Where Is She??

Winter languishes and lingers into March
Her long, icy tentacles cling to the pines for dear life
The crystalline strands of her hair hang from the gables
She clutches at the landscape refusing to leave
No dance, no sounds, no warm breath of the first days of spring are evident
No birds are harkening the maiden’s arrival
No kaleidoscope of color is evidenced from the crocuses that must force their way through
The whitewash winter has wrought
Frigid winds still snap at the sunrise
Warning spring that winter is not ready for retreat
Even though
The woodpile has waned
The car is chalked with salt
The lake is still glassed over
And the crows scavenge for the last kernels of last year’s crop beneath the snow
Where is the fair maiden lingering?
Why does she not even tease us with one day of her warmth?
No wave of robins returned
No cats curled in the sun on the porch
No gaggle of geese on the lake
No redwing blackbird calls at dusk
Just ashen white silence
Where is she? Has the maiden forsaken us this year?

C. Schrage

Something tells me there will always be a new boulder in the road to climb over . . .

THE BUZZ ON CLASS IV IS . . .

"Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway."------Mary Kay Ash

I have to admit I feel very simpatico with the bumble bee. When I started this series of courses, I really was not “aerodynamically” suited for this environment. I had never taught an online class and knew very little about pedagogy or learning objectives, let alone designing a course. I had had quite a bit of experience as an online student and I had definite opinions about what I liked and disliked about my online courses, but that did not give me the tools or any where with-all to be an online instructor.

I felt very intimidated by my peers with a litany of teaching experience when I entered class one. How could I possibly hope to soar with so much to learn? It seemed improbable to say the least. “To bee or not to bee?” that was the question as I started the cyber journey through the certificate program. I readily admit there have been moments of indescribable exhilaration and moments of extreme frustration as I have bumbled(Notice a pattern in the word usage here?) and stumbled my way through this series of class experiences.

I was horrified by the prospect of leading the class in a synchronous session in Class II and I had heard horror stories about the difficulty of the design process in Class III. Through all of the trials I have experienced, I just kept these buzz words(can’t help myself now) in my head----YOU CAN DO THIS-----ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY. The fear I once had for my fellow classmates became admiration and I also realized how much I was gaining from reading and listening to their own personal tribulations. The instructors also were more than willing to assist me and recount the solutions they had found for their own sticky online classroom issues and experiences. Every time I have felt overwhelmed or uncertain I have just made a beeline to my teacher or a fellow classmate for clarification.

Now, I find myself standing on the precipice of assuming a new flight pattern for class IV---the final class in this series. I look back at the first three classes and contemplate all that I have gained and I look forward confident that this class will also be a great learning experience for me. Ideas are swarming in my head. I look forward to learning how to properly actually generate my first online workshop for our student population. I look forward to learning about many new and unfamiliar tools and technologies that will help me to “flesh out” my class in a positive and inviting manner. I am very aware of my novice status in these endeavors and I am also aware that creating a viable workshop will be an ongoing, dynamic endeavor that will be continuous long after this series of classes is completed as I continue to comb the web for new modalities.

However, I can promise you that you will hear more from me in the future because I have been “stung” with a passion for the cyber environment since the first day I entered the realm and I will not be content to just hover on the fringes. I intend to keep humming along, choosing to focus on the flowers and remaining undaunted by any weeds that may spring up along the way. All in all, I expect this to be one “honey” of an experience----(you must excuse me I did not start out intending to drone on and on) AND even though I may not be aerodynamically correct for this endeavor I will make up for those shortcomings with my passionate feelings for cyber learning/teaching. So "BEE-WARE" cyber world because here I come!

Struggling to Compose My Own Symphony for Cyber Learning

It is the wee hours of the morning, the house is quiet and the white glom of the full hunter moon is shining in through the windows. I have been quietly sitting in the shadow of the moonlight reflecting on the journey I have taken during the course of this series of online teaching classes.

Before this class I was content to be an attentive member of the online audience, content to listen and learn as the melodious strains of harmony from the orchestration of good online instruction floated past my ears and engaged all of my senses. I recognized the beauty of the music of effective cyber teaching/learning when all of the sounds of the instruments are brought together in a near perfect balance by the conductor/teacher.

I have listened and learned from many different maestros of the online environment, all the time constructing my own melody of learning in the recesses of my mind. This music I wish to create for interpretation by a potential audience of students haunts my mind now day and night. It must evoke emotion yet elicit learning. It must strike a chord with the listeners that will spirit them forward long after the performance has stopped.

When I came to this third cyber class, I was asked to move from my comfortable seat in the audience and step onto the platform, assume the podium and pick up the baton to conduct the orchestration of my very first original composition ---my own symphony of cyber learning. As I now stand on the podium, I know that as conductor I have been given access to all of the complements of a successful orchestra. The resources, the technological tools, the able assistance of the maestro and the knowledge that I have gained from others while listening from my seat in the audience are all freely available and await the movement of my baton.

