Sunday, September 27, 2009
Blog 4 - 9/28/09
Hola Peeps! Thanks for logging in.
So sticking with the subject of medical technology, I thought I would get a little personal this week.
This year has been a tough one in the Lanham household, as we were visited by the big C word.
Cancer.
Scary just to look at isn't it? Kinda makes my skin crawl just seeing it sitting there.
Anyway, Mr. L (who I lovingly refer to as Better Half) was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year. On the very first day of summer vacation he had a radical robotic prostatectomy.
That's right, ROBOTIC. Oh the technology implications . . .
His surgeon actually sat ACROSS THE ROOM as he operated on Mr. L! Just like a video game. He has these goggles he looks into and he moves his thumbs and across the room the robotic arms that were INSIDE MY HUSBAND proceeded to do all the things that surgeons used to do the old way. Except when he was done, Mr. L only had 5 small incisions instead of one great big huge one. MUCH faster recovery time.
So go take a look at the pictures of the robot. At the same time, I'm going to play a video from this year's TED conference by a woman who had a hand in designing this robot. Her video is all about how medical technology has changed.
PLEASE NOTE: This video shows a few seconds worth of ACTUAL surgery on someone's insides. It's not bloody or gory. It's kinda interesting in a detached sort of way. BUT if it oogs you out, please look away during those parts.
Please remember: you must advance the discussion in some manner to get credit. "That's cool" or "I like that" is not advancing the discussion. Not now, not in May at the end of the year. You must TELL ME WHY! You may also reply to someone else's post.
Also, if you have questions for Mr. L's surgeon please post them in the blog. I'll email them to him and see if we can get an answer.
http://tinyurl.com/2mhxoh
Talk to me . . .
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Blog 3 - 9/21/09
Hello Internets! Thanks for logging in.
I thought this week we would stick with medical technology. I found this article in Readers Digest online about medical technology advances in the battlefield and how they might help us all in the future. Go read:
http://tinyurl.com/n3al24
Please do not just stop at Page 1. There are 3 pages of really amazing technological advances in battlefield medicine.
Come back on Thursday and tell us what you think about one or all of the highlighted technologies. Which ones do you think will make it into the mainstream? How do you think we will be using those in our everyday lives in the near future?
As always, you will need to advance the discussion in order to receive credit.
Talk to me . . .
I thought this week we would stick with medical technology. I found this article in Readers Digest online about medical technology advances in the battlefield and how they might help us all in the future. Go read:
http://tinyurl.com/n3al24
Please do not just stop at Page 1. There are 3 pages of really amazing technological advances in battlefield medicine.
Come back on Thursday and tell us what you think about one or all of the highlighted technologies. Which ones do you think will make it into the mainstream? How do you think we will be using those in our everyday lives in the near future?
As always, you will need to advance the discussion in order to receive credit.
Talk to me . . .
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Blog 2 - 9/14/09
Hola Peeps! Thanks for logging in.
So there's this article on CNN.com about these new contacts that scientists at the University of Washington are developing. They are digital! They have built-in LEDs to augment your natural eyesight.
They say that eventually a more advanced version on this contact could become available that would scroll captions across the bottom of your vision. Information about the person you're talking to, etc.
It might also be used to monitor our health. According to one researcher "The eye is our little door into the body." You could be sitting there eating lunch and have something scroll across your vision that says "More water intake please, you are getting dehydrated." Or other health-related info.
Of course, the group has to do much more safety testing before this lens will ever come in contact with any of our eyes. But the possibilities could be absolutely endless!
For me personally, it would be difficult to get used to poking something in my eyeball. I cringe every morning watching Mr. L put his contacts in. Ugh! I don't know how you folks do it.
Anyway, follow this link and read the story:
http://tinyurl.com/pbdn69
Think about it for a couple of days. Let it work on you. Then on Thursday come back and go to the comments section for THIS blog (please make sure you land in the correct comments section) and post an opinion. Do you think this is really in our future? Do you think we're still light years away from this? Do you think it will ever really be marketable to the common man, or will expense keep most of us from participating? GIVE ME AN INFORMED OPINION AND ADVANCE THE DISCUSSION.
As always, a "yes" or "no" or "I really don't care" will earn you a zero.
You may also reply to someone else's opinion to advance the discussion.
And finally, you might want to briefly check back in on Friday to see if anyone has replied to you.
Talk to me . . .
So there's this article on CNN.com about these new contacts that scientists at the University of Washington are developing. They are digital! They have built-in LEDs to augment your natural eyesight.
They say that eventually a more advanced version on this contact could become available that would scroll captions across the bottom of your vision. Information about the person you're talking to, etc.
It might also be used to monitor our health. According to one researcher "The eye is our little door into the body." You could be sitting there eating lunch and have something scroll across your vision that says "More water intake please, you are getting dehydrated." Or other health-related info.
