It has been a while friends. And it is good to see you here reading. Life has an interesting way to mangling one’s carefully crafted and organized schedule, and I am certainly no exception to this rule! This is not to say I am complaining mind you - for the recent happenings in my own life are welcome to say the least – I just feel some sort of obligation to explain my absence from this digital sphere as of late.
Sparing you the details that I’m almost certain you are not interested in anyway, let us put these excuses down and move along, shall we? Excellent. My work as of late has been primarily centered on an axis of eLearning; specifically developing online course curriculum as well as delving into the intricacies of setting up an enterprise LMS backend and preparing for a massive migration to this new system. A busy bee I be!
I must admit that I find this process more and more interesting with each passing day spent in the field, and am looking to expand my own horizons toward a direction of eLearning (course development as a primary focus). I find it fascinating how we have finally begun to successfully master the use of technology in an educational setting, and applaud all those involved in such an undertaking. I can remember (many, many moons ago while an undergrad at UCSD) being involved with one of the first “distance learning” efforts with nearby UCLA; a direct network setup to create and share course content with students from both schools, including live video and audio interaction. I recall these distant memories and how proud and accomplished we all felt, and chuckle a bit. Chuckle at how very far the world has come since that time.
Today I can register for an uncountable number of courses, certifications, webinars, and seminars that cover the entire gambit of subject matter from animation to zoology, and everything in between. I can login and review exercises and interactions designed for me to complete at my own pace, and in such a manner as to (hopefully) boost retention of the material by multitudes (‘Gamification’ anyone?). I can turn to YouTube and view how to (or NOT to) do just about anything under the sun, and I must admit I love every minute of it! Finally we see a glimmer of justification for the term “Information Age”!
Nothing new, I realize… but what makes this news worthy to me is the new chord eLearning strikes within me; the excitement and thrill of the challenges that accompany developing online curricula (of which there are MANY), and the pride that comes with watching a learning actually get something out of a course I worked on… these feelings are new (or at least ring anew) within me, and for that friends, I couldn’t ask for anything more (professionally). And it is on this note that I shall close this post… happy with where the road has taken me, and excited about the journey that is to come!