IT 5660 Unit 4 Blog Entry

For Unit 3, we were supposed to have read Chapters 8 and 9 in E-Learning by Design by William Horton.  During that week (Aug. 31 – Sept. 6), I

• participated in a group discussion to determine common instructional values based on “best learning experiences” we related during the first week of the course
• created a recording using Adobe Connect
• participated in a discussion about the reading assignment from Horton
• created a Picassohead
• completed the weekly survey

I learned several things during the week:

• Adobe Connect is not intuitive.  I thought I was pretty good with new technology, but I had a hard time figuring out how to complete the assigned recording.
• I value different instructional strategies than some of my group members, particularly the ones who, I think, are certified teachers.  For example, I don’t consider everyday application of what is learned to be important or even relevant in a lot of subject areas.  (I do think it’s important to apply or practice what is learned, but it’s not always possible to apply things to everyday life.)  Some people might consider me to be a snob, but I think that the “less appliable” subjects are the more important ones (like literature, philosophy, art, physics, astronomy, etc.) because they go beyond our everyday lives.
• I thought that most of what Horton discussed in Chapter 8 about making ”Strategic Decisions” was common sense.
• The Mr. Picassohead activity was interesting, but I didn’t like the limited options for creating our drawings.  I already knew that I don’t care much for modern art.

IT 5660 Blog Entries

This fall I’m retaking IT 5660 through the University of Colorado at Denver.  I originally took the class two years ago and got an A in it.  At the time, the name of the class was Developing Educational Websites; now it’s called Designing and Teaching in eLearning Environments.  IT 5660 is the first class in CU-Denver’s certificate program in Designing eLearning Environments and its master’s program in eLearning Design and Implementation.

After completing IT 5660 two years ago, I decided to withdraw from the program.  Now I want to finish it to increase my employability and, hopefully, my income.  I’m currently trying to decide whether or not to apply to the master’s program.

For the class, I have to make weeily blog entries starting this week to reflect on the lessons I learned in the previous unit.