Second Life based Conference

I attended the conference I mentioned earlier in Second Life. It was very interesting. They had some problems with voice, getting the levels right, and getting clear sound, but other than that it was technically pretty good.

We started looking at a collaborative space where the group had worked to put together an interactive display on preventative medicine. They had boards up all over with their notes and diagrams they used in their meetings. Then they took us down to the acutal space where the display/interactivity area was. Very cool. My boss and I figure that within a few years we will be able to teach our courses in a virtual world, with instructor and student avatars interacting in real time, in a virtual space.

My Computer is fixed!

Finally got the comp back from the shop, and it is running well. I can't tell you how relieved I am. I have seen the depths of my addiction, in the week it was gone, and I have to say it was a bit scary.

Now I have no excuse for not getting my presentations in shape this weekend. I have one on Developmental approaches to education, my part is an adult learning lesson based on Vygotsky's ideas. That seems to be shaping up pretty well. The more technically savy members of the group set up a wiki and it looks great. I hope my part is up to snuff..........

getting overwhelmed

The workload is starting to overwhelm me. I'm begining to think I should have started with one course at a time. Oh well. I have 2 presentations due in the same week, and my computer has melted down and is in the shop. just a little stressed. I wonder how everyone else is doing?

a little swamped

I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of reading I have to do. Work is encroaching on my time at home and leaving me less time to do my readings. I feel swamped. I need some time to catch up and process. I wonder how the other students in the program feel?

I guess this weekend will be spent somewhere quiet, trying to make sense of Heidegger....lol

Second Life conference

Here is the info on an event I will be attending in Second Life. Should be interesting to see if I can use my addiction to learn something for work.....lol

Stepping into Health - October 7th, 2008.

Held entirely in Second Life, we will visit the best and most creative work being done in promoting health and healthcare in a virtual world environment.

Keynote presentations feature Randy Hinrichs and Ramesh Ramloll.

The cost to participate is $79.00. Click this link to To learn more about the online conference and register.

http://www.steppingintovirtualworlds.org/

Please write to info@learningtimes.net if you have questions about either event.

Sniffy, the virtual rat

I am having some difficulty keeping up with all the readings, but I am finding there is some overlap with undergrad courses I took in learning theory, so that is good. I am thinking about resurrecting Sniffy, the virtual rat, a tool I used in my learning and behaviour course. Sniffy is a programme which simulates teaching a rat using operant and classical conditioning. He made a great pet.

Have handed all my assignments, except the comparison of behaviourist and social cognitive theories, but that it up now, so I think I'm ok.

Some of my anxiety about posting has been alleviated, so that theory has worked...

First assignment

I have just finished posting my first assignment, a personal learning theory. I am very anxious about how it will be received. There is such finality about posting something to a website, it's out there now in a public way. I have read other students' posts and I think I have the right idea, but we'll see how it goes. Somehow handing in a paper assignment is more anonymous, and less stressful for me.

This blog is another attempt to get myself comfortable with posting. I am so judgmental about my own work, I hope this will be a bit of exposure therapy to writing in public....lol

Underway!

So I have finished the first week of my courses, and I have to say I do not feel totally on top of things yet. I am still waiting for the readings package for ETEC 511 and my UBC library card, but I did get most of the readings online so I am not completely out of it.....

Reading academic papers is a skill I seem to be pretty rusty in. I'm hoping that my concentration and processing will speed up a bit as I get into things further. I find that I am nervous about posting to the forums. I'm apprehensive about keeping my posts up to the level of 'academic conversation' that is required for the participation part of our evaluation.

I have to write and post my Personal Learning Theory this week, and I am still in the process of deciding what that encompasses. Obviously I have one (since I taught), I just am not sure about putting it into words and posting it.

Now the real test of my lackluster time management skills begins! Should be interesting.

No benefits

Because I am taking my degree online, I am not eligible for any benefits from UBC. This is not a good thing as I take a number of prescription medications. It bothers me that online students are essentially discriminated against in terms of student services. Services and support are so important for students, it may be worth looking at this.

In what other way are distance and online students excluded from services and the university community?

Can I really do this?

I am just a few days away from the start of my courses, and I have to say I am somewhat apprehensive. It has been almost a decade since I was in school, and I am a little concerned that my poor brain has atrophied.

I am sure that my understanding of pedagogy is totally out of date, and since it was learned in the context of child development, may not even be relevant to the courses. Ack.

Death by PowerPoint

I have spent so much time working on a course that is essentially 'death by PowerPoint' that I have not really had time to get ready for my courses. I'm hoping that I can time manage better in the fall.

I am getting frustrated by the fact that the courses I am producing are so limited. Most of it is really just theory, so it is hard to make it visually appealing. They are mostly .ppt shows with some audio. I am using Adobe Presenter to convert them to flash, and then putting them into ATutor. Boring, boring, boring. If anyone has any suggestions for making these things more effective, I would love to hear it.

I'm reading Producing Video Podcasts by Richard Harrington and Mark Weiser. With any luck I will be able to convince TPTB to shell out the cash to make some decent video part of our courses. I may have to call in my brother, who is my A/V expert... lol http://www.vidpodcaster.com/index.html

Other MET student

I found another MET student, his blog is here http://sparkplug9.com/. If you are an MET student, or have found another, related, blog please let me know. I would love to compile a list.

Registered

So, yesterday I registered for courses. For anyone who's interested the programme website is: http://met.ubc.ca

In September I will be taking:

ETEC 511 Foundations of Educational Technology
ETEC 512 Applications of Learning Theories to Instruction

I decided to take a part-time course load to make working a little more manageable. The programme is already sending me links to job postings. If I wanted to, with this degree, I could work for 2 years in Bolivia as an instructional designer! I'm having a little "world is my oyster" moment.....lol

Ok. I got in. Now what?

So, I've been accepted into the Master of Educational Technology programme at University of British Columbia. I' m thrilled, of course, but I am starting to get nervous about completing a whole programme online. I think I will try to blog the whole process.

For myself, it will be a record of the next few years. How I integrated my education and working, what ideas and issues came up, and all the things that I can't even predict at this point. For everyone else? I don't know if this is going to be interesting to anyone. Online education is such a big, growing field. Educational technology is just going to become more and more available, and is certainly becoming relevant to a larger population. I guess we'll see.....