My role has changed from attentive listener to that of creative conductor/teacher. The tools are all here as I look out from the orchestra pit, but it is now my job to take all of the potential that lies before me and conduct the varied instruments so that their tones flow together into something harmonious that is pleasing and meaningful to my ultimate audience, the students.

Although I have a clear impression in my mind of the melody that I want to produce/teach, I have struggled these few weeks with getting the right mix of “brass to woodwinds”. I have learned the importance of not letting the percussion section overpower the sweet soft strains of the strings and take over the orchestration. I have learned that the music must envelop and seep into the listening audience without being harsh or unpleasant to their ears. It must not be out of tune with the listener. It must not be too sharp or too FLAT.

In order for the music/design to be synchronous a delicate balance must be struck. It is up to me to meld the beauty of the individual instruments and to conduct and create the light and shadow of the music I wish for them to produce. It is up to me to build in the pianissimos and the fortissimos. I must create the crescendos as I use my baton to direct the elements. How to take all of the complexities of the instruments and mold them into something that is simple enough to be easily comprehended?

The ultimate ambition as conductor is to be the conduit that allows the music/design, to become the bridge between the instruments of the orchestra (the knowledge) and the minds and hearts of the audience (the students) so that the ultimate goal---learning, can occur.

As the conduit, I have also struggled (of my own volition) to compose my own original score instead of trying to conduct someone else’s work. This has made my role more harrowing, but I know my own heart and I would never be satisfied if I did not learn to successfully compose and conduct my own unique score.

A score that has now been struck and restruck as I endlessly try to create that elusive piece of music that my audience will identify with and respond to; and that can evoke some of the same emotions that I feel when those same electrifying strains of online learning echo and play over and over in my own mind. I struggle to create harmony from what at times has been chaotic cacophony.

Every note must be examined because although it may show promise on paper, it may not translate to the ears of the audience when played. If I as composer/conductor cannot convey the possibility of the feelings that the music is meant to exude to the audience why should I be allowed to stand on the podium? What will be gained from the experience for the student? Could all potential passion and love of this medium be lost with one sour note?

What good is the talent of the orchestra if the conductor does not bring out the best of it? What worth if the composer does not give them an exceptional score to play? The music means nothing if it is dissonant and no one is enticed to listen to it.

Thus it is as I sit tonight in the moonlight looking across the cerulean landscape reflecting on the place on the cyber road of online instruction where I stand. I am midway between “useless noise” and vibrant melody as I continue to rescore the bars before me. I know that a place on the podium is earned and I would not covet that position were it not so.

I also know that I can create music for this realm and that I must successfully transform it into a symphony of learning for the masses. Parts of the score that I have committed to paper are quite good and other parts are nothing but incomprehensible bits of noise. I knew from the outset that this task would not be easy and that great compositions that unite the composer/conductor, the orchestra and the audience would not just leap to and from the paper, at least not for me.

I could lay down the baton and walk away content to assume a plush seat back in the audience, except for the fact that the symphony still lives in my mind, the orchestra awaits my direction, an eager audience stands in the wings---and there is always a place in this vast cyber realm for a new composer/conductor to create his/her own interpretation of the potential beauty and value of online learning.

With the morning light, there will come a new opportunity and a fresh new perspective on the task before me. I will once again humbly bow to the audience, look to the orchestra, raise my baton and resume work on my symphony. I venture forth confident that I can become a credible conductor who can convey the potential through the music. The dream is that those that listen will hear a harmonious score of all of the instruments and the audience will produce their own interpretation of the melody they hear, and create their own lyrics for what they perceive.

I am just the conductor; I can only raise my baton and do my best to orchestrate the instruments (elements of online instruction) and attempt to create a connection through my music. Music that can make the invisible visible. . . The shear magic of music that can draw an awaiting audience as it has me deeper and deeper into the aura created by the distant sweet strains I have heard of the unlimited potential for learning that permeates this realm.

The elements are all laid bare here before me; and that ethereal melody still resonates in my head, if I can only coax the fragile notes onto the paper . . .

Postscript to this entry: This was a metaphorical interpretation of how I have felt about learning to design online courses. This has been a challenging task for me. In the beginning I had difficulty writing good, clear learning objectives. These two links were helpful to me:
Learning Objectives:
http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/FD/writingobjectives.pdf
http://www.med.fsu.edu/education/FacultyDevelopment/objectives.asp
I also had issues regarding making good choices for interactivity in the course. It is very easy to try to over deliver and over promise. I love some of the new technologies

http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html

and am anxious to try to employ them. However, I have worked hard to tone down this early design and rely on the “kiss” method. (Rome was not built in a day!) This link was helpful for me in that regard:
http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol1_issue2/Guidelines_for_Establishing_Interactivity_in_Online_Courses.pdf
For me, the able assistance of my instructor and fellow classmates was the most helpful. Their support was appreciated and buoyed me up when I was struggling. This link was also a good one:
http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/conrad.htm
I was able to see the brilliance in the design of some of the more seasoned members of the class. I was also able to see the advantages of using a textbook (although I still wish to be able to successfully design courses without the use of a textbook also). I have not lost any of the passion for cyber instruction and I am confident that with time and experience I will be a competent instructor, if for no other reason than that passion that I have for this medium. I will ultimately be able to orchestrate an online class with aplomb and I am anxious to assume the baton!