Of course, the group has to do much more safety testing before this lens will ever come in contact with any of our eyes. But the possibilities could be absolutely endless!
For me personally, it would be difficult to get used to poking something in my eyeball. I cringe every morning watching Mr. L put his contacts in. Ugh! I don't know how you folks do it.
Anyway, follow this link and read the story:
http://tinyurl.com/pbdn69
Think about it for a couple of days. Let it work on you. Then on Thursday come back and go to the comments section for THIS blog (please make sure you land in the correct comments section) and post an opinion. Do you think this is really in our future? Do you think we're still light years away from this? Do you think it will ever really be marketable to the common man, or will expense keep most of us from participating? GIVE ME AN INFORMED OPINION AND ADVANCE THE DISCUSSION.
As always, a "yes" or "no" or "I really don't care" will earn you a zero.
You may also reply to someone else's opinion to advance the discussion.
And finally, you might want to briefly check back in on Friday to see if anyone has replied to you.
Talk to me . . .
Monday, September 7, 2009
Blog 1 - 9/7/09
Hola Peeps! Thanks for logging in.
Let me 'splain how this will work:
Every Monday morning I will post a discussion question relevant to technology. You will have the entire week to post a short blog answering the question. It's very simple . . . you either advance the discussion or you don't. It's either a 100 or a 0. You can also respond to a thought posted by another user to advance the discussion. Every Sunday evening I will check off names. So you have from Monday AM to Sunday PM. Grading closes at 6pm Sunday. The first ten minutes of class on Tuesday will be devoted to reading the blog, and the first ten minutes of class Thursday will be devoted to answering the blog question.
Here are the things that this discussion is NOT:
This is not a social forum. All you guys have MySpace / Facebook / Twitter for that stuff. Holla at your friends on those sites.
This is not a place for you to ask me questions about your grade. Please remember that EVERYBODY will see all of your communication on this site. If you have questions about grading policies, etc. please see me before or after school, before class or on my conference period (8th). Barring that, please email me at rlanham@nacogdoches.k12.tx.us.
This is not a place for you to air grievances of any kind. Bad language, derogatory comments and intolerance of any kind will not be accepted. These will result in blocked usage for you, and zeros on weekly discussions for the remainder of the year.
What this discussion IS:
This is a place for us to explore how technology is affecting our daily lives. You guys are digital natives (meaning you were practically born with a cell phone in your hand) and you are not accustomed to thinking about life before this technology came along. I would also bet that most of you haven't given a lot of thought to where this technology is going either. Well, that's what I want to do here.
One more thing: To the best of my knowledge we are the first classroom in the district to use blogging as part of the classroom learning. Occasionally our Principal, Superintendent, and others from the district will be blogging with us. All eyes will be watching as this district prepares to incorporate more technology into everyday learning. Please keep that in mind. Let's have fun, but please be responsible.
OK, questions? Talk to me . . .
Let me 'splain how this will work:
Every Monday morning I will post a discussion question relevant to technology. You will have the entire week to post a short blog answering the question. It's very simple . . . you either advance the discussion or you don't. It's either a 100 or a 0. You can also respond to a thought posted by another user to advance the discussion. Every Sunday evening I will check off names. So you have from Monday AM to Sunday PM. Grading closes at 6pm Sunday. The first ten minutes of class on Tuesday will be devoted to reading the blog, and the first ten minutes of class Thursday will be devoted to answering the blog question.
Here are the things that this discussion is NOT:
This is not a social forum. All you guys have MySpace / Facebook / Twitter for that stuff. Holla at your friends on those sites.
This is not a place for you to ask me questions about your grade. Please remember that EVERYBODY will see all of your communication on this site. If you have questions about grading policies, etc. please see me before or after school, before class or on my conference period (8th). Barring that, please email me at rlanham@nacogdoches.k12.tx.us.
This is not a place for you to air grievances of any kind. Bad language, derogatory comments and intolerance of any kind will not be accepted. These will result in blocked usage for you, and zeros on weekly discussions for the remainder of the year.
What this discussion IS:
This is a place for us to explore how technology is affecting our daily lives. You guys are digital natives (meaning you were practically born with a cell phone in your hand) and you are not accustomed to thinking about life before this technology came along. I would also bet that most of you haven't given a lot of thought to where this technology is going either. Well, that's what I want to do here.
One more thing: To the best of my knowledge we are the first classroom in the district to use blogging as part of the classroom learning. Occasionally our Principal, Superintendent, and others from the district will be blogging with us. All eyes will be watching as this district prepares to incorporate more technology into everyday learning. Please keep that in mind. Let's have fun, but please be responsible.
OK, questions? Talk to me . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)