Angela commented on Group 1 and 3
Gigi commented on group 1
NOVEMBER MONTHLY SUMMARY
November was a challenging month for Angela and me to
successfully complete our assignments on time.
This month the final demonstration project and program evaluation were both
due. Both of these assignments required several hours of work, research and
collaboration.
The most interesting research of the assignment was the
program evaluation. We enjoyed talking
with experts in the field of adult education.
The program evaluation taught us about best practices and about adult
learners that do not follow the more traditional path in education.
For both of these assignments it was essential to understand
the requirements of the assignment, admittedly there were times when we were concerned
about whether or not we understood our facilitator’s instructions.
Angela and I have to contact our instructor by telephone and
e-mail several times this month to get clarification and what we were supposed
to report in the final Project Demonstration.
There were occasions when our interpretation was not what the assignment
required.
Due to scheduling and other assignment deadlines, it was
apparent that two assignments required a substantial amount of research and
good clarification. In the future, I
would recommend a brief conference call perhaps with the instructor and other
in the class prior to each assignment.
We realize online courses are becoming more and more popular
every day, however, it doesn’t change how complicated an online assignment can
be. We believe our biggest struggle was
the depth of each assignment and trying to understand what does “depth” mean to
the instructor.
One recommendation this class might be to have a blended
classroom. Ball State offers many
blended courses, in the past I been much more successful in that type of
setting.
Dr. Chang did a good job of compensating for lack of
physical presence, and she was very responsive to our group, considering the
number of e-mails and calls she received from us i.e. me. Still the lack of
physical presence for these types of detailed assignments can be a limitation
for an online student.
Overall I believe Angela and I have learned a lot about developing
a program for adult learners. This
assignment taught us how adult’s learners feel the need to take responsibility
for their lives and their education, and why it’s important for them to have
control over their learning.
Angela Henry
Finally we are at the end of the road. This has been a
journey. I am glad to know that I have finished everything that was expected of
me and also for the group. This class has taught us to learn how to manage our
time and respect each other’s schedule. We are both very busy but it is important
that we recognize what had to be done and made sure that it got done. The final
project was completed on time and we were able to make some improvements along
the way. Again I must stress that as an adult learner, I have grown in the
class over the last few months, and have gotten great information from others
blogs.
One of the highlights for this
month was learning how to follow instructions!!! After redoing multiple assignments
finally, I think we got it! It was nice to see how everything came together
with the final project.
I totally agree. November was a challenging month....and one of great enlightenment. On-line classes are truly a learning experience on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your great work this semester.
Best wishes!!!
Darcey
Great Insight into what happened behind the scenes this month. Understanding what is required can often be a challenge. We are all different in the way we process information. Some of us our much more auditory/verbal. Others of us need to read or see instructions visually. As we have seen from the last few weeks chapters, there are lots of factors to deal with in these crazy brains of ours. I am an auditory learner and a verbal processor, so I found myself reading the syllabus out loud a lot :). But it looks like you were able to finally get everything together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journey!
-vince
We are all different in the way we process information. Some of us our much more auditory/verbal. Others of us need to read or see instructions visually. As we have seen from the last few weeks chapters, there are lots of factors to deal with in these crazy brains of ours. I am an auditory learner and a verbal processor, so I found myself reading the syllabus out loud a lot :).
Delete----LOL, Vince, I can image what it looks like when you read the syllabus loud! :) I can not think well if I read the materials loud. :) You are right that we process the information differently and we think differently. Clearly communicating with the instructor and your classmates is a good way to clarify the expectations of each assignment.
Bo
Your November sound a lot like our group's October which just goes to show that we all struggle. But more importantly we pulled together as a group, utilized our resources (Dr. Chang) and pressed forward. I certainly agree that regularly referring to the syllabus and asking lots of questions is key to being successful in this course.
ReplyDeleteThank you and Happy Holidays!
Carol
Angela and Gigi,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Christmas tree! I feel the holiday is coming and we are ready to have a good rest! :)
I know both of you have a good understanding of your topic and both of you worked very hard on your assignments! I like that both of you are very optimistic and positive, which will be very helpful for your future success.
Enjoy your holiday!
Bo