Conquering the Arena

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Teddy Roosevelt


This famous quote is from Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. TR played many roles and withstood some very tough personal trials in his life. His first wife, Alice, and his mother died on the same day in 1884 and he spent two years in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory mastering his grief by living in the saddle driving cattle over a desolate landscape. He ultimately was called to the Presidency at the early age of 43 after McKinley was assassinated and had more than a few critics as he crusaded to secure National Parks for the enjoyment of millions of future generations of Americans. He knew victory and he refused to allow himself to succumb to defeat.

I have been reflecting on his phrase “ . . .the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, . . . who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,”

I can identify with what TR was saying. I feel like I have just entered the arena and my face is already marred by dust and sweat and blood, as I have erred and can identify with coming up short again and again as I struggle to master the design tools of the infrastructure for online learning.

In the online teaching arena, mastering the art of creating good learning objectives (a new experience) has definitely been a stumbling block for me. In the beginning it was a nightmare, because I struggled with finding and suggesting the appropriate action verbs. I immediately realized the vagueness of words like understand and demonstrate and wanted so badly to be concise that I then overcompensated and made lengthy wordy objectives that cried out for brevity and clarity. One of the most helpful tools for me (besides the aid offered by my colleagues) was found in these word wheels based on Bloom’s taxonomy that helped to guide my thought patterns.




http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/alt/training/Blooms/circle.GIF




http://teaching.uncc.edu/files/image/resources/pedagogy/diagramforwriting.gif


My second big hurdle has been being able to effectively align all the elements with the vision of the big picture I want to see emerge. Do my learning objectives effectively align with my content resources, my student-content interactions, and my student-student and student-teacher interactions/activities? I continue to create and re-create to make my work and my vision meld together.

I also continue to identify with TR’s words: “. . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause;”. I do not lack the great enthusiasms and passion for these online learning opportunities I seek to create. I have never once second guessed the fact that online teaching and learning is the worthy cause I wish to conquer and champion. However, I already know that I will never be satisfied or satiated thinking that I have reached the ultimate goal or the ultimate product and that the work is finished. This will be a lifelong process.

I know this cyber-arena’s area and expectations will continue to expand and I will continue “to spend myself”: to write and rewrite, to work to align and re-align and to evaluate and re-evaluate everything that I create long after this series of classes is over. Always searching, seeking and pondering how to improve the resources, the exercises, the activities, and the outcomes along with the outreach.

I have only just begun, but I realize that I will begin again and again until I can with some small degree of comfort construct the infrastructure I so sorely need to breathe depth and breadth and life into the learning opportunities I hope to ultimately see become a reality.

I also have to work diligently to construct learning outcomes with an eye on infusing deeper critical thinking skills. I am learning that a very delicate balance must be struck. I must also strive diligently to create an online atmosphere conducive to critical and creative reflection.

Always reticent of making the climate flexible enough to allow for the creation of activities that incorporate my students’ unique talents, abilities, interests, cultural backgrounds and work to take all of these factors into consideration as I seek to build and bond a community of learners.

“who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly”. Though this vast arena is not without its pitfalls, its peaks, its valleys and its endless dilemmas, I have seen glimpses of brilliance among my colleagues and fellow travelers. Their excellence and criticism drives me.

I have witnessed exchanges that I have never seen in on ground classes and I hear the distant thunder of great things to come. I have already witnessed podcasts, voice threads, wikis, edublogs, egames and the like and I know that this is just the beginning of this new cyber vocabulary that will evolve with each new discovery.
And so I move slowly forward deeper and deeper into the arena ever mindful of TR’s closing words, “so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Yes, the road ahead is at times foreboding and indeed challenging and my face is marred with the dust, blood and sweat of this arena already, but I will continue to push forward unrelenting and undaunted by any thoughts of defeat and only spurred forward by any criticisms.
Although there is no guarantee given for victory or against defeat, I have laid claim to my small spot in this grand arena and I refuse to lay waste my attempt to climb to the heights that await the unvanquished ahead. I will not settle for being counted among those timid souls that Roosevelt ruefully recounted no matter how steep the clime nor rugged the terrain, ultimately I will prevail. I will prevail and I will ultimately do so with the stamp of my own personal flourish and distinct style. Just watch me.