Ahhhhhhhh sweet summer!

It's June! How sweet is that! Long days, warm starlit nights, NO CLASSES! That third one is music to my ears in the summer. I am one of those people who has to soak up summer full out---submerge myself, be it outside in the grass, in the garden, under the trees, near the lake or on the water. When I was a kid and summer was approaching, school suddenly became almost unbearable for me. The sun gods were calling my name and it was nigh unto impossible for me to concentrate on anything that was going on in that drab existence in the classroom.

That is why I really still relish the freedom of NO CLASSES in the summer. It is particularly sweet this summer, as I tease my colleagues as they struggle through their summer studies. What is it that makes you love to torment someone else whose in the midst of that summer school misery? Is it because you have been there one too many times yourself? I am certain that is a big part of it----na,na,na, na-na, I don't have to suffer that cruel and unusual summer torment!

Take it from an expert on the subject, summer was meant for daydreaming, kicking back, reading, reflecting, snoozing on the lawn, fishin' and enjoying the warm summer sunshine out-of-doors. "It just tain't natural for no book learnin'." I betcha Mark Twain would back me up on that statement.

Now I have to admit that I have started to feel summer slippin' away as we are moving into July and I remember how the days begin to fly by after the 4th. Stores will be taunting me with all of their school supplies and I regret to admit I have already signed up for fall classes---another sign that summertime is fleeting.

That is why I have to take the time to enjoy these warm summer mornings when the daylight breaks the darkness before 5 a.m. and the sultry evenings when the fireflies blink like nature's billboard in the dusk over the cornfields and the midnight sky is ablaze with a million stars free for the viewing.

It is absolutely imperative to take Henry David Thoreau's sage advice and "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, ..." So you'll have to excuse me if you don't see my ramblings committed to these pages during these summer days and nights. My mind is not tuned to software, soliloquy or Shakespeare. It is caught up with the rest of my soul on dreamin' under the midnight sky, driftin' off under the soft rustle of the oaks and spending time seriously reflecting on whether this is the summer I am going to catch that big fish at the lake that got away from me last year.

Ahhh yes summer----it doesn't get any sweeter than this dulcet season. I truly have felt sympathy pain for those of you who are harnessed to the delirium of that textbook, whose eyes suffer from the glaze that comes from too many hours in front of that CRT screen and can be identified from your classroom pallor. You poor things, you poor, poor things. I hope your torment subsides before summer flees this year. If it does---you can find me laying out in the hammock by the lake. HEE-HEE! I'll be the one with the sly grin on my face.

Freedom is . . .

never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. ~

Captivating!

I went to my first class on the software program entitled, Captivate last weekend. As you can see I am a little black and blue from trying to absorb all of the potential uses for this tool. I can definitely see how useful this program could be for online classes where instructors wish to do demonstrations or "how-to's" and also as a tool for setting up quizzes.

I am a total newbie to the software and am sure that it has many more applications that I have not yet been discovered in the short time that I have worked with it. The most unfortunate part is that the software is quite expensive and the university does not have a license for the use of Captivate at this time so we are forced to use the 30 day trial package.

It does give the student time to familiarize themselves with the tools and settings, but it won't be much help when constructing future virtual classrooms if it is no longer accessible because the trial period has expired!!!

I hope the university sees the value in investing in several of these software programs and purchases the licensing so that they are available to online instructors as the menu of online offerings continues to expand!

Until then I will be forced to try and make lemonade from lemons and learn everything I can about the program during this brief introductory period. Every software program I learn at least gives me exposure to the possibilities that are out there to flesh out and add life and enhance community in my online classes.

The Next Step . . .

In my last post I teased my colleagues about the fact that they would all be engaged in classes this summer and I would not. This statement in fact is not entirely true. I am planning on taking one or two workshops this summer on software that can be used to enhance my online classes.

Two weekends in May I will be learning Captivate and two weekends in June will be devoted to learning something about Dreamweaver. I am an ardent believer in the fact that these types of software programs do a great deal to enhance an online class and breathe life into the communications by adding another dimension. I am very anxious to learn new software programs that I can use to be more creative in my class offerings.

Due to the nature of today's student (a very tech savvy generation), it is imperative that online learning be engaging and challenging by being many faceted. Learning should always be a challenging, enlightening pursuit however, it should also contain an element of excitement and fun for the student. Quite simply real learning should be more exciting than watching paint dry---I have been a student in a few of those classes and boredom does not begin to explain those experiences.

On ground we can "sorta" tell when we are in for a class in boring 101 when you walk in the first day and you wonder if you should take the instructor's pulse to see if they are still breathing. Your immediate impression is they are even less excited to be there than their students. Is it any wonder than students immediately become comatose when the teacher begins to drone on in a monotone about the class expectations (expectations he/she probably has not changed in the last 5+ years of teaching this same class? And then instructors wonder why their students don't seem engaged in the class?

Online engagement is even more difficult because the instructor is faced with developing strong communications with/between students often without the advantage of any f-2-f encounter being a possibility. There in lies the first big challenge----engagement. Making the student interesting enough to have students look forward to logging in to learn. This takes all of the muscle that a good instructor can muscle----so thus I need to start building up my arsenal of exercises that will help me to build a worthwhile cyber class. I envision a place where challenges are offered and communication between classmates occurs twenty-four seven because they are interested in exchanging their ideas with each other. TWENTY FOUR-SEVEN---I once saw a sign in an all night diner that read, HOT COFFEE---Day or Night----24-7. There was something about that sign that conjured up a sense of warmth and security, so much so that I never forgot seeing it. That is part of the beauty I see in these online class exchanges. I have popped online late at night only to find some of my classmates online also. Granted I have had persons from the other side of the planet like Australia who were on because it was already the next day, but it was still comforting to find other students struggling through their assignments (albeit perhaps due to procrastination) online also. I suppose one could say that misery loves company! It is nice to know that you are not alone out there in cyberspace and you can always find someone who is willing to discuss any topic at any hour of the day or night somewhere out there in the cyber galaxy.

So this is just the first next step on this journey in honing my skill level for this endeavor. I do,however, intend to also spend some time recharging my batteries this summer by doing a little reading under that shade tree. Hope you have a chance to do the same.

I Made It!! Now I Can Do My Happy Dance, Viola, Terri and Sharon!! Ha! Ha!

This summer while I am lying in my hammock under a shade tree sipping a Mai-Tai or a Long Island ice tea, I will look northwest toward the university and think of you struggling away at your next class in the series. If by chance I hear swearing from that direction----I will also think of you.

When I am in the pool floating in the warm sunshine, I , too, will toss my head back and grimace on your behalf. If by chance I pass a computer lab, a library or a mental health facility I will also think about the tribulations you are experiencing.

I will think of you when I am reading the latest trashy magazine or eating shrimp on the "barbie", or steak, or whatever. I will also think of you as I lay in repose on my chaise lounge eating bon-bons. And I will stop long enough to mutter----you poor thing----you poor, poor thing". I promise----that this I will faithfully do. Yes I will think of you during the "doghouse days of summer"-----but look on the bright side--- Viola ---your instructor will be in sunny California and she can tell you all about it in class! HEE HEE HEE