Reflections on Blogging

The blogging assignment has probably been my most favorite assignment in this class. I remember the first night of class long long ago well just about four weeks ago actually when Dr. Merrill asked the class how many of us blog. I don't remember seeing many if any hands go up. Now I think through our accounts on Blogger.com we are all official bloggers that have a pretty good understanding of what and how to blog. What I have learned from this experience is that it is a great way to post anything whether it be on education, weather, family, whatever and have everyone or no one read it. It is a great way to have your concerns addressed and a cheap way to seek great advise from others that have experienced what you have posted. Not only is blogging a great way to get advise and feedback it is also a great way to give feedback to others and maybe find others that have posted similar issues as yours. Viewing comments that other's have left on mine and others blogs I have also noticed that blogging can be a great way to start conversations and either ban people together that agree on a common issue or start a conversation where two or more opposing views are represented.

Online vs. Face to Face Classes

I know a couple of other people might have blogged about this topic too, but I wanted to post my two confused cents on the issue as well. I honestly wish I could work from home and do school from home, maybe for the laziness factor and of course the pajama appeal but in other aspects I think it is a big weighing the pros and the cons and honestly I think our setup of a hybrid cohort doing some online and some in the class is great. I like going to class a time or two to get clarity and direction on our assignments but I find myself once in class looking at the clock hoping to be let out early. For our EDU 595 class I honestly wish we had a bit more clarity and maybe we would have if we were able to meet at least one more time? Using the GoogleGroup tool our class has banded together and helped each other out. Everyone's helping hand makes me glad that I have 8 more classes with the same people. I just hope that the fact that this class was mostly online work that my little CD with all of my assignments that I will nervously hand in Friday will be what was expected of me.

Education In A Minute!

I remember being a senior in high school preparing to apply to different universities and thinking about my future. Looking to start school in August I applied around March hoping that was enough time to get everything set to start the following fall. I thought this was how it was and that it was common knowledge, until about two years ago. I am amazed by the expectations people have at the college level. Some of it is rather funny but people can get frustrated when things are not done in literally a minute. Trying to assist people that are considering CMU as a school of choice, the things I thought were common knowledge seem not to be. Being in this cohort we all know that this program is going to take about two years to complete unless we pick up more classes at other locations. I am not saying it is a quick degree but compared to our bachelor's degrees which I myself had 154 credits and looking at 33 credits for my masters seems a relatively short period of time. When I tell people that it typically takes about 18 months to 2 years to finish a master's program some tend to get livid and can't believe that it would ever take that long to finish any degree. I have actually had people ask about getting a master's degree that they can complete in a maximum of 2 weeks, one even mentioned 2 days - for a master's degree - what? Other people call, tell me they want to register for class two weeks after the class has begun or they want to register and I can't find them in our system. I finally have to ask if they have ever applied to CMU and they admit they haven't and are very surprised that they would have to apply before they are allowed to register for classes - again what? My favorite is when a student calls wants to register, when I ask if they applied they say yes, five minutes ago and they would also like their financial aid by 5pm that day. I know sometimes it can be a frustrating waiting process especially if one is waiting for transcripts to arrive to complete there file but when I say about a two week wait, people get mad and yell at me that they applied this morning and they should have been accepted already, they can't believe that the entire admission process would take longer than one day. Maybe it is me then, because these calls keep coming. Maybe I should be asking about that magic school that offers the 2 week master's degree and allows you to apply to the school after your register for classes and drops your financial aid money off on the same day all before dinner of course. With technology at our fingertips many things have become instant and maybe we will get the point where earning a degree takes about hte same time as having a pizza delivered but I know that at least CMU hasn't gotten to that point yet.

