This morning I got back to writing. This is very hard to do during the holidays and considering the fact that I am very busy at work with people being out. My driving from Houston to Austin every week does not help either. Ok, no more pity. :-) No one cares anyway, the sooner you learn that the better. So, I got up this morning at 530 am and worked on my paper for about an hour and a half. If I want to get more done I simply need to be more disciplined about going to sleep. I am also preparing for an opportunity that is coming up and that is taking away some of my time as well. So, today I worked more on my transition sentences from one section to another and moving from cites around. I now feel pretty good about my first seven pages. I have 18 total that I am reworking to submit. In my next sitting which I am targeting to be Friday morning, since I am on the road tonight, have a meeting early on Thursday in Houston, then driving back to Austin and working all day on Thursday, should be Thursday night or Friday morning. The plan is to continue working my at least better transitions. If I make it through that, I want to add more cites that I have collected (see notes) and then start my problem statement section and move on to there. No more projections regarding when I will submit this draft. I will simply keep working on it as much as I can. I am definitely progressing, just not as frequent or fast as I would like. I would love to keep momentum and write tonight but I simply wont have the opportunity. The next source I would like to cite in my section on education is Watkins work on the history of Black Education.


Until Next time,
Kai Dupe

I spent some time this reworking my introduction. I think it is stronger now and makes the case of why this is important. It took me an hour just to do that. I could not find my notes from my last session which had my next steps on it. From now on I will post my notes for next time here so do not run the risk of losing valuable night and insights that were generated while working. I also looked over Blacks and Technology, Volume II by Raymond L. Chukwu and used it as a source in one of my sections for chapter 1.

Kai

I am still writing my chapter 1. I have 18 pages. I am still adding citations that I think are important. However, I also need to work on the flow of it and continue to produce my headings. Early in this week, I intend to finish my citations for this first draft and get all of my headings done and complete the flow. I should submit this first draft on Sunday. I will work on my paper every day this week including Saturday and Sunday in order to reach this goal. During my quiet time this morning, the thought arose that perhaps the reason I am still in an IT workplace is because this is the context I need to ask my research question. It is where I have the most familiarity with the profession and where I have the best access. The question is does the workplace provide the population that can answer the question: Why Are There So Few African Americans Choosing Careers in Information Technology?
And if so, how can I design a study around that question?

-Kai

After meditating this morning for about an hour, I worked on my chapter 1 of my dissertation. I have about 18 pages now but this will need to be distilled. But man I have some good stuff. There is still more work to be done. I have material from at least four other books and several articles that I want to include. That will make it even better. It will need to tighten up. The hard part for me now is going back and linking everything together better and really honing in on how I am going to study this problem so that the chapter 1 can lead into it. I know what I want to study, 'Why Are African Americans so underrepresented in the field of Information Technology? The question is how do I go about asking this question? My work for next time is to review the materials mentioned above, think about my headings and transitions and work on them, and maybe after that re-arrange a few things for flow. My goal is to have it arranged and tight and about 15 pages by Sunday night. I would have to do some work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to submit Sunday morning. We will see how it goes. It will be tough since we are having a birthday party for my son on Saturday. I am going to try to rise early on Saturday and Sunday and see what happens. My backup plan is to submit during the week of Thanksgiving. I am very close to submitting so I feel pretty good. This week has been my only opportunity to work. If I had been able to focus this week I definitely could have submitted by Sunday. Oh well, I will keep plugging away. Time to go workout and then off to work.

Dr. Kai (someday soon)

I have been writing. I have 9 pages of my chapter 1 written and I have been thinking about my research design. I have not worked on my paper this week as work has been busy and family has been busy. My son John Kai celebrated his 2nd birthday this week. I am having the time of my life. I should get some work done on it this weekend and over the ThanksGiving Holiday I should complete chapter 1.

