I love how much I get complimented on my work. Yesterday I worked on developing instructional strategies for an RF course, “Communications Protocol.” It was the first real test of my ability to determine whether or not I had the skills to be an instructional designer.
Today, my manager was talking with me and a co-worker and she said that I had done a great job.
That was awesome.
Tags: Career, management
It started hurting again while we were in Greece, at the bottom left corner of my toe. I originally thought that it was just getting infected because I was wearing sandals every day in a foreign country. But even after I returned, the pain started to get sharper and sharper as when the ingrown nail first started to bother me. The slightest touch to the tip and the side of the toe hurt. I’ve even been wearing sandals to work for the past two weeks. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I visited my regular doctor and he referred me to a podiatrist.
Dr. Papier was a very outgoing guy. He’s an older man, but obviously likes his work despite working with feet. He’s definitely a health fanatic because he gave me a “Running” magazine o read while I waited, as well as talked to his office personnel about Body Mass Index, exercise, and no smoking.
The procedure was kind of stressful at first. The doctor promised that it wouldn’t really hurt. As in the previous procedure, I received injections, but this time, they were located at the bottom of my toe. I told the doctor about my previous experience of having the injection right in the tip where it hurt the most. But he assured me that it would not be like that. The injections did not really hurt, just a a short tinge and little sharp pain that did not last very long. After the about 10 minutes of waiting for the Novocaine to take effect. After that time, he came back in and put a rubber ring around my toe to decrease the circulation to the toe. Then he just cut the toe nail right to the bottom and pulled out the offensive nail.
It was amazing to see that the remnant nail had a sharp spicule point, which was the fragment that was cutting into my skin. He then placed some liquid which burned for a short time. This liquid kills the side of the nail to prevent it from growing. After wrapping my toe with bandages, I was good to go and left for work.
Looks like it’s more soaking of my toe for a week. My toe is still swollen, but there is no more pain when I walk or touch the tip of my toe.
Tags: Greece, Health, ingrown-toenail
This is a must read: Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech at Stanford University.
Tags: Apple, commencement, education_and_training
I’ve moved around a lot, but I spent most of my growing up years in Whittier, California. I’m not sure if Whitter is really famous for anything, except being named after poet John Greenleaf Whitter, the Quakers (Whittier was originally a Quaker town), and Richard Nixon attending Whittier High School and Whittier College.
Apparently, there is an annual July 4 Fireworks Show, but it has been cancelled this year due to budget limitations.
It is BORING!
Uhhh . . . . NO.
–Meme from FridayQ.
Tags: home, Participation
There’s not enough time in the day to do all that needs to be done at work. What a far cry from A Corp. I really like my new work. I’m learning a lot, more than I ever learned last year at A Corp. I get to work with Navy instructors, our Subject Matter Experts, managing their projects and helping them to help us find the information that we need to design good training currciulum. I get to coordinate and design project schedules in Microsoft Project. The schedules are complex, with multiple tasks and activities going on simultaneously. I get to coordinate the acquisition of Government Furnished Information that will help us to make good design choices. There is still much more to learn.
So that’s why I’ve been kinda silent on the blog. I just don’t have much time given the fact that I’m also taking two online classes this summer.
Way too much going on, but I like it.
Of the fields listed in this chapter that have influenced the evolution of educational technology, which do you feel have had the greatest impact? Justify your answer.
I believe the constructivist influence in educational theory has had the greatest impact on the evolution of educational technology. When learning strategies such as cognitive scaffolding allow complex concepts to be “disassembled” and “reassembled” into more manageable learning units, the learner can grasp and synthesize smaller pieces of information to build a stronger understanding of complex ideas. Constructivist learning strategies help to take very abstract ideas and make them more approachable to the learner via concrete associations within the learner’s prior knowledge. Building these “constructs” makes educational technology more exciting even now in the Information Age when educational technologists have high tech tools to design/build more effective constructs for learners.
Module 02: Whence Educational Technology?
What are the roots of educational technology?
From the Western viewpoint, ed tech can trace its roots to the ancient Greeks, like Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. The main thought about teaching and learning up until the late 1800s was that the mind was like a muscle and needed to be exercised.
Edward Thorndike: “Connectionism” states that learning depends on the improved firing of nerve impulses in the brain. Theories emphasized reward and punishment rather than repetition. Thorndike’s Five Principles of Teaching and Learning:
John Dewey: Dewey believed that the goal of education was to enhance intelligence, which was accomplished through reflection and the scientific method. He said that learners get their cues from the environment.