Scary Weather

What is going on with the weather? While I honestly don't mind a snow day here or there this has become a bit ridiculous. I am not even at a k-12 school but rather at the university level and we are also having snow and delayed start days. Being at CMU since 2001, I remember closing maybe once or twice due to the weather. Last year I think they closed early and maybe had a delayed start but already this year and winter is not over yet, we shut down one full day do to a power outage from an ice storm, we were released early one day, opened at noon three times and opened at two in the afternoon once. Looking around the state and even the country, I see that it is not just Mid Michigan with the weird weather. Down state they are having flood warnings. There are also flood warnings throughout the south, deadly tornadoes hitting the mid west. I am not sure what to expect next, cats and dogs raining from the sky, who knows? You here about global warming, end of the world prophecies or is this just an out of the ordinary active winter?

Blogging, Everyone's Business

As I write down my simple thoughts on class, politics, education basically whatever, I think that who will read this? Honestly, maybe 5 people at the most. But who can read this or anything else that is out there? I need to remember that just because many people might not read things I post it doesn't mean they can't. I would never post things that are questionable, racy or could jeopardize my job or family but we hear all the time of this happening. We probably have all googled ourselves to see what is out there on us, I am guilty of this too. Mostly pretty boring educational and job information on me, nothing to be ashamed of. But there are many things that people post that if a family member or employer read it, it could have embarrassing consequences. I have heard of numerous times where employers looking to hire a new employee google them or search for their profile on Myspace. I have mixed feelings about this, because everyone is entitled to a private life outside of work, but as an employer it allows them to do a sort of background check on the potential employee. Basically I think if it is information that you really don't want the rest of the world reading, seeing or knowing about you shouldn't post it on the internet.

College Graduation At Age 81

So it took me 6 years and change in my major to graduate with my Bachelor's degree. I felt a little older but not too bad. Seeing all of my friends that I graduated high school with finish collge 2 years before me and now having the last of them just finish their Master's I felt a little behind in the game in comparison but all is well and I will get there in my sweet time. Attached is an article of a recent CMU graduate that just earned his Bachelor's degree. I bet at times he felt out of place but it his situation and status needs to be admired. His name is Patrick Hackett and he graudated at the young age of 81! Wow, not to many 80 year olds are thinking about pursuing a degree but isn't is fascinating. It reasures us that you can accomplish anything you can put your mind to! Occasionally I speak with students that are in their 60's and 70's and are lookign at taking collge credit to keep their minds sharp. It makes me smile to see that no matter how old you might be you are still entitled to receive an education and it's a great thing.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/METRO04/801240369/140

Our Online Journal

For our online journals that we are supposed to keep for all of our posts, I found a great a site. It is http://www.tribbit.com/tribute/33397.html?create=1. This site is for the creation of online journals. I created three online journals myself, one for the Google Group, one for the Web Chat Board and the other for the Blogger.com. I don't think we needed to journal the Blogger.com posts since it is already in a journal form though.  It was really easy to start up and of course it was free. I basically just titled each journal and then within the journal I titled each post and dated them. Any comments that were posted to my original posts I was able to add in the comment sections. I didn't have to retype anything either,I just cut and pasted my posts into the tribbit journal. You are given a personal URL so you can share the page, sort of like the one at blogger.com. This way I can include a link for Dr. Merril on the webpage we need to put on the CD and hand in. The only question I have is if we have to include all the comments we have posted on others original posts in our journals?

Clarifications On EDU 595 Assignments

I needed some clarification on some of our assignments for class. I think others might be in the same boat so I emailed Dr. Merrill. I thought I would share with everyone who reads this the questions I had and the answers (in red) he gave me.

1. Is there anything specific you are looking for in the Wiki? Our team's Wiki is on the Use of Wiki' s in Education. We were thinking of having it reflect a Wikipedia page, with information on the history, current uses and future of using Wiki's in Education with credible resources listed.
You should also include how teachers and students can use wikis to enhance teaching and learning. Wikis are not just for getting information, they are also for creating and sharing information.

2. Should our Webpage contain everything that was done for the class? Does the website need to be posted and then also put on the CD?
Your homepage will have links to all the assignments. The page(s) are not posted, rather they are burnt on to a CD-R only.

