Mary,

What is going well in the course:
I think my excel assignment turned out well. I haven’t used excel in some time, so I had to reteach myself a few things. I enjoy playing with numbers, so once I had it figured out, it was fun for me.

What is going not so well in the course:
I’m a little nervous about how our group paper will come together. I am all about the exchange of ideas in groups and learning from one another, but I inherently hate group papers. No one has the same writing style, so they never flow well unless one person does extensive editing. I have never had a group paper assignment go smoothly. I hope I am proved wrong!

Your frustrations:
Our group meetings move somewhat slowly because we only use text. I use a mic with a group from another class, and we are able to discuss so much more in less time by comparison.

Your accomplishments:
I'm hanging in there!

Your life as an online learner:
My life as an online learner changes daily. Some days I feel really good about it, and others I ask myself what I have gotten myself into. Some weeks are very overwhelming, but I am trying to keep up.

Thanks,

Niecy

Journal 2 for EDT 547

Dear Mary,

What is going well in the course:
Group work has continued to go well. I wish the rest of my group had microphones because it would make our meetings a lot more efficient, but I think we work well together and they seem to be knowledgeable people. We have also been good about setting group deadlines for the project, so I feel like we staying on top of things.

What is going not so well in the course:
The course work itself has been going pretty well this week, so I don't think I have any complaints.

Your frustrations:
Accessing all of the documents, due dates, and assignment descriptions has become a bit of an annoyance for me. I wish they were all in one place. For example, the links to the reading for double entry journal were only located in the module calendar, but the assignment requirements had its own link which did not include the due date or reading links, and the point value for this assignment was in yet another folder. This probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but when I have to look in several separate places for different pieces of the every assignment, it's a huge time waster. I am also always afraid that I missed some important aspect of the assignment because I forgot to look somewhere.

Your accomplishments:
I am very glad to be finished with the first module because it was kind of an adjustment to the class for me. I am optimistic about module two.

Your life as an online learner:
I have found that life as an online learner takes so much more self discipline than life as a classroom learner. I was expecting this going in, however it is always different when you are actually in the situation. I have had to be very careful with my time and VERY organized in order to get everything done, which has thus far been an interesting journey.

Be well.

Niecy