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I spent some time this evening updating my list of academic journals in the field of educational/instructional technology. I have included a few more journals, updated whether or not the journals are Social Science Indexed, and included the organization and/or publisher of the journals. I hope this is an improvement. Please take a look: Academic Journals.

I went to Europe with my father and mother in December of 2007 to January of 2008. We had a wonderful time visiting mostly family and some friends. We visited Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, and Italy. I finally got around to posting the photographs in online. You can check the picture album. Enjoy!

My brother finally tied the knot. He married Georgette Ackery (a great lady and animal lover). The wedding was wonderful. We were able to see friends and relatives, and we celebrated the special union. I had the pleasure of being best man, so I took the liberty of putting together the photo gallery. I also put together a short video and posted it to YouTube for all to see. Enjoy!

I am sitting in the Heart Institute of Leesburg with my father and sister. My father got out of surgery yesterday. We were not able to see him until today. We were a little concerned as he had not woke up yet, and there was the potential for neurological damage. However, we are here today and he is doing well. He is in good spirit, making jokes, and flirting with his nurse. He is still in a tremendous amount of pain, but that was to be expected. What’s most important is that he appears to be okay.

He should be in the hospital till next week. Afterwards, he is going to take some time rehabilitating at their new home in Leesburg. Afterall, he has to be ready for his son’s upcoming wedding.

I officially graduated and walked on 5/3/2008 at 6:00pm. The ceremony was very nice. Dr. Genshaft, president of USF, presented the presidential medallion to Dr. Antonia Novello, the first woman Surgeon General that served under the George H. Bush administration. Dr. Novello is a dynamic speaker. She provided us with advice, counsel and challenged us to face the world. Overall, it was a very impressive presentation.

The ceremony was nice, but a little long. It lasted a little over two hours. I am glad that I chose to walk as it was a nice bond between my major professor and myself. It felt somewhat reverent with a flair of commercialism. Anyway, here are some of the pictures.

I was very excited to find out yesterday, my graduate students won first place graduate paper at the annual College of Computing, Engineering, and Construction symposium. This was a great win as my students worked very hard on that piece. I was a tad bit embarrassed as I was supposed to be at the awards luncheon, but I totally forgot about it.

Anyway, the symposium was a success. At the actual event, my computer game students alpha tested their products. The purpose of the exercise was to help them understand user testing. I think they received a lot of good feedback as a result of the event.  They certainly won the popularity contest as people crowded around to play their games.

I caved in and bought a beagle at the pet store. She is an absolutely adorable dog. I am going to have to work hard to train her, but it will be worth the time and effort. As you can see, she has those “how can you not take me home eyes”.

I was originally going to purchase a Shiba Inu, but after some complications trying to find a suitable dog, I went ahead with a beagle.

So after years of authoring my own web pages, I have decided to move forward with a Web 2.0 implementation of my website. I have used WordPress Blog as my implementation. I have found this utility to be more like a web content management system than like a generic Blog. So far, I am very pleased with the new site. Everything is tagged, everybody can leave comments on my posts, the look-and-feel is customizable with over 100 templates, and I don’t have to download/upload files as much. What do you think?

Well, I have had a pretty good week. I am preparing my final presentation for the AERA presentation of my dissertation. Additionally, I just found out that my dissertation proposal to AECT was accepted as a featured research presentation - among only 10 papers accepted in this category. I submitted my final manuscript to the Journal of Educational Computing Research. I will hope for the best!

In other news, I also submitted the final draft of my manuscript to the graduate school at USF. Hopefully, this is the last iteration. I elected to publish my dissertation online. It always bothers me when I found a dissertation I want to review/read, and I am forced to make a special request. Anyway, that’s all for now!

I submitted my letter of acceptance yesterday for the assistant professor position at UNCW. I am very excited about this move. The school has a great reputation, the faculty and staff seem supportive, and the job appears to be a place where I can meaningfully contribute.

I will be moving there in mid to early July. I have to finish a few projects before I leave, but much of my work will transfer with me. Anyway, yay for a new job!