This morning completed my writings based on chapter 1 of Technology and the African American Experience. I think this book, at least the first chapter, has produced gold in terms of contributing to my chapter one and describing the problem of Why There Are So Few African Americans in Information Technology. This chapter lays the foundation for the historic origins of the attitude that black people are technologically inferior. This is important because we see these attitudes prevailing in several of the studies i have examined thus far in 2009. What has to change is the eradication of these attitudes by those who have been conditioned and those who are doing the conditioning. I hope to finish the book this week before returning to Technology and Social Inclusion. After that I should have enough to craft my chapter 1. It should be rich. However, I will need to arrange and wordsmith. I am really looking forward to finally submitting a first draft of my chapter 1 to Dr. Riel. I really feel that I am gaining momentum, learning a great deal, and truly enjoying the journey. I also discovered several resources, scholars such as Ron Takaki, Robert Rydell, and Michael Adams, as well as Technology and Culture, which is a magazine that examines the history of technology. I need to figure out how to get access or a subscription.

Stay Tuned,
Kai

This morning I progressed through chapter 1 of Technology and the African-American Experience. It is a collection of essays edited by Bruce Sinclair. I purchased this book because before becoming a doctoral student, much of the improvement in my life has been born out of reading of Africans in America. This book examines the intersection of race and technology and it is mind-blowing. Here is a quote from page 1


White Americans, including those as committed to Enlightenment ideals as Thomas Jefferson—even as he corresponded with Benjamin Banneker, the African American astronomer and almanac maker—believed that black people among them were mentally inferior, and by that they didn’t just mean a capacity for advanced intellectual accomplishment. What good would freedom be, one southerner put it, to a field hand whose highest faculties were taxed “to discriminate between cotton and crop-grass, and to strike one with a hoe without hitting the other? (Sinclair 2004, p.1).

Now we are getting somewhere. This document the origins of the concept that African Americans do not have the ingenuity to invent and that technological innovation to be left to those of a lighter hue. Was Thomas Jefferson a white supremacist. I like that term better than racist because it is more precise. After reading the chapter I wrote 2 pages in my chapter 1. Again this is zero-draft stuff. This book has me very excited about how I will fit this historical viewpoint into my chapter 1,so I am going to take it to work and read another chapter. I would like to get through the book and capture my thoughts for the weekend. My goal is to craft first draft and send it to Margaret on November 1.

No work yesterday. There are simply no opportunities for me to work when I am home on the weekends. Focus should be better next week if work allows. Last week was brutal.

Nothing to report. I am simply too mentally tired from the work week. I must get some writing done over the weekend.

No work last night. I worked a 12-hour day and I was back at work at 7:30. I was simply too tired. I am hoping to do a couple of pages tonight as well as on Friday morning.

I was not able to do any writing on Monday night. This is my travel day and I am usually too tired to even think by the time I arrive at my hotel. However, I am ready to complete my research so I have decided that no matter what I will write for at least an hour, even on Monday evenings. Last night I forgot the book I am reviewing so I did some work from Technology and the African American Experience. This book does a nice job at looking at the intersection of race and technology in America. I did some writing after reading the first chapter.

This morning and last night I completed my review and zero draft of Stuck in the Shallow End. This work yielded 43 pages of zero draft. Next I am on to Technology and Social Inclusion. It should not take as long as I have learned how to be more effective at doing this. Probably, over the weekend, I will take a break from this work, and get back to some reading. It is easier for me to read on the weeks as opposed to write since I am back home. My plan is to make significance progress in the reading of Grown Up Digital. I also wanted to place the link here for the software used by the Margolis team: http://www.atlasti.com/

More of the same. Almost done reviewing and writing about Stuck in the Shallow End. The last chapter is providing content for the kind of information that is suited for chapter 2, meaning approaches that have been attempted to solve the problem I am describing in chapter 1. My goal for Wednesday is to finish this book and move on to Warschauer. But I must say Margolis is a gold mine of information and ideas.

Tonight I continued going over Margolis. It is very promising but it is slow going. I think once I have done my review I will have plenty to do a rough draft of chapter 1. However, so far I do not have much for a chapter 2.

For the last 2 days I have continued my work on going back over my readings (name stuck in the shallow end) and doing zero drafts of my chapters 1 and 2 as suggested earlier. One conclusion that I have come to since my starting this research is that the dearth of African Americans and Latino students in this field has nothing to do with the field or anything to do with access and it all has to do with race and social conditioning and how expectations shape these communities beliefs about themselves and their identity as it relates to this field. When I began I felt something interesting was going on between African Americans and this particular field. I do not believe that anymore.

