Semester Winding Down

Hello again!

The semester has come to a fast halt! I am amazed at how quickly the semester has gone by. I have learned a lot of new concepts and ideas that I can apply to real life situations. I have gained new knowledge of using Moodle, Second Life, Blogger, Wiki Spaces, etc. I will leave this course possessing more knowledge than when I started - thus the course has been successful for me. What I learn in a course tells me if it was worth my while and if my knowledge base increased because of it, to me that is a successful course.

A grade does not mean that you learned anything or even comprehended the material. A grade means that you have completed the requirements for a certain grade of your choice. That is a good determining factor in how much effort you put into a class, but for me I need personal gratification. What did I learn? How does this apply to me? How can I use this new knowledge at my job? How can I use this knowledge to help others? etc. Those questions are how I perceive a class to be successful or not. As a undergraduate student it was all about the letter grade to me, but than I graduated and realized I knew next to nothing and had this wonderful degree framed on my wall!

That's life - you live and you learn...

Tina

How to grade me?

In one of the discussion forums for class, we were asked to define how we should be graded for a certain assignemt...I could not think of guidelines! What is wrong with me? This became a very hard task for me. Now if you had asked me this in highschool or even middle school I would have said "a student should recieve credit as long as he/she turns it in". I know understand that there is more complicated than I would believe it to be.

Teachers now have rubrics, standards, guides, even manuals to teach them to grade properly. I have a new respect for educators today. There is so much associated with their jobs and the salary does NOT match the effots. Teachers are the very essence of our society! They teach the future doctors, lawyers, transportation engineers, factory workers, pharmacist, computer technicians, etc. The grades that they dispel to their students properly reflect the work that a student turns in. Grades assist students in learning their skill levels - what there strengths and weaknesses are.

In short, I guess I didn't realize the necessity of grades until charged with the responsibility of creating my own grading guidelines.

That's all for now...

Professional Development

We have been talking a great deal about professional development. I have come to realize the importance of continuous development in one's field. How it makes you more marketable and current. Professional development is also an excellent way to

• network with other professionals in your field;
• stay up to date with the latest developments in your field
• discover best practices
• be aware of new laws, policies, jobs, etc

So in essence, professional development not only gets you away from your job site, but it allows you to become more knowledgeable and marketable in your field. You are also able to disseminate the information to your fellow co-workers or staff members so as to keep the information going and relevant. So employers need to ensure they are allowing and encouraging their employees to partake in professional development activities.

That is all for now....

Tina

The Advancements of Technology

This week has been very intriguing and historically informative. We are discussing the importance and immergence of hypermedia/hypertext, computer mediated communications and digital videos. To think, these technologies once never existed before....Could you imagine life without them? As a society we have become so spoiled to instant gratification, that returning back to times when there were telegraphs, morse code, no cell phones or e-mail would be complete torture for most of us.

This weeks issues have made me appreciate all of the technologies that we are afforded and don't always take the time to appreciate. The assignment has made me realize how much of my life is digitzed, sometimes out of necessity. I think looking into the importance of these issues are vital to enable us to understand the impact of their emergence in education. I believe that education has benefited greatly from technology. The way lessons are taught, teachers are trained and students are engaged have all been impacted by technology in a positive way.

We are now able to commucicate with other educators from all over the world in a chatroom, research topics via the Internet instantly, utilze Power Points, SmartBoards, etc to engage students.

Semester Chaos

It is me yet again!

I am in the 9th week of my classes and I am starting to beleive that sleep deprivation is a normal concept of a graduate students life. It so happens that all of my class assignments are due between October 26 - 29th. Like all of my professors got together and had the great idea of making them all due at the same time. IHowever, I am sure this was not the case. I have completely busied myself with research papers, group projects, visitations and discussion boards. I have to constantly remind myself of the bigger picture to get through it all.

I have come to know nothing of a social life and have become a permanent fixture in the library. My studies have instilled in me a great deal of determination and hardwork. As a result I am able to handle pressures, stress and deadlines at work with no problem! I have been fortuante enought to be ble to translate my educaiton into real-world experiences. It is my hopes and plan to continue to do so upon graduating next year.

So now that I am done ranting and raving, back to the subject. We are now working on the fifth issue that deals with hypermedia, CMC and other digital medias. I have not been able to make an informed choice on what topic I will choose. I still have yet to finish all of the readings. However, I think that I am leaning towards CMC due to past experiences. I will continue to follow the postings of other classmates and make a final decision soon!

Until the next time.......

Copyright and Fair Usage

I have come across this topic in the last over and over in the last couple of weeks. I have noticed that teachers, library media specialist are especially interested in the topic. I myself never gave it any real thought. I mean, I know that you can't copy DVD, Cd's, CD-Rom's etc but i did not understand the who concept of fair usage and such.

After working on assignments in classes dealing with the issue, it made me want to learn more about it. I have never worked as a librarian, library media specialist or teacher so I am not familiar with the rules and guidelines of copyrights and fair usage.

Copyright and fair usage policies are extremely important. It is vital that you remember to disseminate that information to others in your school or around you. These are very serious issues today and must be handled appropriately. I know myself, I will be more aware of these issues and take steps to rectify my past actions. See I knew there was a reason for this course :)

Until next time,

Tina

Week # 6

Hello again,

We are a third way through the semester and I have begun to feel overwhelmed! The assignments are becoming more involved in both my classes and sometimes I forget which assignment is for which course. I have purchased a planner to enable myself to write down assignment due dates for the month. That way I can plan my weeks accordingly. We will see how this works.

On the up side, I am enjoying the class assignments, just wish we had more time to work on them. Thus far the course has been very intriguing and pushed me to think further than surface thinking. I have become a bit more analytical of what is read, what I research and what I take from it. The next assignment is coming due soon, so I shall sign off of here to continue working on it. Until the next time.....

Tina