Tonight was the MAIT Showcase, and I am very happy for being able to attend. It was great to see the MAIT graduate students presenting their Capstone, as well as to see former classmates from my first semester in Graduate School. In addition, it was good to see members of the faculty and staff, as well as family members, who also took the time to be there to support those who were presenting.
There was a great variety of projects and each of them was unique in their subject. I personally liked Tim Garufi's Database for Mathematics, which can identify the specific areas in which students need help with their NJ testing. I had the opportunity to cross a few words with Mr. Garufi after the presentation. Stacia, a graduate student who will be presenting her Capstone in the next couple of semesters, also liked her presentation. So, we had to let him know. As a matter of fact, I believe plenty liked his idea. I was talking with Audrea, and she actually was very interested on his idea as well. Unfortunately, she didn't have the opportunity to talk to him, but I am sure she will let him know via e-mail. Another project that I liked was ArtiTech, which was presented by Teri Gragg. The presentation of her project was very interesting and fun to watch. The music and the participation of the kids gave to her project great life. In addition, James Wilkinson's Online Science Resource was very good too. I believe it is a great tool to help those students who are absent to catch up, as well as to all of them in general to go back for future reference and to study. Finally, I liked the Digital Writing Portfolios with Google Docs, presented by Melissa Knoff. I consider it a very "Go Green" project and that is a plus. Just the fact that an immense amount of paper can be eliminated saving many, many trees is certainly very eco-friendly. So, her idea, besides accomplishing the goal of helping students and teachers with the writing of documents and grading, it also helps to have less paper around them.
Good job for ALL of the presenters and good luck with their future endeavors.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The End of The Road: A Road Full of Laugh, Tears, Adventure, New Babies, and Matches....
I cannot believe it is over! It seems it was the other day when we were in the classroom getting to know eachother and finding out what to expect from our Introduction to Instructional Technology class. Well, I have to say that it has been a pleasure to meet all of you and that the class indeed meet my expectations. I learned a lot from all of your presentations and it has been very helpful to me.
I remember that at the beginning of the semester I said that I didn't know the majority of the terms that were listed on the syllabus. I am glad to say that is not the case today. I am so happy with all the things that I was able to learn during the semester. The tool times and comments of my classmates were very educative. There were things that I truly enjoyed and wanted to learn right away, for example, Prezi, Socrative, Windows Movie Maker, Google Reader, Blogs, and Wikis. As a matter of fact, I even used some of them for a couple of the activities for this class, and I am sure I would be using more for other classes and even for my personal life.
Yes, it had been a great learning experiece. It has also been a semester of laughs, I am sure we all remember the jokes and how histerical were some of our students...did I say Melissa? It has also been a semester of blessings and new life. We cannot forget Angela's new baby. The semester was also filled with adventures. Who is going to forget Melissa's dates? Oh, and the Hot Stuff, it had been a semester of Matches. YES! I said Matches, which some people who know me very well would find kind of odd that I am even talking about it because I have never believe on it. However, based on the experience of one of my classmates, and of course, I will mention her name, but please keep it as a secret, Audrea. I am very happy for her and I wish both of them the best. Of course these were things that made us laugh and had a good time, but there were also things that happened that made us even cry. We cannot forget Steven Job's dead. Also, when Kathy was hospitalized. And, the situation with my dad.
It had been a very thought semester for me. I started off so happy and energetic, but then when I thought I have everything under control, the inevitable happened. The situation with my dad was something that truly affected me a great deal. It did at home, at work, and of course, at school. I felt frustruated, and that is a feeling that I don't like to feel. Today, I look back, and I think that we can do the best we can to have a comfortable and happy life, but also that there are situations that are out of our control that can influence negatively all the good things that we have in our hand. However, it is on "us" to make a stop, take a big breath, and think about what it really matters. My phylosofy is that there are always people that are in a worse situation than me. I have two healthy, beautiful, and amazing daughters; I have a great job, very good benefits, a house, a car, and some people around me who truly care for me. All of these things is what I use as fuel to keep up moving forward. If I could done it better? Absolutely! Life is a learning experience and there is nothing better than learning from our mistakes and the experiences of others.
This is It! But I am sure we will be around. Some of us might be taking classes together again. Some of us might bomp into eachother in the hallways, or at a store, or at a wedding...did I say wedding? Anyhow, the most important thing is that we will always remember what a great class we were and we will be there for any of us if needed.
Happy Holidays!
