Friday, August 02, 2002
Thursday, August 01, 2002
My roof is done and it has been torture tested and found adequate. I agree with you Cathy about the K-12 emphasis but I would go one step futher and suggest that the program is supposed to be about Community College education which is not necessarily synonymous with adult education. Adult education has a conotation of up-grading which is part of the Community College purview but not the totality. More appropriate to emphsize occupational or vocational learning, as opposed to purely academic learning. IMHO, each of these realms, adult, academic,and occupational requires a different emphasis and approach.
Another excellent article on blogs in ed off of Stephens OLDaily
Another excellent article on blogs in ed off of Stephens OLDaily
I agree with you Glen that we've had enough introductions to those same theories. Especially for those of us who took the Certificate in Adult Education program, because they were also covered there. So now we keep getting an 'introduction' to theories in a masters program, that we got introduced to in a certificate program. It does seem that there should be a little more depth, and that already being familiar with these theories should be assumed at this level.
Nobody is going to argue that the Microcomputers class was a major disappointment. But I don't know what can be done to get online chat happening if the class doesn't choose to do it. My sister visited this week and she's in an online class where posting to the chat is mandatory. When she sat down at my computer to check messages (after only 2 days of not checking) there were 119 new posts, mostly junk. I wouldn't want to have to put up with that either. Not that anyone in our cohort would post junk, but if you're told that you have to post at least 3 times/week whether you have anything to say or not...
I would absolutely support having the professors from cmu collaborate to avoid so much repetition. And I have one more concern, and that is that the majority of the assigned readings and texts so far have focussed on K-12 and this is supposed to be a program in adult education. I realize that it's a matter of adapting similar theories in some cases, but it still would be nice to have more of a focus on adult students.
Is your roof done now? At least you're accomplishing something this summer! And you got an A. Life is good.
Cathy
Nobody is going to argue that the Microcomputers class was a major disappointment. But I don't know what can be done to get online chat happening if the class doesn't choose to do it. My sister visited this week and she's in an online class where posting to the chat is mandatory. When she sat down at my computer to check messages (after only 2 days of not checking) there were 119 new posts, mostly junk. I wouldn't want to have to put up with that either. Not that anyone in our cohort would post junk, but if you're told that you have to post at least 3 times/week whether you have anything to say or not...
I would absolutely support having the professors from cmu collaborate to avoid so much repetition. And I have one more concern, and that is that the majority of the assigned readings and texts so far have focussed on K-12 and this is supposed to be a program in adult education. I realize that it's a matter of adapting similar theories in some cases, but it still would be nice to have more of a focus on adult students.
Is your roof done now? At least you're accomplishing something this summer! And you got an A. Life is good.
Cathy
Wednesday, July 31, 2002
Still blogging but I had to reshingle my roof. Three 12 hour days in the hot sun; all I could do was fall in bed didn't even check my phone messages. I'm going to post an email message that I have been composing to Diana Vreeland. Let me know what you think before I mail it.
Diana,
With respect to our conversation of the date below you asked that I detail some of the issues of concern for the CMU classes. I have polled some class members and we have some agreement about the issues below.
In just about every CMU class so far we have had an introduction to the same concepts and theories. Three prominent examples are Blooms Taxonomy (the discussion centers ,almost exclusively, on the cognitive domain), Kolb's Learning styles, and Gardner's Multiple intelligences. These concepts are introduced with little or no critical analysis and the expectation doesn't seem to go beyond a simple recognition or recall level. While these theories are intuitively powerful I feel that it would be useful to structure learning opportunities to develop deeper understanding and practical applications of these theories. Dr. Janzen did develop the Learning styles concept very thoroughly with excellent practical exercises.
The class "Microcomputers in the Classroom" was a major disappointment. The syllabus looked very attractive but the actual course was not as specified. We spent an inordinate amount of time discussing minority issues. While this has proved useful in some respects we have missed an opportunity to build a powerful online learning community to enhance our own learning and to compliment the CMU curriculum. There has been no subseqent opportunity to introduce the class to the nuts and bolts of listservs or bulliten boards or chats. Dr. Eberhart did try to establish a chat before SED 590 but not all class members were notified and the chat room expired with that class and hasn't been revived since. Every class member has email and internet access but the use of online discussion as a learning tool for the cohort is virtually non existent in spite of numerous professors promoting this practice.
Perhaps as you suggested, a staff meeting with the professors for the CMU MA program would allow for the co-ordination of course syllabi and allow progressive courses to avoid duplication and superficial coverage.
Please take my remarks in the spirit of constructiveness in which they were intended. Overall, I have enjoyed my involvement with the CMU cohort and I have found it fruitful.
-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Vreeland [mailto:Diana.Vreeland@cmich.edu]
Sent: July 22, 2002 9:17 AM
To: Glen Gatin
Subject: Central Michigan University
Hello Glen,
It was very nice talking to you this morning. I'll get back to you on
those issues as I have more information.
You asked about your grade for SED 602 (Strategies and Techniques for
Teaching). You received an A in the course. Congratulations!
Take care,
Diana
--
Diana Vreeland/Program Coordinator
International Programs
College of Extended Learning
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
800-950-1144 ext. 7345
http://www.cel.cmich.edu/international
Diana,
With respect to our conversation of the date below you asked that I detail some of the issues of concern for the CMU classes. I have polled some class members and we have some agreement about the issues below.
In just about every CMU class so far we have had an introduction to the same concepts and theories. Three prominent examples are Blooms Taxonomy (the discussion centers ,almost exclusively, on the cognitive domain), Kolb's Learning styles, and Gardner's Multiple intelligences. These concepts are introduced with little or no critical analysis and the expectation doesn't seem to go beyond a simple recognition or recall level. While these theories are intuitively powerful I feel that it would be useful to structure learning opportunities to develop deeper understanding and practical applications of these theories. Dr. Janzen did develop the Learning styles concept very thoroughly with excellent practical exercises.
The class "Microcomputers in the Classroom" was a major disappointment. The syllabus looked very attractive but the actual course was not as specified. We spent an inordinate amount of time discussing minority issues. While this has proved useful in some respects we have missed an opportunity to build a powerful online learning community to enhance our own learning and to compliment the CMU curriculum. There has been no subseqent opportunity to introduce the class to the nuts and bolts of listservs or bulliten boards or chats. Dr. Eberhart did try to establish a chat before SED 590 but not all class members were notified and the chat room expired with that class and hasn't been revived since. Every class member has email and internet access but the use of online discussion as a learning tool for the cohort is virtually non existent in spite of numerous professors promoting this practice.
Perhaps as you suggested, a staff meeting with the professors for the CMU MA program would allow for the co-ordination of course syllabi and allow progressive courses to avoid duplication and superficial coverage.
Please take my remarks in the spirit of constructiveness in which they were intended. Overall, I have enjoyed my involvement with the CMU cohort and I have found it fruitful.
-----Original Message-----
From: Diana Vreeland [mailto:Diana.Vreeland@cmich.edu]
Sent: July 22, 2002 9:17 AM
To: Glen Gatin
Subject: Central Michigan University
Hello Glen,
It was very nice talking to you this morning. I'll get back to you on
those issues as I have more information.
You asked about your grade for SED 602 (Strategies and Techniques for
Teaching). You received an A in the course. Congratulations!
Take care,
Diana
--
Diana Vreeland/Program Coordinator
International Programs
College of Extended Learning
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
800-950-1144 ext. 7345
http://www.cel.cmich.edu/international