Motivation

Time flies when you're having fun!  I cannot believe how fast this class went, and I am very happy to say that it is my last elective in the MAIT program.  The format of this class was different than others I've taken with Amy and I can't say enough how much I liked it!!!  I loved seeing everyone's different perceptions of the six attributes.  Each week the slides got better & better...I can only imagine how good they will be once they all take Visual Design!

Readiness & Orientation

The journey continues & what a great one it is!  I can't believe that we're more than half way through this accelerated course...time flies when you're having fun!  This week's classes were dedicated to the readiness & orientation attributes, and the slides that went with each attribute didn't disappoint.  Every class the slides get better & better - I can't imagine how good they're going to be once everyone takes Visual Design!!! 

We got a glimpse into the lives of several classmates during their slide presentation and it made me realize that I really like the personal aspect of it, so I may take a different approach for the motivation slide for Monday!! 

Need to Know, Self-Concept & Experience

This week's classes were phenominal!  We covered the first 3 attributes of Malcolm Knowles' andragogical principles: Need to Know, Self-Concept & Experience.  The products that everyone created were awesome & it was so interesting to see all the different perspectives and presenting styles.  It was great to see that the "newbies" are getting acclimated with using Wimba & are taking the reigns by using the various tools available to them.  I am looking forward to see the products for attribute #4 on Monday!

From Andragogy to Pedagogy

Well last night's class was a shining example of why I am a huge fan of the archive feature!  I was unable to attend class, but thanks to the magic of archiving, I was able to watch & listen to everything I missed the next day without missing a beat!

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the presentations demonstrating the evolution of pedagogy to andragogy, and although I wasn't there to present with my group, they did an awesome job despite some minor technical difficulty! 

Adult Learning Kickoff

While it pains me to say it, this will be my last elective in the MAIT program (hopefully you're picking up my sarcasm). I was going back & forth over whether or not to take Adult Learning or to have the rest of the summer off.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the syllabus was practically cut in half compared to previous semesters! Hopefully this course will be smooth sailing...we shall see!

To be continued...

Podcasts

We learned about podcasts this week & it's extremely interesting. Michele shared her screen & showed the class how to use iTunes to search for, and listen to various podcasts. They seem to have one for every topic! It is such a neat way to get information, whether it be for educational purposes or just for fun. You can search for podcasts by a specific subject, by popularity, OR by popularity of a specific subject! If you haven't finished listening to your podcast, you can pause it & listen to it later...how neat is that?!!

Google-rific!

Is there anything Google can't do?! I mean seriously, they have the search engine, e-mail, docs, reader, images, video, maps, calendar...just to name a few! Yesterday we learned about Google Calendar - what a great tool to help keep you organized!

Thanks to Google Calendar, dogs all over the world can rest assured that they won't be blamed for eating anyone's homework, because now teacher's can post the assignments on here & share them with parents!

Relief!

Well, my tool time is done & I survived!!! I was a bit aprehensive since I have had trouble sharing my screen in the past, but this time it went pretty smooth! I shared a tool called BeFunky, which is an online photo editing website which allows you to edit your photos for free! This tool can be used for educational purposes as well as for fun. You can enhance your photos and make a digital scrapbook for a history class, or flashcards for an english class...the possibilities are endless!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the Mommies, both of human kids & furry, four-legged ones!! I really enjoyed watching Kathy's jing on Knol, what a great collaboration tool for teachers. It reminds me of an online newspaper where you can be the "author."

In other news...I had my tool time handout nearly finished when my 18-month old son decided that it would be a good time to familiarize himself with the keyboard, among those keys, the delete button! Needless to say, I will be re-doing the handout!! Fun, fun, fun!!

Congrats!

What a great showcase last night! It made me that much more nervous to do my capstone seeing the amazing job that the presenters did. I cannot wait until I can say that I am a graduate of the MAIT program, still have 4 more classes to get under my belt before I can proudly say that!

I was very happy to learn that the library session that I missed was being archived the entire time, big thanks to Amy for that!!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Pardon the title, I have just been watching Toy Story on repeat for the past 3 days as it's the only thing that keeps my 18-month old son's attention while I'm in the midst of "potty bootcamp" with my daughter!!!

I must say that it seems like this class is much more active on Bb right out of the gate. I am enjoying listening to the class on my way home from work through the call-in feature - it makes it easier to stay caught up with what is going on in the class. We are lucky to have Brian & Michele there to answer any questions that might arise when Amy is offline. I loved Ericka's first blog post where she said she can actually help people now!!! That is such a great feeling to be a veteran Wimba-er!!!