Johana
I remember that at the beginning of the semester I said that I didn't know the majority of the terms that were listed on the syllabus. I am glad to say that is not the case today. I am so happy with all the things that I was able to learn during the semester. The tool times and comments of my classmates were very educative. There were things that I truly enjoyed and wanted to learn right away, for example, Prezi, Socrative, Windows Movie Maker, Google Reader, Blogs, and Wikis. As a matter of fact, I even used some of them for a couple of the activities for this class, and I am sure I would be using more for other classes and even for my personal life.
Yes, it had been a great learning experiece. It has also been a semester of laughs, I am sure we all remember the jokes and how histerical were some of our students...did I say Melissa? It has also been a semester of blessings and new life. We cannot forget Angela's new baby. The semester was also filled with adventures. Who is going to forget Melissa's dates? Oh, and the Hot Stuff, it had been a semester of Matches. YES! I said Matches, which some people who know me very well would find kind of odd that I am even talking about it because I have never believe on it. However, based on the experience of one of my classmates, and of course, I will mention her name, but please keep it as a secret, Audrea. I am very happy for her and I wish both of them the best. Of course these were things that made us laugh and had a good time, but there were also things that happened that made us even cry. We cannot forget Steven Job's dead. Also, when Kathy was hospitalized. And, the situation with my dad.
It had been a very thought semester for me. I started off so happy and energetic, but then when I thought I have everything under control, the inevitable happened. The situation with my dad was something that truly affected me a great deal. It did at home, at work, and of course, at school. I felt frustruated, and that is a feeling that I don't like to feel. Today, I look back, and I think that we can do the best we can to have a comfortable and happy life, but also that there are situations that are out of our control that can influence negatively all the good things that we have in our hand. However, it is on "us" to make a stop, take a big breath, and think about what it really matters. My phylosofy is that there are always people that are in a worse situation than me. I have two healthy, beautiful, and amazing daughters; I have a great job, very good benefits, a house, a car, and some people around me who truly care for me. All of these things is what I use as fuel to keep up moving forward. If I could done it better? Absolutely! Life is a learning experience and there is nothing better than learning from our mistakes and the experiences of others.
This is It! But I am sure we will be around. Some of us might be taking classes together again. Some of us might bomp into eachother in the hallways, or at a store, or at a wedding...did I say wedding? Anyhow, the most important thing is that we will always remember what a great class we were and we will be there for any of us if needed.
Happy Holidays!
Johana
Thursday, November 17, 2011
IT History Exhibits, Tool Times, and A LOT OF FUN
The class of November 16th was incredible! The IT Exhibits that were presented, as well as the tool times, were just excellent. I have to say that Audrea, Susan, and Melissa did a terrific job on their IT presentation. I learned and enjoyed it so much. Robyn's tool time was also very good. Socrative seems to be very cool, and I like the fact that we were able to fully interact with it. I like it pretty much, and I was thinking that I could possible utilize that tool in my new hire orientations. Of course, it needs to be prepared adequately, but I think that it can be done. I will certainly try it.
After I got home, I started to work in my contract. So, I decided to finish one of my projects. I was able to do it via Prezi, which I also learned from another tool time presentation, this time, Melissa's. I LOVED Prezi. I posted it already in Blackboard, but I will be doing the presentation in class as well. I hope you guys like it. It is not going to be a s good as all the ones that have been presented, but for a couple of hours project, I think it went well.
It was nice to learn about Melissa's "date" with Steve Wozniak, as well as Audrea's "new friend". You "Go" girls. It was also very good to see Kathy and see that she is doing well.
After I got home, I started to work in my contract. So, I decided to finish one of my projects. I was able to do it via Prezi, which I also learned from another tool time presentation, this time, Melissa's. I LOVED Prezi. I posted it already in Blackboard, but I will be doing the presentation in class as well. I hope you guys like it. It is not going to be a s good as all the ones that have been presented, but for a couple of hours project, I think it went well.
It was nice to learn about Melissa's "date" with Steve Wozniak, as well as Audrea's "new friend". You "Go" girls. It was also very good to see Kathy and see that she is doing well.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tool Time & IT Map presentations: Skechpad, Facebook, Prezi, and Some History - Awesome!!!
I love tonight's class! It was fun, extremely educative for me, and I even got some snacks. What a pretzels! And I had to mention the skittles and the kit kats. The night started with a lot of laughs. It was so much fun. After, we warmed up a little, we proceed it an IT Map and some tool time presentations of the night.
