MnLV Musings

I've been sitting with a question lately: How much do you think your life would change if your worst or most self-defeating habit immediately went away? Not improved slowly.  Not managed better.  Not reduced by 20%.  Gone. Which is it for you?  Procrastination?  Overeating?  Avoidance?  Anger?  Self-doubt?  Scrolling?  The need for approval?  Quitting when something gets uncomfortable?   On a side note, I believe that having any one of these habits (or whatever it is for you) opens the door for any of the other self-defeating reactions.   But to my original question:  What would actually change? Would your health improve?  Would your marriage or relationship feel different?  Would your confidence come back?  Would you finally finish the thing you keep talking about starting?  Would you be more present with your family?  Would your money situation improve?  Would your peace of mi...

The way I understand the article by Pischetola et al. (2022) is that networked learning isn’t created just because people are placed in the same class, online platform, or discussion board.  That is like saying a casino floor is running well just because the tables are open and employees are scheduled.  A casino floor only works when people, systems, communication, and real-time adjustments all connect.  According to Pischetola et al. (2022), The same is true with learning. The article talks about two forces:  One force pulls people toward structure and rules - like a policy manual and standard service expectations in a casino.  Without these, there isn't order to operations.  The other force pushes people toward new ideas and different viewpoints for problem-solving.  In a casino, it’s using feedback from multiple perspectives to seek new and better outcomes.   What stood out to me is that the authors are not saying one side is better....

Zgheib and Dabbagh (2020) warn of the danger of assuming that a new tool automatically creates a new kind of learning.  The authors discuss how faculty in their study used various social media tools like blogs, Twitter (now X), YouTube, and podcasts to support student learning.  Although this sounds innovative, the study found that in some cases, the tool changed while the basic learning model stayed the same. This matters because a blog can become just another place to post an assignment or X can become just another participation checkbox. If students are not fully engaging by interacting, reflecting, creating, or even changing their thinking, then the technology is not really changing the learning experience.  It's just putting an old process in a newer package. In casino or hospitality work, buying a new system doesn't automatically improve service.  A new system, platform, or training module only helps if it changes behavior and creates better outcomes.  Oth...

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Ma!! I'm reminded of a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln which states, "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." I watched you nurture your six children and every one of the countless kids who played all day in our yard and grew to call you Mom. I watched the steadfast loyalty and mutual respect you and Dad demonstrated my entire life and throughout your sixty-two year marriage.   I watched countless family members, neighbors, and people I didn't know coming to you - often in tears, with their heaviest burdens for your counsel and prayer.   I remember the countless hours you spent in church, volunteering, and giving aid to the most disenfranchised.   You are the most empathetic person I've ever known.  I remember you slipping quietly away in a crowded train station to give comfort to a complete stranger who sat sobbing as you spoke quietly with him.  This was in no way an isolated occurrence. ...

What an eventful day which was an eventful end to an eventful week! I traveled all week, juggling homework, family obligations, multiple timezones, and a 35 degree difference in temperatures between Chicago and Las Vegas.   Today was our first day back in town from our trip and it happens to be my wife's 50th birthday, Father's Day, and the first day of summer.   My wife and I have been together for 25 years and we came to the realization today that she's spent half her life with me.   Besides my wife, my father has been a constant inspiration to me - from his 62 years of marriage to my late mother to his receiving his master's degree at 56.   I'd like to blog about a school subject today...but this day belongs to my heroes!!

The point that stood out to me in Pan and Chen’s article is that change is not just a matter of telling professionals what to do.  Teachers are often asked to adopt new methods, new curriculum models, and new expectations.  Anyone who has worked in leadership knows that announcing a change is the easy part.  Getting people to believe in the change is where the real work begins. The article focuses on networked learning communities, where teachers work with other teachers across schools through lesson planning, classroom observation, and discussion.  The authors found that participation alone was not the strongest driver of change.  The key factor was whether teachers developed stronger beliefs in collaborative professional learning.  In other words, it wasn’t just the meetings, observations, or the discussions that mattered.  It was whether those experiences changed how teachers viewed the value of learning with one another. I have seen plenty of initi...

Gavriel Salomon’s article about the educational rationale of technology stood out to me because he discusses an often-repeated mistake:  we see a new tool, platform, device or a system and we start believing it will solve problems that may be much deeper than the tool itself.  This isn’t just an education issue because I’ve seen the same thing happen in business.   Salomon’s argument is not that technology is bad.  A problem occurs if we place too much value simply on the tool’s ability to efficiently deliver information.  When a learner completes a module or an employee passes a quiz, we can assume they’ve received the information, but have they learned anything?  Technology gives us access to information faster than ever.  But access is not the same thing as understanding.  I can provide an employee with a digital copy of the employee manual and have them acknowledge receipt, but that doesn’t mean they know how to handle a real conflict wit...

