Sunday, July 25, 2010

Blog Post 13 (My Final Reflection)

I am going to take this time to start from the beginning of my EDM310 class and give you an overview of what happened.

Before class started I received an email from Dr. Strange going into more detail about the class. The main two things I remembered about that email was, to have an additional 15 hours a week to work on projects for this class. The other thing I remember is that there were four mandatory days during the semester that we had to attend class. After reading that email I thought my only problem would be attending the first day of class, because I had court that day due to my divorce. My ex and I agreed to postpone the court date and I was able to make it to class.

I started out pretty good, kept up with my downloads, questionnaire, and a couple
blogs, but then it went down from there. I put too much on myself this semester. When I started the semester I already had two children and was pregnant with my third. I decided to take four classes this semester, continued to work, and was extremely tired. Unfortunately, I would choose sleep over doing my blogs and staying on top of my work.

I did continue to do my group projects and really enjoyed doing them. We all meshed well together and brought different ideas to the table. By doing so, I believe we made some great videos for future EDM310 students to learn from.

When I started this class I did not know much of anything when it came to the computer. Yes, I could access my email, I have a facebook account, and could watch videos on UTube, but that was probably all I could do. Now, I can add links and videos to my own blog.

I really enjoyed this class and everything I learned. Most of the assigned videos were very inspirational and something I could relate to. Even when I got behind I still enjoyed watching them. I was really proud of myself when I would add a link or video to one of my blogs or on a comment I made to one of my fellow students' blogs.

The advice I would give for any student taking this class next semester or any to follow is to stay on top of their work. Although, the summer semester is a lot faster they could still get behind during the fall or spring semester as well. I would encourage them to enjoy the class and not get too over whelmed. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it is worth it.

Some of my favorite blogs to read and teachers to follow are Karl Fisch, Michael Wesch, and Joe McClung. The one teacher I wish I could follow, but cannot because he died back in 2008 is Randy Pausch. I will highly recommend them to see every and all of his videos. Here is a link to his Last Lecture video. Another recommendation I would give is to use Symbaloo as their PLN. I love how it is easy to use and how organized it is.

Although I did not stay on top of my class work and got really far behind I was pretty much able to catch up. No, I do not recommend anyone to do what I did, but I am proud of myself for catching up. I always try to see things on the bright side, and in this case I can honestly say I really enjoyed everything I have learned and plan on implementing this knowledge when I am a teacher.

2 comments:

  1. An honest, thoughtful reflection. Thank you.

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  2. Hi Alissa,

    Thank you for the mention of Symbaloo we would love to see how the class is using it. Please feel free to contact me and the Symbaloo team.

    Daniela Bolzmann
    Community Manager
    Team Symbaloo
    @DanielaBolzmann
    daniela@symbaloo.com

    ReplyDelete