Reflection #10

REFLECTION #10

Even though I have had experience working with computers a lot, it has always been under very strict guidelines in previous jobs and I had never really felt comfortable in front of one. I have also always worked on the Macintosh platform, and not the PC, so the idea of switching, was very strange to me. All of a sudden I am confronted with several websites and programs that I had never even heard of before and during the condensed Summer term, these assignments seemed formidable. I must say that the first day of class and the following day, I was not sure how I was going to make it through. I was asked to create a blog at blogger.com, when I had never blogged in my life. I was asked to buy LIVETEXT, which I had heard a lot about and had gotten the impression that it was terribly hard to use. I also was told that I had to submit all my work into TURNITIN.COM by going to yet another website to verify that I had not plagiarized. My first assignment, unbeknownst to me had a 41% plagiarism problem but I soon corrected it and carried on. All this was expected of me within the first 48 hours and I had a mental block about a few of these things mentioned and I felt that I had better swim fast or I would sink. I pushed myself to the limit and I learned that I could do it. The amount of work that was asked of us in EME2040 was astounding and so well worth it. I surprised myself on how well I wrote reflections and how I was able to maneuver the different programs all at the same time. I created a page for every program and jotted down all the id names and passwords used. Some had different requirements, so and I found myself with 5 different log ins and just as many passwords. What I feel I learned the most and the best was at creating a Digital story, which seemed daunting at first and in fact, it wasn’t at all. It turned out to be a very easy to use program. I was thrilled the way my PowerPoint presentation turned out. I had never used the program and was pleased to see how nice it turned out with the transitions and the music in the background that I chose. I was forced to keep on track and to not stay behind in any way because that would surely cost me with the amount of work being assigned to us every week. I learned to keep an open mind and to accept new challenges because looking back at the different programs mentioned here, I sometimes thought that I would not be able to handle them and get the projects done on time and of such good quality but I proved myself wrong. I read poems by authors that I had heard about my whole life and had never attempted to read and gave a critique on them afterwards. This class was eye opening and a wonderful experience. Besides the programs and websites utilized, what this class taught me the most was to keep an open mind, to persevere, and to not limit myself with narrow thinking.

EME2040-Introduction to Educational Technology

Prof. Joseph D. McNair

Ernie Joya-D51-07-9182

Ernie Joya