Last week I continued to go back over my reading and write from what I have read thus far determining what would be suited for chapter 1 and chapter 2. I should complete that exercise this week and get back to writing as I think and read. When I feel pretty good about how much of the literature I have covered I plan to actually go back and rewrite the drafts. Also, this week, one of my co-workers had a copy of "Growing Up Digital" on his desk. I borrowed the copy and I will read it next week and incorporate it into my chapters. I decided to get a copy since Margaret mentioned it may be a good study to model.

Kai

No writing over the weekend. I will hit hard again on Monday.

Last night I began my new writing strategy after reading from "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day" by Joan Bolker. The idea is to write something every day, however you define everyday and also to make thinking and writing the first thing you do each. I am going to try for my everyday, Monday thru Friday since my weekends belong to my family. So, this morning I rose. Washed my face and headed to my computer and start to write my ideas and thoughts about my dissertation. It seemed to work well. Now this does not mean I may not write at other times, but for certain I will write each day as my first task of the day. Afterword, I worked out and took a shower and had breakfast before leaving for the office. What a great start to the day!

Title

Black Like Me? The Missing Faces in Technology and Innovation: Why Are So Few African Americans Pursuing Careers in Information Technology?

Tonight I continued to review my notes from my reading of "Stuck in the Shallow End" by Jane Margolis. I hope to complete this review in the next couple of days and then move on to Technology and Social Inclusion by Warshchauer. From there, I will review several of the articles that I have read and include them in my chapter. When I feel good about this, I will start reading again my next set of articles that will hopefully complete my chapter 1 and build my chapter 2. I would like to have chapters 1, 2 and 3 done by December. I still need a title. Although, I am very clear that I would like to look at the problem of the underrepresentation of African Americans in Information Technology, as of yet I still do not have a title for my dissertation. Here is on that I am thinking about:


Cracking the Code: Why Are So Few African Americans Pursuing Careers in Information Technology?

Today I went back over my notes from "Stuck in the Shallow End". This is my favorite piece of reading thus far on my topic. As i was reviewing and adding content and notes to my chapter 1, something I read made me think. Although I am not interested in doing my study in schools, I am interested in knowing why so few African Americans pursue careers in Information Technology. On page 9 of the book I read this:

Margolis committed her next research project to understanding what was happening at the high school level for students of color because African American and Latino majoring in computer science remained extremely low. She went on to write: It is during high school when students make academic decisions that have the most serious implications for their college and/or career opportunities.


I am definitely going to have to think about this. It makes sense that this would be a good place to look and I definitely interested in understanding this problem. I am just not excited about the idea of conducting my research in a school.

I could interview some of the student participants of BDPA. What is it about BPDA that encourages them to pursue careers in information technology that is missing from school.

A Case Study of Black Data Processing Associates:Closing the computer science gap in America.

Maybe I can do a case study of BDPA? I do not want to deal with schools. Here is a organization devoted to bridging the digital divide and getting young African Americans involved in technology. I need to think about this more....

http://www.betf.org/index.html

check this link. let me know what you think.

Or maybe I can write a paper or culturally relevant pedagogy as it pertains to computer science or information technology. Of course this approach places me back in schools where I do not wish to be.

Last night I spent time reviewing my readings and my blog posts and adding them to my actual draft of my paper. I did finish reviewing them all but I should have that done by the weekend. My plan is to complete that activity before I start reading again then I will continue to aggregate my readings into the appropriate chapter. I think from the reading my topic and study will become more defined. I understand that now.

Working on my dissertation tonight. I am going back over my blog notes. I was taking notes while I was reading. This is helping me to form my chapter 1 and chapter 2. I came across a potential study.

Maybe I could do a case study of a school where African Americans are excelling in Computer Science?

In other words, it is known that African Americans are not doing well in Math or Computer Science. Suppose I located a school where African Americans are excelling. And study it. Do a case study and relate the success stories in my dissertation. What are they doing at this school they can be replicated at other schools across the country.

