My first online learning experience was wonderful. It started the spring of 2004 right after I quit my tenured teaching position that I had held for over 12 years. I was burned out after 24 years of university teaching, fed up with the whole gig and I knew I had to find a new direction for my life. I knew if I didn't, I would not survive. I knew if I didn't, I would lose my soul and would never find my way back.
So what does a burned out 50 year old university professor do? You got it! Go back to school! School was all I knew! I had been in school or teaching school most of my life. It was the place I felt comfortable. I knew the rules. I could do this. I knew the territory. But this time I was going to try online learning-- a totally new and unknown experience for me at that time. I had developed and taught online classes before using Blackboard 4.0 and I was intrigued by the potential of this new technology. Yet, I had never taken an online class myself. At those early, beginning stages, I had no idea how this was going to transform the way I thought about teaching, learning, life and my place in the world. I had no idea how it was going to change me forever. I had no idea how it would lead me to a new, more fulfilling career and purpose. STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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6 comments:
Hello Diane,
It sounds like we have a lot in common (close to the same age, too)...and I am in love with elearning! I went back to college in 2003, completed a master's in education in 2005 (online) and then went on to instructional design for online learning. I am just finishing up my coursework for a doctorate and will be taking my comps and then working on my dissertation.
With a background in graphic design, environmental sciences, and now education, I have so many options available. I have taught online classes to high school students, and I am currently teaching online ecology classes at the college level. Soon, I will be taking on some other courses, probably desktop publishing, computer applications, critical thinking, and education classes.
I have always loved technology, but another motivating factor for me was the need to escape from the dysfunction that always seemed to occur in the corporate environment, no matter what kind of job I had. I like being independent with no boss looking over my shoulder (well, I know they watch me through technology, but for some reason that does not bother me as much).
In addition to learning at the university I have been attending, the most exciting form of learning has been through a group of educators, researchers, critical theorists, and authors who have formed a "communities of practice" with the mission to work toward social justice. I have never experienced such high level, rigorous learning as I have the past few weeks I have been participating in this project. And one of the most exciting parts is the mission. For my part, I am working on ideas for building global education, among other projects.
Anyway, enough about me. You can learn more if you would like to read my blog and follow the links to my other blogs I write for the Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy. I am really interested in learning more about your experiences, so I am adding your blog to those I will be following.
Great to meet you! Great to share the Web 2.0 elearning space!
Thank you,
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
Welcome to eLearning 2.0. You are the official first person to post to this new blog. I hope you will come back often and tell your friends and colleagues about it.
This is my first adventure into blogging, so I am new at this and I am trying to adjust and learn how to use the tools. Thanks for your patience.
I would love to hear much more about the "communties of practice" that has a mission to work toward social justice. I am a big fan of the writings of Paulo Freire, as well. I will check out your Blog at the International Project for Critical Pedagogy.
Again, welcome to eLearning 2.0.
Diane,
Thank you for the welcome. I hope you enjoy the Freire site. On the site you will find a Reading Room with fascinating articles written by some of my favorite critical theorists, an archive with documents and articles, interesting videos, and a group of fantastic people to converse with. I just wrote a new entry here in my Free Global Education blog about the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and the protests, which has a link to a more detailed blog on the Freire site that presents all of the research I did. You might find it interesting. It was just a side project/current event I was very interested in. Next time, I will be covering some fairly new Web 2.0 technologies.
Thanks, again!
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
I went to your site and was very interested in what you had to say about Comcast and the attempts to stop free speech. Very powerful issue. I had not known about this and I will have to do more research and thinking about this. If the Internet becomes over-regulated it will ruin what has become a liberating force in society.
I also loved your analogy about the frog that you have written in your own profile. I enjoy the way you write.
Diane
Diane,
Thank you for reading my blog on the Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy. From what I am reading online, Comcast is appealing the ruling. When I asked Comcast why they now have a limit (when I called them to correct my bill), I was told there has always been a limit; they are just putting a number on it now. When there was no "number" on the limit, I guess I fail to understand how that can be a limit. Just another example of what monopolistic companies think they can get away with (and how they think people are stupid)...and they get away with it. That is one of the reasons critical pedagogy is needed - another blog I started on eBlogger in conjunction with what I do at http://freire.education.mcgill.ca/blogs/vanessa-paradis. What is frightening, companies and government already have in place ways to totally monitor and control Internet access through the lack of transparency the Internet provides them. I will be doing more research on this as time goes on. We need to expose the things they are doing. As an example, I went on one website today that happened to sell used books. They had my entire Amazon.com wishlist (for my convenience!) That way, I could look at my list and see what I needed and then buy the books cheaper from them. With that blatant violation, I left the site. Something more needs to be done, though.
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa,
Thanks for getting back to me in regards to the Comcast issue and what seems like a large invasion of privacy by publishing your wish list in a used book site when the list was published originally on Amazon. The misuse of technology is certainly becoming an issue. There are, of course, many implications for eLearning including authentic communication, free speech, freedom and democracy issues.
Most people do feel powerless to rise against corporate giants. The trick is not let them get a foot hold and to let others know about it.
The kind of education I support via eLearning would help students think more critically about what is happening in their world around them. I think many in our society do not even notice or think about these kinds of things, unfortunately.
I have usually noticed that the underlying motive for companies is usually money, power and control. As consumers, we must insist that companies hold a high ethical standard for their behavior and invite others to review their own practices to see if they are consist with ethical and moral standards. The only thing we can do to combat companies like this is to simply stop buying their products. In many cases, it is hard because many have a monopoly in certain markets and regions of the country. What is challenging for me is to identify when they have crossed the line.
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