Proctored Exams

Posted on June 23rd, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Omnia Vanitas, Sponsored Posts, Random.

I’m currently taking an online class, and I just received some nice feedback from my instructor. It is amazing how this form of “distance learning” feels so much more productive and engaging than some other classes I have taken. This is probably due in part to the fact that the teacher is one of my favorites, but the majority of my good-feeling about online learning is that I can work at my own pace. I’m not sure how the final will be handled for this course, and I have always wondered how students at online institutions like Capella University take exams and other formal assessments. How do they keep people from cheating, for example? I learned from a press release that since 2005, Capella University has been partnered with ACT centers to provide testing for its students.  Since these centers are just about everywhere, it seems like another easy and convenient way to accomplish one’s education.

0 comments.

University Tech

Posted on June 5th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Technology, Sponsored Posts, Random.

One of the few things that disappoints me about my college is how limited it is in terms of technology. They have gained a lot of good equipment since my initial enrollment in ‘98, including computers & digital projectors in just about every classroom, but things that are considered standard on most campuses — including WiFi — are absent. There’s only one area where students can hook in their laptops, and the school’s computers are still on Windows 98. Most disconcerting is the fact they do not have Firefox installed, a tidbit that makes all the tech people I know roll their eyes. Even their website — one of the primary means of securing enrollment at schools today — is outdated, and rarely updated in a meaningful way. My boyfriend jokes that it’s because I go to a women’s college, which infuriates me, but I have to agree that the state of things sends a very bad message.

Take, for example, Capella University. Obviously, as an online school, they’re ahead of the curve. But now I hear they are part of the New Media Consortium (NMC), a community of hundreds of leading universities, colleges, museums, and research centers dedicated to “exploration and use of new media and technologies for learning and creative expression.” One of the ways Capella University meets this mission is by conducting weekly podcasts featuring interviews with select Capella students, faculty members, and staff who share the experience of online education from a first-person point of view. What an excellent marketing tool! Their most recent “Inside Online Education” podcast featured Carla Chladek, a PhD student who is also going for her master’s in education (yay! a fellow wannateach! :) ). She works as Program Manager for the Joint Staff Training Program at the Pentagon, and is responsible for ensuring that the training needs are met for the 2,000 military members who support the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By featuring such accomplished students, Capella University adds more shine to its already-reputable name, encouraging enrollment. You should check these podcasts out to see just how effective they are — of course, they’re available on iTunes. I would love to see my college start doing something like this!

0 comments.

Higher Education

Posted on May 29th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Omnia Vanitas, Travel, Sponsored Posts.

So it’s back to school tomorrow. Another three hour drive north and then three hours back (if I’m lucky). Damn construction & its related lane closures & delays. What ever made me think I could do this? I simply have to find lodgings at a location near my college, but I’m not sure how I’m going to afford it. For my next degree, and there will be another because having two masters degrees is just so fashionable nowadays, I think I will be going to an online institute of higher education like the aforementioned Capella University. Nothing, not even loyalty or personal affection, will ever compete with the convenience of learning from home. Preferably in my PJs. :)

This blog post is based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

1 comment.

Writing By Hand

Posted on May 28th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Omnia Vanitas, Random.

My handwriting has been described in a number of colorful ways throughout my life — my favorite being a comparison to an epileptic’s vomit — so I know it’s bad. Tragic, really. I think it’s one of the reasons I took so strongly to typing. But combine my lack of skillful penmanship with chalk, one of the most heinous writing materials ever created, and you can say goodbye to any form of legibility. This is an incredible handicap for a wannateach, and I know I’ll have to work on it. But how does one go about correcting a flaw that was introduced into the system from the beginning? Try learning cursive from a man whose hand was broken-in by writing literally millions of pages as a medical student before the advent of computers, and see how great your handwriting turns out! :)

0 comments.

1/3 Of U.S. Neither Entitled Nor Qualified To Voice Opinions

Posted on May 28th, 2007 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Politics, Omnia Vanitas, Random.

Another great one from The Onion.  Whenever I’m down, I can always count on them for at least a little chuckle.  A recent “report” on an opinions study conduct by the same team which “shook the academic world by conclusively proving the existence of both bad ideas during brainstorming and dumb questions during question-and-answer sessions,” discovered the following:

“On topics from evolution to the environment to gay marriage to immigration reform, we found that many of the opinions expressed were so off-base and ill-informed that they actually hurt society by being voiced,” said chief researcher Professor Mark Fultz, who based the findings on hundreds of telephone, office, and dinner-party conversations compiled over a three-year period. “While people have long asserted that it takes all kinds, our research shows that American society currently has a drastic oversupply of the kinds who don’t have any good or worthwhile thoughts whatsoever. We could actually do just fine without them.”

ROTFLOL! I think I might post that inside my gradebook for my own personal amusement. :)

0 comments.

Older » « Newer