Let me know what you think

Potential Title:

The Next Generation of The Black Digerati: Success Stories of African American Student Exemplars of Computer Science

Research Topic:

Digital Equity Among Information Technology Professionals

I did not work on my paper last night. I am hoping to put in a few hours on Sunday.

Tonight I worked on my outline for chapter 1. I also read an example chapter one and thought about my readings. I am sure this will change but it is a starting point. I intend to write to this outline on Thursday night.

Last night I started writing my chapter one. I started to look back over the materials I have read thus far to capture my thoughts for chapter one. I also combed over The Craft of Research. Additionally, I reviewed several chapter one examples. Tonight I intend to really get something down from the sources that I have read over the last few weeks. Once I feel that I have done that, I will get back to the process of reading and writing in order to produce chapters 1 and 2. My project has started in earnest.

More ideas from Margaret:

It is my sense that your topic has been shifting as you were looking at leaders before. But maybe you still do plan to look at leaders. It just seems you have more focus on your topic. When you say "studies like this"...what do you mean exactly? I think that getting some IT people from different backgrounds might be interesting and finding out what their school IT culture was. Also you might want to find some non-IT AA and see what their school culture was like and how it affected the way they use computers. Think about it and let's talk soon.

Today I communicated with Dr. Riel via email and found out that I should have been writing chapter 1 and chapter 2 while I was reading. I have not been doing that. She also mentioned how I may go about producing these chapters. Tonight I am officially starting the writing process. She also mentioned that I was narrowing in on my topic. I thought I already had a topic. I want to look at the question of Why African Americans are so underrepresented in the field of Information Technology or Computer Science. She and another one of my classmates also gave me a few ideas about how I could do design a study by doing a school comparison which I am not interested. Another idea is to interview young African Americans in Information Technology about their high school culture as it relates to IT. I will do more reading this week with this idea in mind later in the week. Tonight I want to get the writing started and do a little more reading in The Craft of Research to get a better idea of what is a topic.

Last night I received feedback from Margaret that I should have been writing while I was reading. I was not doing that. So, tonight the writing starts. She gave me good guidance as to how to go about doing that. Also, I received feedback from Karen regarding an idea of how to do design my study. One was to do a comparison study between schools. I am not really interested in dealing with the schools. Another idea was to interview IT Pros and have them discuss their experiences. I also search and found a few articles that I intend to read tonight as I begin the writing process. Take 2 of chapter one begins tonight!

I have also connected HCI with my readings on persuasive technology. HCI of course referring to the design of Human Computer Interaction. I am now thinking about HHI. Human Human Interaction. How do we design learning such that learners are motivated to embrace technology? Can we DESIGN curriculum in a way that facilitates this process? Is there a study there?

no work on Friday night. too tired. after driving home. I will work on Saturday and Sunday though.

Yesterday I begin reading New Literacies by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel. This is another text that we used in class that I was not able to read deeply during the courses. I connected with it after studying Warschauer and his ideas about literacy as well as Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I have also begin reading Persuasive Technology by BJ Fogg. This is very interesting from the standpoint of technology being embedded and social (discussed in Warschauer). It is also giving me ideas from the standpoint of analyzing the digital divide. I have read much about the issues now focusing on usage, relevance and social practices. Fogg discusses the persuasiveness of technology. Can we use technology to get people to use technology? That is my question as I read.

Completed my second, thoughtful reading of Technology and Social Inclusion by Mark Warschauer. This section stood out in the final chapter:

The starting point for a progressive consideration of ICT in any institution should not be the digital divide and how to overcome it but rather the broader social structures and functions of the institutions and how ICT might be used to help make them more democratic, equitable, and socially inclusive.

I was also able to give thought to expanded research areas beyond access and use. I am thinking about the possibilities beyond issues of access such as questions of outcome. I am giving some thought to investigating variations in rates of return to technology use for different subgroups with the population.

