www.aritzhaupt.com

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!

So, we have a little more than six weeks of class left. My gaming students are doing pretty well with their projects. Each of the groups came up with a pretty novel game and they are progressing with the projects. The rest of the semester is going to be devoted to completing the final projects, which should be fun.
Interestingly, I asked my class how many of them have been in Second Life and have explored the opportunities of the environment. None of my students had even logged into Second Life, which is really surprising to me. Our computing students have not been exposed and are not exposing themselves to what the future may be - virtual worlds.

Clearly the tools offer much more than just a place to socialize. It is an entire community and economy. A place to learn, grow, interact, and exchange things of a tangible and intangible nature. I am going to devote two or more lessons to Second Life to spur some interest in the topic. Whether we like it or not, virtual worlds and educational games are going to play an important part of our future.

Well, I am finally starting to get some calls from schools that are interested in me. That is certainly a reliever given the dire circumstances of Florida’s state university system. I am going to keep my fingers crossed and mind open on this matter.

I submitted my dissertation for the first format check process. I am waiting on the confirmation of my edits from Dr Barron. Once she is done, I am sending off my document to a professional editor to make sure I did things correctly. I want to make sure there are no errors in the document.
I received notification today that one of my papers was accepted in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education. This article related to the laptop initiative. I also went to the Florida Educational Technology Conference this week. This is a great conference because you get to interact with people from all over the state.
In other news, my courses are beginning to pick up in pace. I have many talented students this term, so I am looking forward to the final projects and group project in all of my classes. In the mean time, I have plenty of grading to do More to come soon!

Well, I successfully defended my dissertation in December 2007. I have some minor edits to conduct, and I still have to submit to the format check process and apply for graduation. I am relieved to be done, but I am just as busy now as I was before.

In other news, I am teaching five different courses this semester, which is somewhat exciting. The computer game development course is obviously draining most of my time because it requires the most learning. However, it certainly the most exciting.

I have all of my applications sent out and am waiting for responses. I have heard back from two institutions thus far, which is fairly exciting. I have no idea where I am going to be living in 6-months. It is rather disconcerting. I do not like this level of uncertainty to be honest

As for research, I have many projects going on, including the analysis of instructional technology doctoral program websites, ongoing laptop infusion work, ongoing trend analysis of technology integration in Florida’s K-12 schools, my time-compressed audio-related work, and have recently started a new project involving the description of the ideal information technology organization. Needless to say, I am busy, but I am having fun - most of the time

Last but not least, I am moving from my brother’s house today to Callahan. This should be a positive change. I will have to keep you posted. Talk to you soon.

I am finally there. My dissertation has been released to my committee, the date is set, and I am already making plans for the future. I am attending FERA this week, where I am supposed to collect signatures for the document. Hopefully, all will go well.

I am also about to start applying for positions. I intend to apply at 20 different institutions. This ought to be a daunting process, but I am hoping for the best. In the mean time, I have some really amazing courses to teach next term, so I am sure that will keep me occupied.

I am also planning to move to Callahan, Florida in the next month or so. This will be a big change, but a necessary move to escalate my current relationship. Well, that is all for now.

Well, I successfully defended my proposal on 7/19/2007.  It was a lot more difficult and stressful than I had anticipated.  I am now working on finishing my study, and I have a lot more work to do.  Some of which I haven’t even thought how I should proceed. Anyway, I hope to defend this upcoming fall, and more likely graduate in the spring.

In the mean time, I am going to be spending a lot of time preparing for the upcoming term.  I am teaching a lot of material that I haven’t worked with for years.  Fun, fun. I have also spent a tremendous amount of time working on articles.  Hopefully, some of this will come to fruition in the next few months.

Well, back to the grinde.

So, I can almost see the light. I have been working really hard these past few months to successfully defend my proposal this summer. Assuming I don’t royally screw anything up in the next couple weeks here, it looks like I may be able to successfully defend my proposal before the end of the summer term.

Defending my proposal this summer is really important to me. I want to defend my dissertation in the fall, and you cannot defend your proposal and dissertation in the same semester. In all practical matters, it makes no difference whether I should defend my dissertation in the Fall or Spring aside from my pathetic intrinsic motivation: I want to be a PhD by the time I am 26. Since my birthday is in December, I am running out of time!
While this may seem like a lame reason to graduate so soon, I have discovered that this motivator is what keeps me going. If I didn’t stay focused, I would probably keep procrastinating, so whatever works!
Anyway, hopefully my next post will be about me having my dissertation proposal defense scheduled. I have less than two weeks to submit the paperwork, and I still have to Dr Barron to edit my chapters so I can make necessary revisions before submitting.

Well, that is all for now. Back to work!