Showing posts with label online learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online learning. Show all posts

Saturday, February 2, 2013

What I discovered during the Advanced Power Searching with Google online course

No spoilers in this blog post...keep searching Advanced Power Searching participants.
Last month I did a post recommending registration for the upcoming Advanced Power Searching with Google two week course. The course started January 23 and you have until February 8, 2013 to submit your final assignment.

In the "How the Course Works" information one of the additional tips is listed as:

Do not post challenge solutions publicly (on blogs, Google+, etc.), since Google may pick these up and spoil the surprise for others solving the challenges.

Since the course is still on going I won't post any challenge solutions but random bits of  information that I learned during my assignments. I opted for an assignment to learn more about my name and history. While I have blogged and share information that I share a name with a convicted sex offender, there are some prominent Winebrenners in history, quite a few authors, and even the Winebrenner Theology Seminary in Findlay Ohio.

What does your name mean?

Family Education
http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/winebrenner

1. Partly Americanized spelling of the German occupational name Weinbrenner ‘distiller’ (literally, ‘wine burner’). The original function of the distiller, attested from the 8th century, seems to have been to extract alcohol for medicinal purposes from wine; the modern sense of someone who prepared spirituous liquor for drinking is first recorded in the 14th century.
2.American bearers of this surname are descended from Johann Christian Weinbrenner, who came from the Rhineland Palatinate to Hagerstown, MD, in 1753–54.

Ancestry surname search
http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=winebrenner

Winebrenner Name Meaning Partly Americanized spelling of the German occupational name Weinbrenner ‘distiller’ (literally, ‘wine burner’). The original function of the distiller, attested from the 8th century, seems to have been to extract alcohol for medicinal purposes from wine; the modern sense of someone who prepared spirituous liquor for drinking is first recorded in the 14th century.

Using multiple sources and validating domain names through WHO IS supports those who tend to use triangulation in research or have a tendency to do a root cause analysis when resolving projects and problems.

You can always participate in the Power Searching with Google self paced course. I think everyone can learn something or revisit some skill sets you haven't used in awhile. Have fun! and feed your autodidacticism.






Thursday, December 25, 2008

Books for Next Online Course

These are the textbooks for my next online class - ELT 7008. If you have read them, have an opinion, or have used them in a class before please share your comment.

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2007) Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2004) Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.


Bender, T. (2003) Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning: Theory, practice and assessment. Stylus.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Catching up

After completing my most recent class and hoping my instructor survived hurricane Ike, I took a break from blogging to catch up on reading blogs, tweets, and F2F issues. Attending the GA PTA State Advocacy Conference was on my F2F agenda. Quite a bit of history in the gold domed building.

I am enjoying the break from school as I continue to gather links to blogs, websites, and Second Life classrooms. As an Ed Techie in my professional and personal life...sometimes it is nice to shut down and disconnect.

With the passing of hurricane Ike, a discussion arose about what do online instructors and their students do in a state of emergency. Some of us have teachers and classmates that evacuated Houston, but our online courses continue, assignments need to be graded, and completed classes need to be closed out. I remember having this discussion after 9/11 when we lost online educators and students. While residential schools have policies governing substitutes, resignations, and emergencies, these policies are not always readily available in our online courses.

As an online student, I have always found some way to connect. After many hurricane evacuations from Florida, we just decided to move. With our military background, moving every couple of years is anticipated, so packing up and returning to an area where we pay property taxes for many years was not a problem.

For those involved with online schools, formal or informal, what are some of your policies that cover cases of emergency, acts of God, or times of war?

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Nothing like a brick and mortar registration...

There is nothing like a brick and mortar registration...to make one appreciate an online school. While I am excited for my daughter to experience her first brick and mortar college...and I am even trying to talk my mother in returning to college and take advantage of the free courses for senior citizens, I can honestly say I will never attend a residential college again. My mother attended this event with us and told my daughter of the long lines we stood in as I was registering for my first college experience at UoF 20+ years ago. I appreciate the opportunity to complete some of the tasks online before attending the residential orientation.

I like having choices and options. I prefer the option to finish a course within four to twelve weeks depending on my work and volunteer schedule. I prefer to produce products used in the online learning environment, incorporate rubrics, and interact with others in an online environment.

I have thrived in the online educational environment and can only imagine where I would be today had virtual schools existed when I was younger. I love reading the blogs of teachers who incorporate technology, the educational technologists that are bridging the digital divide, and the students of today who can share their work and interact with other students growing up digital. I can only imagine the places they will go with technology tools that our generation can only imagine will exist.