The Bridge Blog
A dialog about our new bridge and these web pages
Overview. As a pointy-headed
university professor, my weekend project of bridge photography and
building these web pages generated many questions and introduced me
to just-in-time learning. I enjoy chasing my curiosity and
want to identify ways to encourage younger learners to also enjoy curiosity
chasing and learning.
Learning usually requires repetition while forgetting occurs when
I infrequently use information. Many young learners do not understand
the importance of repetition. Weekly visits to the bridge provided
the repetition necessary to detect changes in the bridge and
consequently generated
many questions and opportunities for learning. Over the course of the
bridge project, I had access to few experts for answering questions.
Rather than a liability, this became an asset and pushed me to improve
my search skills with Google. Soon, I found that answers
to questions encountered during my weekly photo shoots were often
only a Google-search away -
(see
Restoring the Joy in Learning). Consequently Google + Internet became
dependable extensions of my memory.
The bridge story is a work in progress and is evolving from a simple
collections of photographs to an experiment with Internet-centric
just-in-time learning.
Insights I gain from you
will find their way into the learning centers of MUSC.
Palmetto Bridge Constructors, a joint venture between
Tidewater
Skanska and
Flatiron Constructors, as well as
High Steel Structures,
Freyssinet, the
SCDOT and the
Federal Highway Commission Office
of Bridge Technology guided much of my learning.
I also learn from many of you and from Google-linked resources. More
important is the e-mail encouragement I receive from many of you.
Wed, 22 Jun 2005
June 22, 2005: About these web pages
On June 12, 2005,
Gene
Stead, 97 years of age, quietly died. Gene was Chairman
of Medicine at Duke from 1947 - 1967 and was my first boss. But he was more
than a chairman. He paid great attention to individuals, whether
faculty, students or patients, and worked at
enabling them to reach beyond their grasp. He understood that problems
could rarely be solved by technology alone and demonstrated over and over
again that success often rides on resolving personal and cultural issues.
Several years ago, my son, Josh, and I visited Gene for the weekend. Gene
was frustrated by the difficulties in maintaining communication with younger
people. We talked about the Internet, about Google, about what to learn
and how to avoid the
forgetting curve.
We shared our frustration that
many younger people have lost their curiosity and wrote a short paper about
restoring the joy in learning and about
learning and forgetting. I built his
web site as a tool for exploring
Internet-centric learning and addressing issues of curiosity and
forgetting. These pages about the building of
the new Cooper River Bridge (Ravenel bridge) reflect a continuation of
our explorations in learning, sharing and igniting curiosity among young
learners.
posted at: 08:25 | path:
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