3. Are we presenting anything in class? I know our lesson plan needs to be on the CD, but are we also presenting the lesson plan to the rest of the class?
No to both.

4. I know for our blog we need to post at least three times a week but for the other two posting are they just a one time or as many as we want deal? Fred Sharpsteen created his own googlegroup and I have joined that one and posted to it but I wasn't sure how many times I needed to post to the Web Chat Board and Usernet groups to receive full credit.
I don't set a number of times on the chat board or Usenet groups but you should think about reading and contributing on a regular basis.

Anyone Ahead of the Game?

Spurring off of Sheila's latest post, I was wondering where everyone was at with all their assignments. I have posted to the Usernet and GoogleGroups, but it that only mandatory ones, or do we need to keeping posting and commenting on those as we are our blogs? I have started gathering info and corresponding with my team members but still have work to do on the Wiki. No rubric or strict expectations of the outcome have been given right - can we just go about with our own vision on the Wiki? Are we presenting the lesson plan in class or just posting it on own web page so others can view it? Anyone have any idea on the journal we are keeping with our posts. I have saved my posts in a word file, but I am sure there is more to it all than just pasting the posts onto the website. I guess I have a lot of questions, some might sound silly but it is all a learning process.

2008 Elections - What to think?

I have been sticking to eduction only posts but I thought I would venture into a more thoughtful personal post today. I honestly have no clue what to think about the upcoming elections. I wish I could design the perfect candidate but then it would only be perfect for me. It is hard to tell anymore what to believe and what not to believe. Daily I hear promises of changing our economy, bringing the troops home, alternate sources of energy, healthcare issues etc, etc, promises, promises. If we could believe everything that the candidates promised the decision would be a whole lot easier but it is not so simple. I need to do my own research on each candidate and try to choose one that somewhat resembles a figure that I would like to see lead our nation. I found a great site on Wikipedia that talks about the 2008 elections and has links to each candidate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008

WIKIS

So I ventured into the PBWiki site that Dr. Merrill set up for us. I didn't get to far, added a title and the names of the people in our group. Speaking with one of my class partners I think we were both a little unsure of exactly what is being asked of us. I was thinking that ultimately it will look like a Wikipedia page. Our topic for example is WIKIS in Education so am I right to gather information from credible sources and merge them onto our new WIKI page and credit the original sources in the WIKI. Kind of like a one stop shop for information on WIKIS in Education? Any suggestions?

Social Bookmarking

I was excited to try the whole social bookmarking thing. It was really easy to set up and every time I go to a great page, either one that I visit often or a new interesting page I just hit the tag button and customize it however I see best. I have a lot more sites to add but that will come in time. I still need to play around and venture into other networks to see what is out there. I am still so amazed at all this technology that is at our fingertips that I thought was either expensive or took a lot of time and energy to understand. I feel like a kid at Disneyworld, I am so excited and eager to see and understand all that is out there in technology.

Thoughts on Technology In Education

Just when I think I am getting the hang of technology and it's new uses in education, my new knowledge quickly becomes outdated. Being in an Educational Technology graduate program I knew I would learn a lot and have a lot to learn but I at least thought I would be up to date on current uses of technology in education. After our first class meeting tonight, I felt excited but a little nervous and behind the game. Dr. Merrill covered some very fascinating information and introduced great technology that is available at all of our fingertips for free! I felt however as though I have been living under a rock. Going through the world of technology is exciting but I have a lot to learn and a new vocabulary to learn with it. On campus this is typically a 16 week course, Off campus it is often 8 weeks, for us, we have 4 weeks to try to grasp the concepts. There will be much learning and experimenting on my part in the next 4 weeks. I am especially excited though to try out the Social Bookmarking. I daily use my favorites to easily go to my most visited sites but as mentioned in class, bookmarks are only connected to one computer.