Two Roads Diverged-I took the Less Traveled By-And That Has Made All the Difference

They say this is the end my friends, but every end is just a new beginning. Lebanon is hit by a severe storm since Friday night, and all wires, connections, billboards, trees, and shacks are ruined and destroyed same as my internet connection. I am late yet again in posting my FINAL blog; however I have this warm gratifying feeling within, for reading all my mates’ blogs and commented on most days ago before it was too late.

We have built so many bonds in this web-course that are rather unattainable elsewhere; bonds with technology, bonds with fine scholars, bonds with friends, and best of all bonds with ourselves. We gave ourselves the chance and opportunity to ponder, to create, to advance, and progress. We gained so much in these 10 weeks that it is currently impossible to achieve it anywhere else.

For the newcomers, following our steps or blogs will surely pave them an easier path to give them a clearer head-start. Every week was a new “treasure hunt”, where our dear Robert as a ‘genie in a bottle’ made all our wishes come true, unraveling the tech-based skills, to guide us reach to the final desired ‘grail’.

In the past 10 weeks we had an amazing tech-journey where we scavenged the following:

- Creating an academic blog

- The ABCD learning objectives framework
- Effective web searches 
- Oral/aural skill-building websites
- Added bookmarks with Delicious
-Sought within reading/writing websites
- Checked Technology-enhanced lesson plans
- Pondered Project-based learning
- Mastered WebQuests
- Created Rubrics
-Came out with Interactive PowerPoint 
- Discussed Learner autonomy
- Found solution/activities for the one-computer classroom
- Got loads of teacher resources online 
-Viewed different Learning styles: technology connections and multiple intelligences

These are only the headlines of the major discussions and tasks we covered all through 10 weeks. There were several other minor discussions and a number of scholar guests leading us to our final projects. Our final projects were always the final destination or the ‘grail’ (as previously mentioned). We had to come out with tech-based solutions to pre-existing problems/issues in our own classes and come up with an elucidation.

I used Comics as a tool to solve my students’ constant writing de-motivation, and lack of interest, and I can safely announce that it worked for a certain extent.

This course gave me a new prospect, a clearer perspective to overview cases, issues, instances in teaching that I have never considered or had the chance to overlook before.

Thanks for all the mates who shared their views, who gave their constant feedback to carry on and give our best, a big thanks to our ‘best’ advisor Robert for all his tech and moral guidance, thanks to all my dear friends and colleagues who encouraged me ‘to survive’ whenever I was out of ideas, patience, strength, and most of all words. However the biggest thanks go to my family who never gave up hope on my perseverance, and never found it odd to see me awake in the middle of the night attacking and waging severe wars against my laptop.

This has been one of the best experiences ever.

Best ‘Tech’ Regards Ever,

Eugenie

'Net' Cerebration

Are we there yet? Did we make it? Is it true we got so rich in such a short time? Well, yes, yes, and yes. Things can’t get simpler and richer than this. Week 9 mates, we have survived and made it all happen.

This week’s discussion was one of my favorites since not only it helped me understand different learners’ styles, but also it helped me on the personal level, after checking some tests and quizzes, to understand where my own kids might stand in the learners’ style and in multiple intelligence categories, and I was surprised that I already discovered a lot.

Finalizing my project draft was a joyful task this week too, since I had the feeling of making progress, and eventually issuing a thing of considerable importance for I have eyed a certain problem, I tackled the issue, and ostensibly found a solution. All I need to do right now is to supervene, implement the tasks, and bring to fruition for as long as I can. I am planning to post most of the preliminary results of comics I got, of course done my students, as a future task, assigned to myself in order just to keep on reliving this curious experience as much as I can.

I don’t know if I should give my final thoughts yet and comment on all the tools, theories, ideas, notions, beliefs, methods, and knowledge we earned from this skills, but I will be wishful and keep it for yet another blog, with the prospect that THE BEST IS YET TO COME.

Dear mates seize the moment for you made it this week, and you alone possess the adequate intuition of achieving it all and owning it all.

Best of Regards,

Eugenie