-Kai

I am still reading. I completed my re-read of Warshchauer (Technology and Social Inclusion). There is much good information regarding why marginalized communities are not embracing technology, but more importantly his work points out the ramifications for these groups. It led me to several other documents to read which I plan to continue this week. Tonight I will decide if I want to get into more detail on Situated Learning, Critical Pedagogy, New Literacies, or Persuasive Technologies. I also have several articles that I downloaded while reading Warshchauer and Jane Margolis. The overarching theme that seems to be present is not so much lack of physical access to computers but more how they are used and what attitudes are cultivated regarding their use. Much of what I read lately leads me back to social learning theory and what we talked about with Vygotsky, and Lave and Wenger, Communities of practice, etc. This part is exciting to me because there is where I want to be. Further it connects me to broader theories that I was studying before Culturally Relevant Pedagogies which are based on Vygotsky and Lave. I guess I will continue reading.

Kai

I am still reading Warshchauer. It is slow going as work has been very demanding for the past few weeks. But I am making good connections with other areas. I definitely see how communities of practice will play a role, public, policy and also Roger's work in Diffusion of Innovation.

I can also see where Friedman's The World is Flat, Pink's A Whole New Mind, and some of the studying we did of HCI as well. My big discovery this
week was Dr. B.J. Fogg of Stanford and the Persuasive Technology lab.

-Kai

Last week I re-read and actually studied Stuck in the Shallow End. I followed that up by getting into Technology and Social Inclusion. My goal was to complete this work but family duties prevented that. I will finish it this week. Both books have really helped me to see where I wish to go. It has allowed me to see the connection with social learning theory. I went and grabbed Daniels and How People Learn as I remembered how I resonated with those. Both books emphasize how the problems are social problems. This also allowed me to connect with ideas I was studying for my initial study regarding Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. I can how this will all have a place. I can even see a connection with Communities of Practice. So, anyway I am still reading. I also read an article by Claude Steele entitled "Race and the Schooling of African Americans that was referenced in Stuck in the Shallow End.

Today I spent 4 hours I completed my reading of Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race and Computing. The book enlightened me on the many ways inequities persist in our schools as it relates to computer science in particular and education in general. As a computer professional for over 20 years my question has always been: Where is the diversity? This book helps me to understand how the pathway for Blacks and Latinos to enter these fields are not as open as one would think. My take on the book takes me back to my understanding of social conditioning and politics that I learned when I was reading Black History from scholars such as Cheik Anta Diop, John Henrik Clark and others. Once you dig beneath the surface the reasons are the same. The question is what do we do about it? Margolis leaves me with a great question and that is: Are they schools where computer science instruction is going well for latinos and blacks? What are the ingredients for success? Let us locate the success stories. Are they schools where students of color are excelling in computer science?

This week I am still reading:

Margolis, J. (2008). Stuck in the shallow end education, race, and computing. Cambridge, MA: The MIT P.

I hope to finish it this weekend and begin to mine some of the sources as well as get back to searching for other articles.

Last night I read Digital Equity: New Findings from the early childhood longitudinal study. It was written by Sharon Judge, Kathleen Puckett and Burcu Cabuk. I also continued reading the Barber book.

Last night I was wiped and I did not do anything but relax.

Last night I read another article and began reading my new book. The article was titled New Image of Computing. The study was published by the WGBH Educational Foundation and the Association for Computing Machinery. In this study, researchers looked at the attitudes of students toward careers in computing. One of the things they found was that Hispanic and African American males were very interested in these fields, however they do not see this interest translate into academia or the workplace. I found this to be very interesting. There was indeed a difference in the attitudes with respect to gender. The question was asked why the enthusiasm does not translate? Perhaps that is a way to look at this question. What is the difference? What happens to young Black and Hispanic males after high school that results in their absence in the computing fields in academia or the workplace? I also began reading The Information Society and the Black Community by John T. Barber and Alice A. Trait. The best thing about this book is that it provides me with a wealth of references as well as introduced a theoretical framework.

