Course Connections

I really struggled to get into this class in the beginning because it is something that doesn’t come natural to me…kind of like golf. I try to like it because my husband loves to play golf but I just can’t seem to get into it. Why? Because I’m horrible at golf!

However, after going through a few more weeks of this class and completing the assignments, I’ve gained some confidence with troubleshooting & working with computers. Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have the “go to” people if I run into computer hardware issues so I’ve never really had to try to fix things myself. I still have so much to learn but now that I’ve gone through a few of the assignments for this course I have a few success stories under my belt which has definitely boosted my confidence. While going through the course & learning of the assignments, I always feel this overwhelming rush of “OH MY GOSH! How am I going to do that assignment?!?!” After stepping back and trying to process the information, the mountain doesn’t seem as big. I remember feeling this exact way while taking the 2 undergrad computer end user/network administration courses. I’d call my mom crying, say, “Mom…I don’t know how I’m going to get this assignment done!”, and she’d calmly tell me to break the “mountain” of an assignment into smaller “hills” and get it done. That’s the same approach I’ve taken with this course, and it has seemed to work. It sure helps to have a caring instructor as well…and I’m not just saying that because I think he’s going to read this post but because it is true. It is so much more motivating as a student to have an instructor who truly cares about the success of each student in the class. It has really pushed me to work harder which has resulted in me really being able to understand and learn the material.

The one thing I think can be improved for future classes might be the very first class session. After that session was over, I sat in front of my computer feeling pretty numb & overwhelmed. There were so many computer terms & acronyms that were thrown around; I felt like I was in way over my head which put a bad taste in my mouth right from the start. It might be helpful to take a short pre-test so the instructor can get a good grasp on the level the students have upon entering into the course & then start out the first class at the level where the students demonstrate their beginning knowledge. Even if the instructor isn’t able to go over all of the basics that some of the students might need, it might be helpful to at least have a few articles or good resource websites where the students can go for some of the basic knowledge/information. Also, I felt a bit overwhelmed with the amount of work in the beginning of the course. I realize this is an accelerated course so I’m not sure if anything can be done about that. It was really helpful to have a compassionate instructor who would allow you to turn in assignments at a later date if more time was needed.

Thanks for a good class. I’ve learned lots & hopefully will continue to use this information/knowledge as I continue on my instructional technology journey!