The first presentation was done by Kathy, Angela, and Julia. I have to say that I was amazed by the way these three people were able to delivered such an outstanding presentation via WIMBA from three different places. The flow was so smoth that I couldn't even believe they were in different locations. As I said in class, this is proof of how far technology has taken us and how technolgoy can be used for positive things. Their IT Mapping presentation was very good. It took me back on time. I recalled the first floppy disks that came out. Some of the were the size of a coputer screen. Also, I learn about sentios, which I dind't know about, and Reading Rainbow, as well as Dr. Rogers took me back on time with good memories.
The second presentation was done by Audra. She did a tool time presentation in Sketchpatch with geometry as a subject matter. I had no idea what Sketchpatch was, but now I know. I specifically like the Hide/Show action button feature, as well as the graphs. I thought it was going to be a very helpful and fun tool for my 16-year-old daughter to know and learn about. I believe Audra said that Absegami has this tool in the computers, so she thought that probably my daughter knows about it already. However, I wanted to mention it to her anyway, just in case. I am certain that she can certainly utilize it very well.
Susan did the third presentation, which was about Facebook. As you all know, I don't like Facebook; therefore, I don't have an account. Yes, I know that a lot of people use it, but it has never been my thing. Well, I promised that I would have an account by next week. Did I said that? Well, Susan's instructions in how to set up an account, as well as the privacy settings and many other things that you can do in Facebook were very helpful to me, and I will definetely put it in practice soon. One of the things that I like the most was to learn that I can set up a picture setting of 180 x 540 pixels, which looks bigger. So, let see how I do.
Finally, Melissa finish the night with a great presentation. She introduce Prezi to the class. Some of us already knew what was Prezi, but not me, so I was truly amazed with this tool. I truly like it and I would love to be able to learn it and do something with it. I am glad to learn that I can sign up for free. Yeah, as many other people, I like free stuff!!!
Gosh, next week is my turn, and I am kind of intimidated, I have to admit. All the presentations that I have seen so far have been excellent. So, I have to step up a notch. God help me!
The first presentation was done by Kathy, Angela, and Julia. I have to say that I was amazed by the way these three people were able to delivered such an outstanding presentation via WIMBA from three different places. The flow was so smoth that I couldn't even believe they were in different locations. As I said in class, this is proof of how far technology has taken us and how technolgoy can be used for positive things. Their IT Mapping presentation was very good. It took me back on time. I recalled the first floppy disks that came out. Some of the were the size of a coputer screen. Also, I learn about sentios, which I dind't know about, and Reading Rainbow, as well as Dr. Rogers took me back on time with good memories.
The second presentation was done by Audra. She did a tool time presentation in Sketchpatch with geometry as a subject matter. I had no idea what Sketchpatch was, but now I know. I specifically like the Hide/Show action button feature, as well as the graphs. I thought it was going to be a very helpful and fun tool for my 16-year-old daughter to know and learn about. I believe Audra said that Absegami has this tool in the computers, so she thought that probably my daughter knows about it already. However, I wanted to mention it to her anyway, just in case. I am certain that she can certainly utilize it very well.
Susan did the third presentation, which was about Facebook. As you all know, I don't like Facebook; therefore, I don't have an account. Yes, I know that a lot of people use it, but it has never been my thing. Well, I promised that I would have an account by next week. Did I said that? Well, Susan's instructions in how to set up an account, as well as the privacy settings and many other things that you can do in Facebook were very helpful to me, and I will definetely put it in practice soon. One of the things that I like the most was to learn that I can set up a picture setting of 180 x 540 pixels, which looks bigger. So, let see how I do.
Finally, Melissa finish the night with a great presentation. She introduce Prezi to the class. Some of us already knew what was Prezi, but not me, so I was truly amazed with this tool. I truly like it and I would love to be able to learn it and do something with it. I am glad to learn that I can sign up for free. Yeah, as many other people, I like free stuff!!!
Gosh, next week is my turn, and I am kind of intimidated, I have to admit. All the presentations that I have seen so far have been excellent. So, I have to step up a notch. God help me!
