years and went on to med school. I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit his family on many occasions while in college. They were all very close and they definitely took care of their own. He went on to graduate from med school and is now a senior partner in a very successful cardiology practice. He has two brothers one who is a cardiologist as well and one who is a very successful CPA. His family was certainly selectively extravagant but prudently frugal. He did not follow popular trends but was an individual. He had something to prove and had a major drive to succeed by lasting through eight long years of med school.

I don't think I would necessarily classify this as a self help book, but a critical study more so on Jewish philosophy and habits. I love this book because it helped me understand one of my closest and dearest friends. You can learn a lot by studying successful people and the people discussed in this book definitely fall into the successful category, just like my best friend Rob.

--Derek Newman

I am a life long student of personal productivity and positive psychology. In other words, I am joyful and jubilant when I am learning. I am new comer to the blog world and I am just trying to learn from the many experts out there so that I can one day hopefully enrich the life of others in the same way they have enriched my life. I am grateful for Rosa and the opportunity she has given to me to share my thoughts in this wonderful atmosphere of learning and growing in knowledge and wisdom. I would also like to thank my good friend Dwayne Melancon for getting me in touch with Rosa. While not reading and studying blogs and other great things on the internet, I work as a project manager at Oracle.