Accepting the blogging challenge (sort of)

This blog is my acceptance, in part, of the 5 challenges from Dr. Camille Rutherford.

#1 - Acknowledge the nominating blogger.

Dr. Camille Rutherford is an Associate Professor of Education at Brock University, and a fellow organizing member of the Teaching with Technology Showcase and CONNECT. She teaches the Educational Technology Leadership course at Brock, with a little help from me. She has a passion for technology that is admirable, but often drives the IT staff (including me) crazy.

#2 - 11 Random facts about me.
  1. I am married to a wonderful woman from Kentucky.
  2. There is a school in Burlington, Ontario named after my great grandfather.
  3. I dropped out of university in 1994, and finished my undergrad part-time after I started working at the university. I graduated (B.Sc. Computer Science) in 2005.
  4. I drove 16 hours to Hastings, Nebraska to go to the Kool-Aid Days Festival... when I was 36.
  5. My first job was at Kentucky Fried Chicken.
  6. My first IT-related job was a 75 to 90 minute drive away (depending on traffic). Now I make a 7 minute walk from my front door to my desk.
  7. I can wiggle my ears.
  8. I was 23 when I first flew on a plane.
  9. I was in the Enrichment Program for middle school. It later became the Gifted Program. I hated it.
  10. I am right-handed, but bat, play hockey, and golf left-handed.
  11. I had LASIK surgery in 2000.
#3 - Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
  1. What is your favorite quote or saying?
    "That's unfortunate" is what I commonly say, but I think my favorite saying is by Edgar Bergen. "Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy."
  2. Name your ideal retirement location.
    Kentucky. Beautiful countryside with great hiking. It's a lot like northern Ontario, but with much longer summers and milder winters.
  3. If you could have only one educational technology resource, what would it be?
    Assuming there was WiFi access, I guess a tablet. A tablet with Internet access is an amazing all-around tool with long battery life, and can easily be shared among students.
  4. What is your favourite travel destination?
    Puerto Rico. I was surprised by Puerto Rico. It has beautiful beaches, a rain forest, historic site-seeing, and is a fairly inexpensive travel destination. We were even able to use regular US cell service making it easy to stay in touch.
  5. Recommend an educational game.
    I don't really play educational games, so there isn't one that comes readily to mind. I've enjoyed some of the Dr. Suess books, but they're not really games. Similarly I think Whiteboard: Collaborative Drawing is a great app for education. It's not exactly a game, but you can play games using it. It's also cross-platform (Android and iOS), so great for BYOD.
  6. What is your favourite app?
    I primarily use Android devices, but the one app that keeps me coming back to iOS is Notability.
  7. What is your favourite TV show?
    I would say Big Bang Theory, but it's a very small pool to choose from. I'm only watching four shows total.
  8. Have you ever paid it forward at a coffee shop?
    I'm not sure. I don't specifically remember paying it forward at a coffee shop. I almost always tip at the coffee shop though, and I'm always willing to pay a little if the person in front of me is short. That's mostly to get myself through the line faster, so it isn't exactly the same thing.
  9. If you had to pick a song to be your theme song, what would it be?
    I really don't know.
  10. What is the last movie you saw in a theatre?
    "A Madea Christmas". Seriously. Before that it was Dallas Buyers Club.
  11. What is the first thing you would do after winning a million dollars?
    Change my name.
I will pass on the challenge for #4 and #5. The truth is that I am still primarily an IT person. I have just recently started looking for Ed Tech podcasts. I will look for blogs to follow as well. Here is a challenge for anyone reading this. Help me out, and feel free to share your favourites in the comments.