Does the Information Age promise egalitarianism and democracy, or will it simply reinforce long-standing social and economic inequalities? This collection of essays analyzes the emerging role of African-Americans in post-industrial society from a variety of communications research perspectives. Accepting W.J. Wilson's theory of a socially and economically isolated African-American underclass, Barber and Tait ask the logical question: what next? The Information Society and the Black Community is a critical examination of the prospects and pitfalls of a historically disadvantaged group in a period of rapid technological advances and economic growth. Adopting Frank Websters theory of the Information Society as a framework for organization and development, the book is divided into five sections that look at technological, economic, occupational, spatial, and cultural aspects of the relationship between the African-American community and the Information Society. Part One analyzes data on African-American use of information technology, and examines how the new flow of information might effect African-American social and cultural images. Part Two focuses on African-American participation in the ownership and control of information industries. Part Three treats professional training and employment patterns affecting African-Americans in the Information Age. Part Four centers around the potential uses of information technology in solving social, political, and economic problems. Part Five addresses the growing connections of the African-American community to Africa and the rest of the world via information technology.

Last night I read From Origins to Implications Key aspects in the debate over the digital divide. It was written by Jeffrey James

I was not able to get anything done last night as I was involved in a traffic accident. By the time I arrive at my hotel I was wiped out. Tonight I should be able to read a couple of articles.

Last night I read the article "Blacks in Computer Science" by Theresa Sullivan Barger and Eric Addison. Here is a link. It was printed in the National Society of Black Engineers Journal.

Tonight I read an article by Paul C. Gorski. The article was titled:

Multicultural Education and Technology Insisting on Digital Equity: Reframing the Dominant Discourse on Multicultural Education and Technology. I learned a lot. I also learned that Margaret had written in her article and communicated to me via emails was not far from what is being discussed today regarding this issue.


When reviewing the references I noticed a reference to the John T. Barber books that I am reading:

Gandy, O. (2001). African Americans and privacy: Understanding the Black perspective in the
emerging policy debate. In J. Barber & A. Tait (Eds.), The information society and the
Black community (pp. 59-73). Wesport, CT: Praeger.


I also noted a reference from Warschauer. We used one of his books in a class with Linda. I enjoyed his work a great deal and I had already dug it out to use as part of my research:

Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

I think I will re-read this article on Thursday and continue reading more articles as I continue to steep myself in the literature.

Last night I read the article Dr. Riel sent me on the digital divide that she wrote in 2002. I learned who some of the players were at that time and what the thinking was. The article is titled: School Change with Technology: Crossing the Digital Divide. I also spent some time familiarizing myself with Papers. The mac software that I will use to organize my reading. Lastly, I spent a few minutes continuing my reading from The Black Digital Elite by John T. Barber.

Last night I did not do any writing after hearing from Dr. Riel. I am not sure now if I should write or read. Today, I am reading the paper she passed on to me that she wrote on the digital divide. Once I hear back from her I will decide what to do tonight. If I do not hear from her I will read over her email and make a decision of how to work tonight.

I was given an idea to perhaps speak my first chapter. Talk it and then transcribe it. I will think about this some tonight and I will also read the paper on the digital divide that Margaret sent to me.

black men in prison,
not finishing their education,
jobs going to immigrants,
shorter life expectancy
analogy to drilling for domestic oil instead of importing foreign oil.

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/05/26/your-money-with-dr-boyce-barack-obama-and-black-unemployment/


http://www.elecvillage.com/BITSummit-0303.html

I discovered a great book this weekend that I am sure will be part of my research. I may not get time to write over the weekend but I can certainly think and read. The book I am reading is called The Black Elite by John Barber. It made me think about my study. Perhaps I could interview those who are considered The Black Digerati Elite by John T. Barber. I wonder if Barber would consider being on my committee. I could ask the elite among African Americans what they see as the factors or conditions that lead to the dearth of African American males in Information Technology.

Last night I returned to Houston. I usually do not get much work done during the weekend. But on Thursday night, working from my outline I was able to begin my writing. I have 4 pages produced toward my introduction. I am really hoping I get an opportunity to write on Sunday, but if not my goal is to double my output and organize my thoughts and ideas this coming week.

Last night I revied the introduction to my Masters thesis. This was a helpful excerise. I also continued to work on my outline. I think I came up with a few good components to begin to write my chapter 1. My plan is to start writing tonight.

I did not get any work done over the holiday weekend. But I am ok with that as I was very productive during the week. I spent the weekend enjoying time with my family. And it was worth it. I was productive in terms of locating all of the books that I mentioned in previous posts and I organized them. I also located my Masters thesis which I intended to read tonight, but I did not get it read. For this week, I plan to read it and do more brainstorming and working on my outline. This is a short week but I need to get some work done. I am very hopeful to start writing this week and submit my first draft next week.

