Introduction

[Duane Morin <dmorin@tiac.net>]

Hi all,

I see some introductions here, and since I'm new, I figure I'll introduce 
myself.

My name's Duane, and I'm in Massachusetts.  I'm not a teacher or 
administrator, I'm a software engineer currently working for a financial 
company.  But I went to college to study both computer science and "society 
technology studies", with an emphasis on information literacy.  What that 
means is that I did my undergrad thesis in 1990 on the impact of the internet 
on the classroom.  That's before the web exploded.  I still try to keep my 
feet wet with the whole computers-in-schools issue, stay in touch with my old 
professors, etc.  I'm actually expecting to give a presentation in March on 
using Linux machines to foster information literacy.  I'm sure I'll have more 
to say about that later, if my topic gets accepted.

I'm quite familiar with Java (code in it all day long), and know XML.  I 
haven't
coded any projects under Linux, but I use it at home regularly.  I'm currently
up to my eyeballs in other tasks, but hopefully I'll contribute wherever 
I can.

Information literacy, at least the way my group uses the term, means that we 
stop saying "Oh wow, look, an information age" and start acting on it.  Making 
computers as ubiquitous as pens and pencils.  Less emphasis on "Here's a class 
in how to use the computer" and more classes on "Here's how we're gonna learn 
X Y and Z and we're just gonna happen to use a computer to do it."  Computers 
in every classroom, not just a couple of highpowered labs.  Nobody marches 
their kids down to the library once a week to all take turns reading out of a 
special leatherbound edition of the math text.  Better to make due with older 
editions that are losing their covers, as long as every student gets his own.  
Computers should be the same way.

Projects I'm interested in : database/statistics manipulation.  That's pretty 
much the most raw form of information you can get, and it's got lots of uses.
Looking for something (or to make something) that moves the emphasis off the
tech, and onto the function.  Don't care "How do I do a crosstab?", but rather
"What does this crosstab tell me?"    Reading versus reading comprehension.
I started this project back in school (wrote a natural language interface to 
SPSSx), but never saw it ocmpleted.  And technology's changed *alot* since
then!

That's about it for me.  Hi.

Duane