Individualized Instruction: Students learn at their own rate with minimum teacher involvement. Self-instruction was more vital than teacher-led instruction. Emphasis on teaching to specific objectives, making customized instruction dependent upon ability levels and prior knowledge.
Stages of Cognitive Development: Montessori and Piaget were the primary thinkers of this theory which stated that learners have differing modes and needs for learning depending upon their developmental stage. Thus, teaching needed to provide learning tools that were appropriate for the learner’s stage of human development.
Visual Education: Sought to connect abstract concepts in learning to more easily grasped concrete ideas via visual symbols.
Educational Film: The US was the prominent producer of educational film after WW I.
Instructional Systems Design: Combines the psychology of learning with the systems approach of design, often using media to supplement learning activities. Heavily used in the military initially before appearing in businesses training.
(more…)
Tags: EDTEC, education_and_training
At this point in your education, which of the educational technology niches interests you most? what is it about this component that you find appealing?
Since I’ve work as a teacher previously for 11 years, most of my work experience has been in the implementation of instruction. Now that I’m an instructional designer, I find that the design and development of instruction is more appealing to me because I can concentrate on the problem solving, as well as, creative aspects of education. I like the focus on learning from a different perspective. The goal is still to provide effective tools so that the learner can learn effectively, but I get to be more creative and use more of my analytical skills.
Tags: EDTEC, education_and_training
I know I’m crazy. I just finished a Master’s degree and have already started on another one, just 12 days after graduation, even while on my vacation to Greece. Well, actually classes started while I was away, but I’m only now just getting my brain into gear again. Fortunately, I can complete this entire degree (if I wanted to do so) online through SDSU (San Diego State University) in the comfort of my own home, or wherever I want, whenever I want.
This summer I’m taking two classes, EDTEC 540 and EDTEC 541, the foundational courses for the program. This coming fall, I think I may slow down a bit with this program and take either one or no classes and for sure I think I will take Tagalog at Palomar.
Instead of taking notes on separate paper or even on my laptop or desktop, I’ve decided to try doing some of my work online so it can be searchable more easily through this blog. If I decide that I need some documentation of this stuff, I can easily copy the text into a Word document and save it as well. So without further ado . . .
Module 01: The Field of Educational Technology
From where do educational technologists come? Ed Tech is the study of the art and science of learning and teaching. People who work in this field come from all walks of life and career paths. One common characteristic they share is that they love to learn.
Where do educational technologists work?
What do educational technologists do?
What do educational technologists create?
Here is our group assignment, which was to answer 10 questions.
Tags: EDTEC, education_and_training
I just discovered that I can customize my PhotoBlogging capabilities in Flickr. S-W-E-E-T! Now I can use the CSS layout that I like for my pictures and start the entry in Flickr. Then I can “finish” it in WordPress. Very very cool and convenient.
Tags: Flickr, Photography, site_announcements, WordPress
I finally finished catching up with my Flickr uploads and blog entries about the vacation to Greece. That was definitely a trip I will remember for the rest of my life.
Pictures:
You can view my Greece pictures here.
To view all the pictures, both public and private photos, you must:
There are a total of 819 pictures. If you don’t have an account, then you only have permission to see 587 photos.
Slide Show: You can watch a slide show of the pictures here.
Again the same restrictions apply regarding a Flickr account.
Journal:
I kept a moderately detailed journal during our trip. Although it was a lot of work to catalog and captionize my pictures and write in a journal every day during the trip, I’m glad I did it because I know will never forget my time there. Below are the permalinks for the 13 days of the vacation.
Tags: Greece, Photography, Travels
I feel happy at work and enjoy it for the first time in nine years. Here are some reasons why:
This kind of stuff motivates me. I enjoy going there despite the long commute in heavy traffic.
Tags: Career, management, work
I finally saw Revenge of the Sith. Unfortunately, I missed about three minutes of it because I had to go to the bathroom really bad during the battle with General Grievous. I thought the movie was great, probably not as good as Return of the Jedi. However, the final battle scene between Skywalker and Kenobi was the most fantastic duel I have ever seen. As expected, the movie was kind of sad at the end, with Kenobi losing a friend, Padme dying at childbirth, and Anakin betraying the Jedi.
But to be honest, the book was far more descriptive and I think in many ways more dramatic and better than the movie. For example, the discovery of Chancellor Palpatine as the Sith Lord and the subsequent turning of Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force was much more dramatic and better in the book. You should read it.
Tags: Star_Wars
