Have been up since 4am catching up with the reading that Bronwyn has sent in her latest email.
I am aware more than ever that studying online has not yet become a natural process for me and is taking quite an adjustment. I am so used to spreading my notes and reference reading all around me that I am struggling with trying to have enough windows open to be able to move comfortably from one reading to another and then to my notes and back again. I have this dream of having a bank of computers lined up, each screen displaying a different reading so I can wheel myself along to find the relevant piece at any one time. However...
In the Handbook for Learning-centred Evaluation of Computer-facilitated Learning Projects in Higher Education there is this quote

“(Ehrmann, 1999b) likens the process of evaluation to the use of a small torch to glimpse what sort of animal might be in front of you in a huge, dark cave. In this metaphor, the cave is the process being investigated, and the torch is the evaluation. The cave is large and complex, and the torch beam is narrow and weak; each evaluative question is equivalent to pointing the torch in a particular direction, to see what is there and what walks into the light.”

I resonate with this analogy and realise that online learning for me often feels that I am wandering around in a huge dark cave with a very small torchlight. I can empathise with the mature students on our Certificate course who struggle with some of the online activities in our blended courses and watch with envy as their younger classmates navigate the material so easily.
So the Needs Analysis that I am doing for our project is highly relevant for me also as I am taken out of my familiar and comfortable way of studying and learning.
The other section of the article that I found interesting is How can you Unpack your own Assumptions about Teaching and Learning? in the Introduction. Lots to reflect on but I am mindful that I need to just get on with the project as time is running out to get the work submitted. My mind is untidy and loves doing all the reading around and for a project and then I find I am up against time in writing it up! C’est la vie. Alarm has just gone off to get up (LOL) . Time to get ready for the day ahead. I suspect tonight will be a late study night and an early rising tomorrow.

Ehrmann, S. (1999b). Flashlight Evaluation Handbook. Flashlight Project. Available: http://www.ctl.wsu.edu/CTLSilhouette/mode/author/flashlight/EvaluationHandbook [1999, 24 December].

Spring is around the corner!

Question time! I received this image in an email that started out in Canada. Wanted to use it as our city spring here in Auckland is in stark contrast to the spring scene that Bronwyn posted two blogs ago. Being ever obedient I wanted to acknowledge the source so went scurrying to trace it. Google images has it from 3 different sources. One appears to be the "original" but what do I know! So, how does one reference this- give all three or choose what appears to be the original? What do you do?

Thoroughly enjoyed connecting on Elluminate last week. Helps with the isolation I feel at times. I do like to get on and do my own thing AND I like having others around and being part of a learning community.

I worked on a small project with Rachel Byars in a previous paper so it was good to hear her sharing her wisdom about her needs analysis project. I, too, am focussed on a Needs Analysis so it was very helpful hearing how she went about things and some of the obstacles she ran into etc. Have to put my head down as I will be away for the whole of the term break without access to a computer. Actually I will have no access to phone or TV and there aren't any roads on the island let alone a vehicle. Just warm sea and sand and hammocks slung between palm trees. Sheer Bliss. Follow this link http://www.macsnananu.com/ and you will see where we are staying.

Just a bit of useless trivia - my Mother was raised on this Island from age 4 till she was 11 when they returned to NZ. My Maternal Great GrandMother is from Wallis Island (tiny speck in the Pacific next to Futuna). She ran way to the "big smoke" (aka Fiji) and had her family and raised them there. The family who own and operate MacDonalds are in- laws so to speak.

Why am I telling you all this? Not sure but it means that I need to get my Evaluation Plan all done and dusted before I fly out. So watch this space...