Week 4

Another busy week trying to keep up with all the postings and making a start on the assignments. Some of the topics that were raised in the forum i was involved in were: M-Learning, an interesting look at what is currently taking place with mobile learning and what might be it's future. Virtual classrooms were another topic, which raised opinions from both positive and negative perspective, virtual classrooms have allowed access to education for those that otherwise might not have received that education due to locality or lack of resources. The flip side of the coin is are these students being disadvantaged because they are not receiving face to face quality effective teaching? The third topic was Blogs and why do we use them when we have discussion forums and other communication tools?, there were a number of interesting view points that answered some of these questions.

Week 3
The end of week three already. I am doing two ICT courses this semester EDU3473 and this one EDU5471 and a two credit point Literacy course.

Week 2
One of the activities for week 2 was to choose an historical figure that we identified with and why? and how they would have used the internet. I found this quite a challenge, but found someone who i admire for his sheer tenacity and courage to follow a dream. The man is Igor Sikorsky here are three links you might like to take a look at: http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/siksky2.html
http://www.sikorskyarchives.com/
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/sikorsky.htm

Week 1
From previous on-line courses these are my tips on survival:
1.Keep up to date with activities
2.Seek advice from others
3.Read the required and other readings
4.Don't be afraid to ask questions or for clarity
5.Work together with others on the course

Introduction
Hi my name is Dean; I am married with three children eight, five and three, which makes for a busy life juggling study and family commitments. I am originally from South Africa and am a diesel mechanic by trade. I had been doing this for eighteen years, until my commencement in the BPMU (bachelor of primary and middle school) program three years ago.

We have been living in Australia for just over seven years now and love it here. We started our adventure in Australia in a little country town called “Wee Waa” in NSW, which is the cotton capital of Australia. With a population of 2000 it is quite a small town, which also makes for a friendly town and spent just over three years there. It was a wonderful experience and we made some really good friends.

I believe teaching is a profession where one can make a difference in a child's life and with technological changes taking place almost daily, the use of computers are a valuable tool to enhance learning, which is why I am majoring in ICT.

Dean