I can only say that I wish all our courses were as wonderful as this one has been! The resources for each module have been fantastic. I've saved them to my bookmarks and printed everything for my work and my future resources in preparing for dissertation. The online course assignment was fun and I hope my project is good. I plan to utilize the feedback from the assignment to modify and tweak the course accordingly. This is such a GREAT peer review for me to improve the course where I am working!
I am especially fond of camtasia for use in Blackboard courses. Though time consuming to produce, I believe the outcomes are positive and improve a students potential for course success. I am a bit anxious about Fall semester at work. Blackboard has been upgraded to 9.1 and I have been unable to attend a training session. I took a look at the "help" feature, in efforts to learn the upgrade enough to at least post the course contents and calendar. Unfortunately, I have been unable to "learn it on my own" and plan to get with colleagues to help me.
I also plan to incorporate blogger into my clinical groups next semester. The discussion board in this course provided EXCELLENT resources for "backing up" my rationale for the blogger inclusion. All in all, this course is hands down FANTASTIC! Both your course and Dr. Wright's have been my favorites. The Nurse Faculty Roles course is also in these top 3 favorites!!! Kudos to you Dr. Rice. Thank you for a wonderful semester. Your instruction, unmistakeable course preparation, and availabilty for questions are impressive and totally what I needed this semester! I am hopeful to provide online instruction after your example!!!
Thank you again & May God Truly Bless You and keep you in His perfect peace,
Emily Burleson
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Blog 5
The Institutional Issues assignment reminded me of an assignment in a prior course. We worked on teams and created a formative evaluation report. Below is a tid bit of our report:
The purpose of this Formative Evaluation Report is to improve materials by evaluating the design plan. This Formative Evaluation Report follows the basic model according to authors Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp (2009). The target audience is the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) employees.
The issues surround utilizing computer-based instruction via Internet with provision of a hard copy resource for an asynchronous, individualized and paced content delivery strategy for employees of the ADPH. Therefore, this formative report evaluates the design plan for an individualized and paced method of comprehending and applying four terminal objectives. These objectives consist of learning the function and purpose of the LCMS; how to login to the LCMS; how to take a course; and, how to print a course transcript. These foundational objectives serve to empower the learner to answer key questions. After receiving the instruction, can the learners state the function and purpose of the LCMS; demonstrate how to login to the LCMS; demonstrate how to take a course; and, demonstrate how to print a course transcript?
My present employment at a community college provides ample opportunities to apply the skills from our institutional issues assignment. There are numerous questions about copyright that I would love to see solidified (I think). With that being said, I am hoping not to need to revise anything of my past work, in regards to copyright laws. To illustrate, the college purchased a DVD series for utilization in helping students prepare for state board exams. Would providing materials via Blackboard from this DVD set that the college purchased be breaking copyright laws??? I'm thinking no, based on my reading in the assignment, because the college purchased these materials for purposes of education. If the student copied and used the materials on another website, I'm understanding that those actions would be breaking a copyright rule.... This course is very helpful and I am certainly enjoying this journey!
My present employment at a community college provides ample opportunities to apply the skills from our institutional issues assignment. There are numerous questions about copyright that I would love to see solidified (I think). With that being said, I am hoping not to need to revise anything of my past work, in regards to copyright laws. To illustrate, the college purchased a DVD series for utilization in helping students prepare for state board exams. Would providing materials via Blackboard from this DVD set that the college purchased be breaking copyright laws??? I'm thinking no, based on my reading in the assignment, because the college purchased these materials for purposes of education. If the student copied and used the materials on another website, I'm understanding that those actions would be breaking a copyright rule.... This course is very helpful and I am certainly enjoying this journey!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Blog 4
As I'm entering this 4th blog, I'm somewhat distracted with excitement. My prior blog talked about our trip to Haiti. We met several interpreters during our trip. One interpreter, Esther, told me she was on Facebook. I looked her up and as it turns out, she is in the United States visiting. Long story short, I'm picking her up at the airport Wednesday at 1:45 a.m. :) She will be visiting with us through Friday. I am so excited! During our email conversations, I asked her if she had Skype. So, we're now going to be able to communicate for free via Skype! Until coming to UA, I'd never utilized Skype. I am hoping to have Esther with me at the community college, in order to let the nursing students meet her. They helped us prepare for the mission trip by packing medications. They will be able to meet someone that their work helped. This is great!
The institutional issues assignment touched on an aspect where I worked in a team to create formative and summative reports. This prior work better prepared me for this course because the terms were not foreign. I'm excited to have applied this assignment towards my end of semester project as well. Each layer builds upon the other and I am so enjoying this program!! I especially enjoyed the articles about copyright and I felt better to learn that the majority of online copyright issues are like me, a little vague and nonspecific. It is exciting to be part of growing technology, where one day, the process/policy will be clear.
I must say that this semester has been one of, if not my favorite! I love the flexibility of this course and the resources are excellent. Very helpful!
