Monthly Archives: June 2014

Reflection for 06/23/14 to 06/27/14

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It’s been a busy morning, but I’m making a point to start this early in the week.

I met with IT, Ronda, and Bill about the Big Data Analytics course. It was a productive and seemly cordial. I’m glad to see us all moving forward with the professional relationship. Adam stopped down later to make sure that everything was fine. I also had a good talk with Bill after the meeting about the course. I should be seeing the syllabus and course schedule by the end of the week.

I’ve been working with the student interns on 230.

Tuesday was a 331 day. I’d like to say it was fun, but by the end of the day, I was ready to be done with the project. Looks like I’ll need to reach out to the prof to make sure that things are a bit more tight for the Fall ’14 running. I’m also thinking that Chris is going to need to be in the conversation so that he understands how to support things.

Wednesday, I worked with Lee Erickson on 402 SMO. It was a good conversation that may help us to make some upcoming updates. I also finished the work that I was doing on 331 and sent a note to Emily. Looks like I’m making some progress!

Thursday, we saw a show & tell by A & A on elmsln. There was a nice interface that captured info to share with WC production. Met with Amy S to help solidify things for Fall ’14. I also talked to Jim C at WC production about a few things after the meeting. I’m beginning to think about the course that I’m going to teach in Fall ’14. I’m looking forward to teaching & piloting the BB LMS.

Friday, I meant to attend the June Learning Design Meeting, but I ended up not doing it. I received the Certificate for Online Teaching from Faculty Development today. I added this credential to my linkedin account. I had a meeting with the Summer 2 group today. It’s a nice group to touchbase with. I’m also starting to turn my sites towards teaching 230 in the fall. Right now, I only have two enrollments. I’m hoping to at least 15-20 by the opening of the Fall ’14 semester.

Reflection 06/16/14 to 06/20/14

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Here I am again, writing my reflection on a Friday 🙁 It was a busy week, but I had time on Monday to start the process. Not taking the time to do that has me where I am now. It’s more frustrating than a problem because I know that I am better equipped to deal with my job when I reflect.

Monday was quiet for the most part. We had a staff lunch during which we had a good chance to interact with our student interns.

I received a note from a faculty over the weekend about Adobe Connect. I ended up not coming to a solution, and he went with Camtasia. I would have encouraged the use of a tool like Camtasia to start with. So I was glad that he came to that himself.

On Monday, I confirmed a few meetings with instructors for 402 for both Fall & Spring. I’m hoping that the Spring version helps to cool things down on that front.

On Tuesday, I had a couple of internal meetings that took up some time. I also spent some time with faculty that will be new in Fall ’14. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that WC production still needed to complete a few steps for us to have our ANGEL Fall ’14 sections.

Wednesday was our staff meeting, a meeting with Chris about Fall ’14, and a BB pilot meeting. I found that there was little time to do more than get to meetings. I also received a note from someone interested in a presentation that I did with Stephanie Edel-Malizia. We are set to meet on June 30 to discuss. This is regarding Backwards Design & Bloom’s Taxonomy.

I also tried to get the 331 revision process firm with Lauren & Emily. It definitely got Lauren back on board. Looks like I’ll be doing a bit today & Monday to get my end finished.

In addition, I’m working with Alex (student intern) & Larry on an exam pilot for drupal that helps us to randomize the assessments.

Thursday, Chris G reached out to the 220 faculty about the new version. Seems like the changes are benefiting everyone. There are still a few team issues which is not something to resolved by design.

Also, I traveled to Altoona Area High School to participate in a poverty simulation. It was in preparation for putting together an online simulation for a credit course. I appreciated the experience but would say that the target was empathy, not education. I’m hoping to get a better feel for the project soon.

Last but not least, I am finally finishing the OL Series for Faculty Development.

Today, I’m trying to finish up on a high note. It looks like I’ll have another busy week. So hopefully, I can get moving with reflections earlier in the week.

Reflection 06/09/14 to 06/13/14

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This is my last day of the week, & I’m finally getting to this reflection.

Monday started with me getting sick on Sunday night before. That lead me to be out of the office until Wednesday. Monday was a full sick day, and Tuesday was a half sick day. Not a good way to start the week.

Wednesday, I spent much of the day in a Blackboard Pilot presentation. I’m not impressed by the tool. It seems like there have been some improvements, but it is still not at the level of Canvas or Desire2Learn.

Today, I was able to get things back on track for IST 331 to finish it on time.

Vacation day is on Friday. I’m looking forward on my at least yearly pilgrimage to Philly with my Dad & bro. Also, it will be nice to spend the weekend with my parents. It will also be nice for my kids to spend some time with their cousins.

Reflection for 6/2/14 to 6/6/14

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Trying to get things moving quickly this week. But I know the key is to reflect each day. I’m back on Friday after starting this on Monday. Despite my best intentions, I’m having problems with daily reflection. This goes beyond my blogging 🙁

I started OL 2700 after which will allow me to get a certificate. I’m finding the course to have some excellent parts. There is an interesting TED video about Connected but Alone. It reminds me how much I really dislike fb. There is so much noise & action. But what is the point? I have “friends” who use it to market themselves. I’m not interested.

My brother is staying with us this week. I was glad to have a chance to talk with him for a while Sunday night. We are

My middle child has a birthday this Thursday & a party on Friday. The weather today is great. I’m looking forward to the party 🙂

We will be finishing up the formal baseball season this Saturday. This is has been a difficult season for me. I find myself so involved. But I’m at odds with most of the philosophy that I see in the organization. Youth sports has gotten so out of hand. We had practices/games 4 days a week. And many of the coaches are more worried about success of their teams than development or having fun. I nearly snapped last night. I’m at a crossroads. I love the game & have so much to share, but I can’t, with a clear conscience, go along with the antics of immature, misguided, & selfish individuals.

Kent helped Ronda & I get started with 3D printing. I’m hoping to get things moving next week with my 1st print.

Reflection for 05/26/14 to 05/30/14

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I’m getting an earlier start on the reflection this week.

Had a nice holiday weekend with the 5K at Black Moshannon going well. I had an identical time as the turkey trot run (22:51). I’m hoping to improve my time over the year.

Never got back to this because my week was a bit crazy. I met with several about courses, revisions, developments, and possible presentations. The week ended up with a staff retreat. It was capped off by zipline. I’m hoping that this week will allow me to reflect & catch up.