Larry's First Blog Post (Reflections on Weeks 1 thru 3)

The dawn of Week #4 in OMDE 603 brings with it my introduction to the world of "blogging" and this first-ever blog post!  Setting up this blog and formatting my blog site has been quite interesting and at times even (dare I say it) fun!  What started out as a daunting task into uncharted territory has actually reminded me of the joys of creating a web page and Google's Blogger is sure a whole lot easier than coding web pages using HTML!

The intent of this blog is to share my reflections on OMDE 603 (Technology in Distance Education & E-Learning) through personal viewpoints and critical thoughts about what we're learning and reading about in class.  I am hopeful my first "hands-on" experience with a blog serves a greater purpose other than filling a square on a course syllabus in order to achieve a good grade!  With that said, here we go...

Week 1:  What a blur! Having completed one MS degree via UMUC's on-line program you would think the first couple weeks of class would become second-nature, wrong!   Having completed most of my courses via WebTycho, along comes LEO and turns my introductory week upside down!  The most difficult time I have using LEO is finding where everything is AND THEN REMEMBERING THAT!  As with all things technology, with time and repeated use, LEO will become easier...at least I hope so.

Week 2:  Since I am taking OMDE 601 and 603 simultaneously, there seems to be quite a bit of overlap concerning the "history of DE" between the two courses.  While this overlap saved me reading time, I think this is an area that could use some attention by the course developers.  That said, I found the history lessons quite intriguing overall and learned the importance of developing a pedagogy specific to Distance Education. 

Week 3:  Examining the differences between synchronous and asynchronous technologies and thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of each helped me to look at each category as more than "just a technology" used in an on-line course.  I believe this speaks to a need for a deeper understanding and development of pedagogy that is unique to DE.  As I mentioned in my opening remarks to this blog, I really hope this blogging assignment helps us to understand the advantages and disadvantages of blogging and how activities such as these can be used outside of a course on DE.

Well, that's it...my first-ever blog post...since I've never really read one before, I'm not sure I'm on the right track.  If I'm not, please give this "old dog" a few pointers so he can "learn some new tricks"!

Since I turn the Big 50 this year (eligible for an AARP card), I thought I would share a link for the "mature" students in this class:  http://www.seniorsforliving.com/blog/2011/03/10/top-100-senior-boomer-blogs-websites/

Larry