On Thursday night (May 21, 2009) I started to think about my outline. I did some brainstorming using mind map software. I think I came up with some good things and some not so good. I intend to go through this excercise a couple of more times as I read over some of the ideas in the craft of research. I intend to have some sort of outline done before the weekend is over and I intend to spend next week writing off of the outline.

Kai

Last night I read over Whip's dissertation introduction and I also thought about the outline for my introduction. I also looked for several articles using the keywords that I came up with. Tonight I plan to sketch my outline before I start writing this weekend.

Last night while thinking about my study and reading I remembered certain books that I have read that I can use. Roger's Diffusion of Innovation. This should be a good one. And also Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide. I also will use New Literacies by Michelle Knobel. I also thought of keywords that I can use to find literature such as digital divide, and technology adoption.

I did some reading last night and thought about what I needed to include in my chapter one. I also received clarification from Dr. Riel regarding what should be in the chapter. I love the way KE did hers and that will be my model. Tonight I plan to finish my book and do a little writing.

I also want to remember to search for my Master's thesis which Dr. Diop remarked was very helpful to him on this journey. I need to find my copy of Race, Rhetoric, and Technology.

This week I intend to get some writing done. I have received clarification on what should be in chapter 1. I also read a couple of chapter 1's last week as well as reviewed The Craft of Research. I will continue to review it as a write. I also have given myself a deadline of June 19, 2009 to be done with my chapter 1. This week I will read Blacks and Technology. It is written by Raymond Chukwu and it should fit nicely into my introduction. I also intend to use Technology and Social Inclusion. This is a work that we studied in one of my courses at Pepperdine.

And now I am back. I have just removed myself from my partnership from Fred Pryor Seminars. I am also taking a break from teaching at Kaplan University so that I can reach the two goals that I have setup for myself in 2009. The first goal is to complete my dissertation and become Dr. Kai in 2010. The second goal is to spend more time with my family. As of today, outside of work these are the only two areas that I will focus my life exclusively for the next year. I have also written to my chair, Dr. Margaret Riel about changing the focus of my study. This week I will get back to putting some serious hours into finishing my paper. And I will not lose focus again!

Kai

I have not been able to work on my dissertation the last few weeks because I have been traveling and growing my speaking business.

My goal was to submit my first draft of my introduction on Monday night (3/16). I did not make it. I do feel however that I made progress and that I am progressing. This week I incorporated the CNN special from last year. I think my next step is to somehow include proof that others feel that the way to go is to teach young black males how to succeed in spite of their circumstances since thos are gettint worse. Right now I am having to make a tough decision. I have a lot going on and I think I need to cut back some and really focus on my dissertation as I am ready to get it done and make real progress during the week. I am going to ponder this for the rest of the week and discuss it with my wife. I hope to have something for you to take a look at next week. I worked on my paper for 3 hours last night and I would like to work on it more tonight but it seems I end up not being able to get back to my work for another week. It is very frustrating.

Hello Everyone,

Seems like a rough week for all. I did not get any writing done as I have been sick. Hard to focus. But I did some reading instead and discovered a report that I will try to fit into my introduction. It is called: "Public Education and the Black Male Student". It is published by the Schott Foundation for Education. I am still feeling sick but my goal is to get my first cut done this week.

Margaret I have attached in case you want to take a look.

This week I started working on my introduction. I have set a goal to complete the introduction by March 1, 2009. I spent time this week reviewing the introduction I wrote in Kay’s class. I also began to review the introduction that Karen wrote to get my ideas back flowing and get an idea of what I would like to convey. I did some review of the Creswell book as well.

I developed an outline for the introduction and begin to collect the literature that I wish to cite. I have also carved out a time and a place for writing. My family has relocated to Houston but I am still in Austin. I have an entire week to devote to my writing efforts. I am excited to find out what I am able to produce without distractions

I also started reading “A Love Letter to Black People”. This is a work that I may be able to cite in my intro.