Aurora's Space

This week has been an interesting one… Two classes started on Tuesday and it’s been interesting trying to get back into the swing of readings and homework in amongst everything that I’ve added to my life since the last time I took any formal classes… especially as these are online courses.  Time Management!!  So far it’s been going well, of course, it’s only the first week!!

My first course is “Web Publishing”, part of the Web Technologies program offered at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).  This is an online course focusing on XHTML coding with no synchronous learning.  This is your regular online college course, so I’ve paid $$$ for it and it will be my focus.  It is also the introductory course to the program, which I hope to continue on it.  So far we’ve just had a few readings and some coding practice.  I need to do that assignment, though it’s not due until next week.  Looks like an interesting course and program and I’m looking forward to it!

The other course I started this week is ECI831 – Social Media and Open Education.  This is a graduate university course with 20 registered, for-credit students and approximately 200 (including myself) ‘auditing’ students.  There is a synchronous Elluminate session every Tuesday and various readings (both assigned by Alec, the instructor, and user generated, either through blog posts written by the students or links, videos, tools, etc. we have tagged), videos and activities to work through as the week progresses.  Twitter is a big part of the course.  It’s very interesting and an excellent format for learning this subject matter – jump into the deep end, I say!

An Introduction

The main assignment for this week was to post an introductory video.  You can view mine below:

As I didn’t really want to have to look at a video of myself or hear myself talk, I chose this format.  Let me tell you a bit more about myself then I was able to in this video.  I’m not a teacher.  I am an administrative assistant with the Nova Scotia Community College.  My office works specifically with educators of children.  My job is fairly flexible; I’m able invent and modify tasks on a regular basis to suit my talents and interests.  I’m always looking for new ways to try and market our services.  Currently I’m experimenting with social media and trying to make our established web site more interactive and user-friendly.  Starting this semester I will also start to deliver workshops around my areas of expertise and I’m looking for new and interesting ways to engage our clients and make the ifnormation more accessible.  In general, I’m simply interested in learning about ways to make learning more engaging, fun and useful for learners of all ages, while still being aware of security and privacy.  I believe the subject matter in this course, and the topics that will come out of it on the ‘back channel’ is a huge step in that direction.