Pep Boys, A Change of Oil, Two Tires, Wipers, and $973.00 - ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
What a rough week! I had it on October 5th! My car needed a couple of new tires, so I took it to Pep Boys. While I was there, I noticed that they also do change of oil, so to avoid a trip to Jiffe Lube, I decided to do it there as well, plust I wanted new wipers. Firstable, the guy who took care of me was not customer service oriented, so from the beginning I didn't get a good impression. Then, on top of that, I had to wait about 4 hours for my car. Oh, but that is nothing! Then, when the work was done, the same guy call me for me to pay, of course. Well, as he said, "it was only $735 dollars". What???? I thought he was giving me the wrong bill, but no, it was my bill. Honestly, I dind't even know what to say. I was speechless. I started to take my credit card out of my wallet as slow as I could. At one time, I even put it back in. I tried to ask him, but he was very good in trying to get rid off me. So, yes, I ended up paying, but in my whole trip back home, I was thinking in just going back and speak with someone about it. I was really kind of rushing to get back because I had class. So, all I needed to do was to stop home, make something to eat little quick for my girls, and go to Stockton for my Intro class. Guys, you are not going to believe this. When I got in my car, IT DIDN'T START. Yes, you read correctly, IT DIDN'T START. So, I went nuts! I contacted Pep Boys to let them know of what happened becasue they worked on my car, and I thought that it had something to do with what they did. They kept transferring to this guy and another guy and another guy. I was furious. They were just not paying attention to me. So, I gave up and decided to just log on into WIMBA, take my class, and take care of it the next day. Well, they checked the car and told me that the starter was not working. You know what .... these people were taking advantage of me. My car had NO PROBLEMS, and it just happened that after they worked on it it got damaged. What a coincidence! So, they charged me $238 dollars more. People this is in two days, okay! At this point, I am trying to get some of my money back because, as everybody says, there has to be something wrong, and everytime I try to speak up, they found the ways to just ignore me. Oh, but I guarantee to you, I am getting my money back.
International Visual Literacy Association Conference - Seaview
On September 28th, the class did not meet. It was the 2011 International Visual Literacy Association Conference, which took place at Seaview. As a class, it was optional to attend. Dr. Ackerman explained to us of a variety of choices to be able to go and particapate of this great event. Unfortunately, I was not able to be part of it. One of my daughters was not feeling good, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her with the babysitter. So, after a long and busy day at work, I went home, and tried to utilize my time the best as I could to go over my contract and see which activities I was going to eliminate and which ones I was going to add. I wanted to make it better. I also worked on a paper that I needed to write for my Project Management class. It is a shame that I wasn't able to be at the conference, but I am glad that I was able to be at home with my daughter, just in case of an emergency, and also that I was able to accomplish a couple of things for my classes.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
IT History Exibit, IVLA Conference, and Stockton's 40 Years of Excellence
I was able to finish and turn in a draft for my contract today. I spent quite a long time trying to decide which activities I was going to do. I am sure that I will be making a few changes as I move along in the class. I really like some of the drafts that I have seen so far, and I said to myself, "why I didn't think of that". However, atleast I was able to complete the assignment and present it on time, which is a good thing.
Today's class was short, but I would say that extremely informative. I was very concern with the IT History Exhibit and the amount of work that it is required for this exercise. However, after listening to Dr. Ackerman explanations, and especially, after reading the objective of this project, I kind of have my "aha" moment of the night. The objective is very clear and it makes everything flow smoothly. I guess we just have to do some good and extensive research and then utilize web 2.0 tools to develop a good presentation. I am positive that each of us in the class would be able to create an outstanding job.
It was also good to talk about the International Visual Literacy Association Conference (IVLA) that will take place at the Seaview Hotel on September 28th and the possibilities to be able to attend.
By the way, today was the 40th anniversary of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and there was great celebration for its 40 Years of Excellence. Our Professor, Dr. Amy Ackerman, gave us the opportunity to be able to attend this event, and we truly appreciate it. We didn't get to participate of the entire program, but atleast we got the chance to listen to the last speeches from the College's President, Dr. Herman Saatkamp, and the Chief Development Officer, Dr. Phillip Ellmore. At the end, everybody enjoyed of great food, desserts, and drinks.
Well, I guess I should be starting do to some research and come up with some good ideas for my IT History Project. Until next time....
Today's class was short, but I would say that extremely informative. I was very concern with the IT History Exhibit and the amount of work that it is required for this exercise. However, after listening to Dr. Ackerman explanations, and especially, after reading the objective of this project, I kind of have my "aha" moment of the night. The objective is very clear and it makes everything flow smoothly. I guess we just have to do some good and extensive research and then utilize web 2.0 tools to develop a good presentation. I am positive that each of us in the class would be able to create an outstanding job.