I especially enjoyed learning about Google Docs. It seems to be extremely user friendly & makes it easy to keep everything in one place...how convenient!

Can you hear me now?

Let me just start off by saying that I love the call-in feature! This was the first time I've ever used it & couldn't believe how easy it was and how well I could hear everyone in the class!!

I hung up while they were watching a few tutorials so I could save my minutes, but I called back into the room once they were all finished watching the tutorials.

We saw a demo of Prezi from Ericka which was very informative & a great refresher since I haven't used it since Intro. We also saw a quick demo of Tagxedo which is one of my favorite tools from Intro.

This class seems very active already on Bb & I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's materials!

Back in the MAIT saddle!

I am not a fan of country music, however I found this title to be fitting considering that I feel like I've been jumping on & off the proverbial "saddle" for the past 1.5 years!! Thankfully, Amy e-mailed me regarding this course & I was able to quickly register. I did realize that I would be 2 hours late to the class each week...but...there is a wonderful tool called archiving!!! I am able to listen to the entire 2 hours that I missed & catch up on any assignments. Isn't technology wonderful?!! Thanks to the archive feature, I am able to stay on track with the rest of the class and know exactly what is going on.

I was also happy to hear a few familiar voices from past courses!!

November 17, 2010

I can honestly say that being f2f for this class has been quite the experience!! I'm glad I chose to do most of the classes this way for this course. I've learned so much in this class, including new words such as "wonky" (thanks Michele!)

Next up...the dreaded PLN! Thankfully, after the concept was explained in more detail, it doesn't seem so scary after all!!!

November 3, 2010

I got to do my tool time demo for Picnik & it went pretty well. Luckily my computer didn't act up too much and I was able to get through it! We also got to see Ericka's demo of Museum Box which was really neat & a great, interactive learning tool for kids. I like how you can not only add text & pictures, but video as well.

This semester seems to be flying by...

10/27/10

No formal class this week, but we did meet in Wimba to work on a worksheet. Brian was a really big help, answering any/all questions we had & helping everyone navigate through areas of Wimba that they weren't previously familiar with. I think the worksheet is a great idea even for the most experience Wimba user - it never hurts to brush up.

On a lighter note...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

10/20/10

Had class at ETTC in Mays Landing tonight & we watched a Smartboard tutorial. It is AMAZING!!! I had never seen one before so the entire concept was new and extremely interesting to myself & the rest of the class. We all got a chance to use the Smartboard by writing our names and we learned lots of different ways it can be used to teach, not only in the school classroom setting, but in the corporate world as well.

In other news...we had an eventful weekend...I turned 30 on Thursday & my son turned 1 on Saturday!! I can't believe how fast this past year went! Feels like I was just in the hospital having him!

Btw - Happy Belated Birthday to Jeannine!!

9/13/10

I can't believe this semester is half way over! They say time flies when you're having fun, so I guess we've been having a blast!! In this past class, we spent some time making yard sale flyers. We were paired up into groups and each group received a certain demographic to gear the sign to: kids, college age, 30-something's, baby boomers, assisted living. My group had to gear the sign towards college age people. We were racking our brains trying to think of which photos to use on our flyer & then it hit us...what's something most college kids love? BEER! Our sign was short, sweet & definitely got the message across!

10/6/10

This week was our IT History Exhibit presentations. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG! We were cruising along & suddenly it happened...the dreaded computer glitch. We eventually recovered, but were pushed for time, but made it through without too many battle wounds! Sandy & Ericka were awesome group members & made the process enjoyable!

We watched the other groups present & I was really impressed by Dave, Mike & Stacia's group. Their delivery was seemless as they learned from the previous groups examples and decided to have one person control the entire presentation. Bravo to Jeannine for going solo & giving a great presentation that was informative & had a few fun facts thrown in.

Roma, Brian & Michele's group felt our pain in the glitch department, but managed to pull through & give a really good presentation. I especially liked their gantt chart!

Last, but not least, Tolis, Erin & Dustin's group made me thankful that my group went first b/c I wouldn't want to follow their act! Their presentation was extremely organized and easy to navigate, not to mention AWESOME!

Great job to all the groups!

9/29/10

I am so glad I went to class in person this week b/c I was able to see Amy's box of tricks...& eat tootsie roll pops (haha for you virtual people!) I especially liked the rat that squeaked when you squeezed it! I was really glad to have time towards the end of class to work with our groups on our IT history projects...after meeting with Amy, I think we're on the right track.