The institutional issues assignment touched on an aspect where I worked in a team to create formative and summative reports. This prior work better prepared me for this course because the terms were not foreign. I'm excited to have applied this assignment towards my end of semester project as well. Each layer builds upon the other and I am so enjoying this program!! I especially enjoyed the articles about copyright and I felt better to learn that the majority of online copyright issues are like me, a little vague and nonspecific. It is exciting to be part of growing technology, where one day, the process/policy will be clear.
I must say that this semester has been one of, if not my favorite! I love the flexibility of this course and the resources are excellent. Very helpful!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
More Reflective Thoughts
My husband and I recently visited Haiti on a mission trip. My area was medical missions, and his in construction and orphanage. The experience has been memorable to say the least. Other words are indescribable, priceless, humbling, enriching, heartbreaking, feeling powerless, impoverishment, destitute, and was like going back in time. May God bless, rescue, heal, and protect those precious Haitian friends that He introduced to our lives. The experience was too much and left impressions on our hearts too big to ever resume "life as usual". Even if I wanted to remove the memories from my mind, they are engrained from that moment we stepped foot onto Haitian soil.
'What do I do with all "THIS"?' is the question I'm still seeking to answer. Sharing the experiences with my nursing students in a way that taps into and encourages the importance of CARING when entering the nursing field keeps resonating in my mind. Can one really "teach" someone to care?? Motivations are varied among nursing students. Income seems to be the predominant reason, in talking with many of them, about reasons for pursuing nursing. I believe this leaves the nursing realm lacking in compassion and empathy for another human being who needs not only competent, safe, nursing care, but just that: compassion and empathy.
Working in Haiti was wonderful for me as I literally "lived" the "dream" of what I see nursing as "being all about". There were no policy manuals, administrators, budgets, prorations, low census, staffing issues, performance evaluations, behavioral standards, co-pays, JCAHO, OSHA, regulations or other legalities to make one concerned with liabilities and question, "will this person, employer, corporation sue me or take my license".... These people needed help. They were sick. We had physicians and nurses who cared for them and gave them medicine to help them to heal. A hand shake, a prayer, a smile, a tear....all were representative of the "legal and binding" stuff that the aforementioned represent. A blessing, an honor, a truly humbling experience is what the medical mission was to me.... Random thoughts: Could I use the online platform to present videos of different experiences over there??? Could I post discussions asking students, "What is nursing to you?" "What are the most important attributes to nursing, in your opinion?"....
Did my prior efforts work? I incorporated my clinical students in preparing the medications for the Haiti Mission Trip. They counted 1,000's of pills, packaged them, labeled them and organized them into 5 day supplies. I took photos of the Haitian people receiving those pill packs that they'd prepared. I hope they "see" the impact and the difference that their giving of their time and work did for the patient who came in having a stroke, the patient whose infant had a respiratory infection, the patient with scabies, the countless patients with worms, the orphan with malaria, the teenager with GERD, and the mother whose infant died of malnutrition and sepsis (the mother received rehydration kits and vitamins, but was sadly beyond what we could do for her infant daughter who later died that day)....there really are no words to describe the experience. I want them to not only be SAFE nurses, but CARING nurses. I believe the online platform serves as a stage where they can interact, revisit, and learn about how to not only "take care of people", but "look into a world unlike their own and work to make that world a brighter and better place".... the trip didn't end in our "changing their world", but I'm hopeful we made life better on that particular day...... 3 people accepted Christ as their Savior, countless others shared "Bonte Beneuo" or God Bless You throughout our stay in the predominantly Voudoo/Catholic country. Even though we didn't speak Creole, the interpreters translated the "same" language of loving another human being and loving the same Lord. Words can't describe the experience where they sang, "This is My Story This is My Song" in Creole, while we sang the song in English...... Nursing should speak the same language of caring about another human being and providing compassionate care.....
Emily
'What do I do with all "THIS"?' is the question I'm still seeking to answer. Sharing the experiences with my nursing students in a way that taps into and encourages the importance of CARING when entering the nursing field keeps resonating in my mind. Can one really "teach" someone to care?? Motivations are varied among nursing students. Income seems to be the predominant reason, in talking with many of them, about reasons for pursuing nursing. I believe this leaves the nursing realm lacking in compassion and empathy for another human being who needs not only competent, safe, nursing care, but just that: compassion and empathy.
Working in Haiti was wonderful for me as I literally "lived" the "dream" of what I see nursing as "being all about". There were no policy manuals, administrators, budgets, prorations, low census, staffing issues, performance evaluations, behavioral standards, co-pays, JCAHO, OSHA, regulations or other legalities to make one concerned with liabilities and question, "will this person, employer, corporation sue me or take my license".... These people needed help. They were sick. We had physicians and nurses who cared for them and gave them medicine to help them to heal. A hand shake, a prayer, a smile, a tear....all were representative of the "legal and binding" stuff that the aforementioned represent. A blessing, an honor, a truly humbling experience is what the medical mission was to me.... Random thoughts: Could I use the online platform to present videos of different experiences over there??? Could I post discussions asking students, "What is nursing to you?" "What are the most important attributes to nursing, in your opinion?"....