It was also good to talk about the International Visual Literacy Association Conference (IVLA) that will take place at the Seaview Hotel on September 28th and the possibilities to be able to attend.
By the way, today was the 40th anniversary of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and there was great celebration for its 40 Years of Excellence. Our Professor, Dr. Amy Ackerman, gave us the opportunity to be able to attend this event, and we truly appreciate it. We didn't get to participate of the entire program, but atleast we got the chance to listen to the last speeches from the College's President, Dr. Herman Saatkamp, and the Chief Development Officer, Dr. Phillip Ellmore. At the end, everybody enjoyed of great food, desserts, and drinks.
Well, I guess I should be starting do to some research and come up with some good ideas for my IT History Project. Until next time....
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Creating My First Blog Ever
It is Sunday at 1:57 am. Well, actually it is already Monday. Here I am trying to set up my first blog ever as a requisite for my Introduction to Instructional Technology class. I am sure that all of you will notice right away that I am a newby in this type of things. So, I am asking you to please bare with me. I have never really use the computer other than to work and doing homework. So, things like Blogs, Facebook, My Space, Tuitter, etc., etc., etc., are not my forte. The thruth is that I have never even like them. I really don't like to have my information outthere for everybody to see. I understand that there are many things that can be done in order to protect my privacy; however, I don't know.... Anyway, this is just for my class, so I am sure everything is going to be fine. Please feel free to make any suggestions!
Busy Day, Syllabus, and a Couple of Hamburgers
As usual, I had a very busy day at work. I left my office at 5:15 pm and my class starts at 6:00 pm, so I really didn't have enough time for me to go home and make dinner. So, I bought a couple of hamburgers from Johnny Rockets (my daughter's loves them) and I took them home. I got back to school, and I even had a little bit of extra time for me to eat. I was starving and my brain doesn't work properly when I am hungry. So, I had to eat!
When Professor Ackerman stepped into the classroom, I was having my last bite. Time for class to start! The show was on! First, I have to admit that after reading the syllabus I was very worried and concerned. I even thought that I was probably in the wrong department. However, after listening to Amy going through every single detail of the syllabus, I got a better understanding and sense of what is expected from me, as well as all the things that I will be able to learn and put in practice. I liked the way she conducted the class. It was instructional and fun. The interaction with my classmates was also very good. I am certain that this is going to be a very good class.
When Professor Ackerman stepped into the classroom, I was having my last bite. Time for class to start! The show was on! First, I have to admit that after reading the syllabus I was very worried and concerned. I even thought that I was probably in the wrong department. However, after listening to Amy going through every single detail of the syllabus, I got a better understanding and sense of what is expected from me, as well as all the things that I will be able to learn and put in practice. I liked the way she conducted the class. It was instructional and fun. The interaction with my classmates was also very good. I am certain that this is going to be a very good class.
Oh My God! Missed First Class!
The classes for the 2011 Fall semester at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey started on September 6th. I was waiting anxiously during the entire summer because I was accepted in the MAIT Program (Masters in Instructional Technology) of Graduate School. I matriculated for two more courses, and I am saying two more courses because I had already taken two classes as a non-matricualted student during the 2011 Spring semester. I took Human Performace Improvement and Multimedia and Hypermedia Design. Both of these courses were great, and I would like to recommend them to all of you. Now, I will be taking Introduction to Instructional Technology and Project Management Basics. I have no doubts that both courses will be as interesting and educative.
The Introduction to Instructional Technology is on Wednesdays, and the Project Mangement class on Thursdays. So, technically my first day of school was on the 7th. Well, after waiting for so long for this semester to start, I didn't get to attend classes the first week. One of the classes was cancelled due tothe professor's medical circumstances, and I didn't show up to the other class because I basically missed up the days. I was so mad at myself. I immediately contacted the professor, Amy Ackerman, and explained to her what happened. She was very understanding, which made me feel way much better. I ended up setting an alarm for each day of the semester and for each class to make sure it doesn't happen again.
The Introduction to Instructional Technology is on Wednesdays, and the Project Mangement class on Thursdays. So, technically my first day of school was on the 7th. Well, after waiting for so long for this semester to start, I didn't get to attend classes the first week. One of the classes was cancelled due tothe professor's medical circumstances, and I didn't show up to the other class because I basically missed up the days. I was so mad at myself. I immediately contacted the professor, Amy Ackerman, and explained to her what happened. She was very understanding, which made me feel way much better. I ended up setting an alarm for each day of the semester and for each class to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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