For me, the concept of networked learning requires a real mental shift.  It sounds simple enough: students collect, curate, share, broker, negotiate, and construct knowledge through networks.  The twist is that networked learning changes who is responsible for the learning process. I’ve spent years in classrooms where the instructors controlled the agenda.  Teachers chose the material, asked the questions, and defined the correct answers.  That may not always be the best learning model, but it’s certainly the one to which I’m familiar. Networked learning disrupts that familiarity.   It asks learners to search, evaluate, organize, connect, question, and sometimes create knowledge without waiting for every step to be approved.  This can be daunting to a learner not used to having so much latitude.  Am I looking in the right place?  What if I share something weak?  What if my interpretation is wrong? From my background in casino and hospit...

 Quite the week!!! It seems my big projects converged this week along with my preparations to catch a flight tomorrow. Pause, breathe, continue!!

Has AI made movies better, or has it just made them bigger?  I keep coming back to this question because I haven’t found a compelling reason to visit a movie theater in the last couple years.   There’s no denying what technology has done for film. Special effects are more detailed (still a bit excessive in my opinion), action sequences are more elaborate, and entire worlds can now be created on screen that would have been impossible a generation ago. From a production standpoint, this is impressive. AI and digital tools can save movie makers time, lower costs, and help creators build scenes that once required massive crews and budgets. But, has something been lost in the process? I’m older and maybe it’s just a generational thing, but some of the most memorable films to me were not powerful because they overwhelmed us visually. They stayed with us because they left room for our imagination to do the work. Psycho is a good example. It didn’t need endless effects or a digit...

Chesterman, S. (2025). Good models borrow, great models steal: Intellectual property rights and generative AI. Policy and Society, 44(1), 23–37. https://doi.org/10.1093/polsoc/puae006 My siblings and I have an ongoing argument about the legitimacy of someone who creates a wildly popular song using AI.  Should they be able to earn a Grammy nomination as a ‘recording artist’? What about ‘producer/arranger’?  Simon Chesterman’s article discusses this dilemma.  He clarifies that the argument about generative AI isn’t whether it’s capable of being impressive.  The bigger issue is whether we are being honest about what made it impressive in the first place.   Generative AI doesn’t create from nothing. It is trained by massive amounts of human-created work. This work includes books, articles, images, code, and any other form of expertise. So here begs the question:  If human work was used to train the system, who should receive credit for its ‘creations’?...

I came of age long before social media, so I have to admit that Snapchat streaks seemed a little strange to me. The idea of exchanging pictures every day seems weird enough to me, but doing it just to keep a number growing feels like a lot of effort for very little reward. After reading this article, however, I realized that the streak itself is not really the point. The authors argue that Snapchat streaks are an example of gamification, where game-like elements are added to everyday activities. What I found most interesting was not the streaks themselves, but how they changed the way people communicated. The researchers found that teenagers spend a surprising amount of time talking about the streaks by reminding each other to send snaps, explaining why they missed a day, warning friends about upcoming interruptions, and even negotiating whether to restart a streak after losing one. From my perspective, I can compare this to what happened in organizations where we measured and preached...

I was thinking about the 2006 movie Idiocracy today because I often feel an idiocracy will be the fate of our democracy.  Some view social media as the accelerator.    The constant barrage of memes and pointless video clips exchanged on my sibling group chat strongly support my assertions.   In case you're unfamiliar with the movie Idiocrasy, it's a comedy that illustrates the potential consequences of a culture that values passive consumption over learning and critical thinking.  The film's central message is that when people stop seeking knowledge and stop questioning information, poor decision-making becomes normalized.   Many people use social media primarily for entertainment or to consume content that reinforces what they already believe.  Instead of expanding their understanding, they create echo chambers that limit critical thinking and discourage intellectual growth.  [Full disclosure:  present company included at times.]...

One of the more interesting ideas from A Sociomaterial Lens on Crowdsourcing for Learning  (Tyrrell & Shalavin, 2022) is that learning is shaped by more than just the people involved. The authors argue that technology, platform design, timing, rules, and social interactions all work together to influence both what and how people learn. I found myself thinking about workplace training and organizational culture. Throughout my career in casino and hospitality operations, I have seen firsthand how systems influence behavior. Employees respond differently depending on how information is presented, how performance is measured, and how feedback is delivered. The system itself often shapes outcomes just as much as the individuals participating in it. The researchers studied an online crowdsourcing project where students submitted ideas, voted on solutions, and collaborated with peers. What stood out to me was their finding that the platform was not a neutral tool. Features such as lea...

One of the recurring themes in my studies has been the tension between structured learning and self-directed learning. The article Optional Embedded Microlearning Challenges: Promoting Self-Directed Learning and Extension in a Higher Education Course (Dennen et al., 2024) explores that tension through a series of optional "tech-flex" challenges that were embedded within a university course. Students were given opportunities to complete short learning activities, earn digital badges, and develop skills beyond the required curriculum.  The researchers observed that although students viewed the challenges positively, participation rates remained low. What stood out to me was not the finding that participation was low, but rather why it was low. Students consistently cited time and competing priorities as barriers. As someone who spent decades leading teams in casino operations and now in my personal educational quest, I find that reality very familiar. Employees would often expr...

This has been quite a week and quite a day.  I'll paraphrase a quote often attributed to aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman:  "Gravity doesn't pause while you learn how to fly." For now, I'll close my eyes and take a deep breath.  Exhale.  Smile.  Proceed to the next thing.