Did my prior efforts work? I incorporated my clinical students in preparing the medications for the Haiti Mission Trip. They counted 1,000's of pills, packaged them, labeled them and organized them into 5 day supplies. I took photos of the Haitian people receiving those pill packs that they'd prepared. I hope they "see" the impact and the difference that their giving of their time and work did for the patient who came in having a stroke, the patient whose infant had a respiratory infection, the patient with scabies, the countless patients with worms, the orphan with malaria, the teenager with GERD, and the mother whose infant died of malnutrition and sepsis (the mother received rehydration kits and vitamins, but was sadly beyond what we could do for her infant daughter who later died that day)....there really are no words to describe the experience. I want them to not only be SAFE nurses, but CARING nurses. I believe the online platform serves as a stage where they can interact, revisit, and learn about how to not only "take care of people", but "look into a world unlike their own and work to make that world a brighter and better place".... the trip didn't end in our "changing their world", but I'm hopeful we made life better on that particular day...... 3 people accepted Christ as their Savior, countless others shared "Bonte Beneuo" or God Bless You throughout our stay in the predominantly Voudoo/Catholic country. Even though we didn't speak Creole, the interpreters translated the "same" language of loving another human being and loving the same Lord. Words can't describe the experience where they sang, "This is My Story This is My Song" in Creole, while we sang the song in English...... Nursing should speak the same language of caring about another human being and providing compassionate care.....
Emily
Thoughts About Writing the Faculty Issues Paper
This learning experience has been well worth the investment in returning to school. Online technology is an area of education where I think "I fit in" and "Can just play". This course encourages exploration and provides a free forum for discussion. This is such a welcome and conducive learning environment FOR ME! I'm so accustomed to making the learning environment conducive to the student and am certainly enjoying my experience as a student. :)
In my work setting at the community college, online instruction isn't embraced by all the faculty. Conversations about different methods, experiences, or thoughts appear to end in additional job tasks to "DO for someone else", thus further limiting one's time to spend in one's own online course development. LOL So, with that being said, I am trying to work wisely at the community college by sharing all these thoughts and concerns in my UA classroom blog, otherwise, my study/preparation time will be cut short in part to completing other colleagues' course development where I work....that sounds awful, I know.....I'm blogging though.....
In our most recent UA assignment, I especially enjoyed reading the article by Dr. Wright and think it's SO NEAT to be learning with course content researched by our professors! Looking forward to reading some of yours, Dr. Rice, too!! :) This nice inclusion really customizes this learning experience, adds a personal touch, and draws me into the online class because I can say, "I know this author.". Love it!
I'm nodding with all the synchronous methods of instruction (i.e. Wimba, Virtual Classroom, etc.) and asynchronous (i.e. discussion board, grade book, email, etc.) and am blown away at the different creative teaching strategies the U of Illinois site presented. I'm familiar and have used simulations, gaming, journaling, wiki, virtual classroom, and synchronous/asynchronous methods. I really feel "at home" in the online instructor role and am excited to add more technologies and try new ideas. I am going to incorporate blogging into my clinical group next semester and am a bit reluctant in hearing the "aftermath" or rather, "words of discouragement" from some of my colleagues....nevertheless, this is a venue that I really want to try and won't discover the new ocean unless I loose sight of the shore.... wish me well!! :)
Emily
In my work setting at the community college, online instruction isn't embraced by all the faculty. Conversations about different methods, experiences, or thoughts appear to end in additional job tasks to "DO for someone else", thus further limiting one's time to spend in one's own online course development. LOL So, with that being said, I am trying to work wisely at the community college by sharing all these thoughts and concerns in my UA classroom blog, otherwise, my study/preparation time will be cut short in part to completing other colleagues' course development where I work....that sounds awful, I know.....I'm blogging though.....
In our most recent UA assignment, I especially enjoyed reading the article by Dr. Wright and think it's SO NEAT to be learning with course content researched by our professors! Looking forward to reading some of yours, Dr. Rice, too!! :) This nice inclusion really customizes this learning experience, adds a personal touch, and draws me into the online class because I can say, "I know this author.". Love it!
I'm nodding with all the synchronous methods of instruction (i.e. Wimba, Virtual Classroom, etc.) and asynchronous (i.e. discussion board, grade book, email, etc.) and am blown away at the different creative teaching strategies the U of Illinois site presented. I'm familiar and have used simulations, gaming, journaling, wiki, virtual classroom, and synchronous/asynchronous methods. I really feel "at home" in the online instructor role and am excited to add more technologies and try new ideas. I am going to incorporate blogging into my clinical group next semester and am a bit reluctant in hearing the "aftermath" or rather, "words of discouragement" from some of my colleagues....nevertheless, this is a venue that I really want to try and won't discover the new ocean unless I loose sight of the shore.... wish me well!! :)
Emily
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