Tuesday, August 5, 2008

OK I am brand new to all of this, so am feeling quite overwhelmed by it all! Creating a blog is a new experience for me but seems ok so far - don't you love these "wizards" which help you through each step :-)
This is now my fourth paper towards MIT's Graduate Certificate in Applied eLearning but already is very different from the previous three.
I am finding motivation a little hard at the moment as we have suddenly been reduced in staff in our section and I have had to take on extra workload which I didn't need!
I lecture in Tourism and Travel Consultancy at UCOL, a tertiary provider in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I am originally from Northern Ireland where I completed my degree in Tourism and Hotel Management and worked in various areas of the tourism industry.
I have dabbled in Blackboard, creating sites for my on and off campus students to assist their learning but definitely know there is so much more out there for me to learn, so that is what I'm here for.
I will buddy up with my colleague from UCOL as it will help keep me motivated! I look forward to meeting many of you during this semester.
Cheers

11 comments:

Bronwyn hegarty said...

hello elaine
great to see your blog up - you are cruising. I facilitated the course last year with leigh and am taking time off this semester to write a draft of my thesis. Needless to say I am still curious enough to participate on the fringes and see how the course goes this time round. At every iteration I learn so much because it depends on the participants and each group is different.

You may be interested in joining the WikiEducator community started by one of our Tourism lecturers at Otago Polytechnic, Hilary Jenkins. You can see some of her work at: http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic#Travel_and_Tourism

I know she would welcome collaboration and UCOL and Otago Polytechnic are TANZ buddies.

Bronwyn hegarty said...

If you join the web address at the # it will work.

http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic
#Travel_and_Tourism

Joao Alves said...

Hi Elaine,

If you need help in anything, it would be my pleasure to give you a hand in what I might know.
I am sure you'll get a lot out this course.
Cheers,
Joao
Blog: http://joaocarlosalves.eu

Elaine Dittert said...

Thanks Bronwyn still a bit daunted by it all but will just take it one step at a time! Will have a look at Hilary's site, I've met her before at a TANZ meeting.

Elaine Dittert said...

I've just listened to the Elluminate meeting from yesterday, sorry I had to miss it. Interesting listening and I'm amazed what a worldwide group is involved in this "community" of learners! Definite dedication from those up specially for it in the middle of the night!
Need to think some more before I post my thoughts on community: initially however a common bond/interest is a good place to start...

Joy said...

Hi Elaine, nice to "see" you here again. Same with you, I am new to blog, wiki, etc. But I found it's fun to play with the new "toys". Finding more time and spend on the course is always a problem. But we'll get there.

Elaine Dittert said...

Thanks Joy, great to "see" you again! Should be an interesting paper!

Kay Lewis said...

Hi Elaine

Thanks heaps for joining me today to kick start my RSS feeds dilemma - what a relief to get Week 1 started and start focussing on the opportunities now to be more active in the online communities within the paper.

Leigh Blackall said...

Wonderful to see all the comments and support coming in. Trust you are doing OK then Elaine? There are some great posts from others in the group on the week 2 - 3 question btw. Take a browse, get yourself warmed up, leave a few comments and quote from others in your own post. Good luck :)

By the way, I have introduced your blog to a colleague down here who teaches Otago's Travel and Tourism course. We have been developing it on Wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org/Travel_and_Tourism

Hillary Jenkins said...

Hi Elaine

I have been following the line of discussion. Yes I do remember meeting you in Christchurch - seems like ages ago. Since then we have introduced a two year diploma the framework was taken from EIT's diploma but we have moved it on quite a bit from the original.

We have also gone to an open source for the storage of all our teaching and resources. Interesting time. I have recently returned from London where I presented a paper on open and distance education in the travel and tourism industry.

Have a good look at the wiki site - the one Leigh gave you is correct and let me know what you think. Is UCOL running the new National Core Skills next year?

You will also find links to our course blogs on the wiki - hope you have alot of time to spare.

Cheers

Derek said...

Buddies are great Elaine, especially in a course like this. Hope you have a nice cafe nearby, or a good skype connection