Slacking

Ok, I think it’s time for me to face it.  I have been doing terribly at keeping up regular posts to this blog.

That being said, I am going to forgive myself and carry on with my writing.  I feel like I have so many thoughts going through my head right now that it’s hard to get them into words, but I will try. 

In order to help keep myself a bit more accountable, I’ve made a list of the topics I need to write about in the near future:

• MOOCs
• Tech Toys
• Genealogy
• #SATechTO
• Transitions

We’ll see how long it takes to get through this list

Giving this MOOC thing a try

For a couple years now, I’ve been seeing posts and comments regarding MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), and wondering what all the hype was about. 

Since I’m not currently in school (grad program application in progress), and will only be working 3 days per week for most of the summer, I decided that I needed to find something to occupy my time (aside from reading and relaxing of course).

I decided to check out EdX, which I had heard quite a bit about, especially regarding the caliber of the institutions currently offering courses (think Harvard, Berkeley, MIT, etc). Although I wasn’t able to find any related to my work in Higher Ed, the science nerd in me got a little excited when I found a course called Human Health and Global Environment Change offered through Harvard University. Lucky for me, the course starts on May 15th, and if I successfully complete it, I will be the recipient of a cool certificate from HarvardX.

Because I’m crazy like that, I then did a Google search on MOOCs, and found MOOC List, another online database, with a wider range of courses offered. On this one I was able to find a course called Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence offered through Case Western Reserve University.  This one starts tomorrow, and runs for 6 weeks.

I’m very much looking forward to giving these courses a try, as I think they will not only keep my mind in shape for (hopefully) beginning a graduate program next January, but will also allow me to learn new things on my own time 🙂

Getting back to it

Once again, I’ve found myself to be slacking in the writing department.  Not that I haven’t wanted or tried to write, but just haven’t felt that I’ve had enough to say to warrant a post.

Last week, I wanted to write about the terrible tragedy that took place in Boston. I even began writing a post, but no matter how much I wrote, it still didn’t feel right. Almost as if I felt I should be writing something about the events, rather than feeling the words themselves. Needless to say, I eventually deleted that draft. I did not do this as a sign of disrespect to the victims and their loved ones, but rather as one of respect: not wanting to crowd cyberspace with more words, without a true message. There were more than enough ‘messages’ being posted in various locations, and I don’t feel I could have added anything of significance. 

So here I am, once again not being quite sure what to write about, but at least making the effort to get the words out. 

This summer, I am going to be doing some serious overhauling of the current projects/practices within the Fleming College Residence system. This is something I wholeheartedly look forward to doing, not only to benefit my students, but to expand my own learning as well. I will try to post a bit more regularly as I undergo this process to help make a bit more sense of my thoughts.

Tech toys torture

For the past 2 months, I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 Tablet. I have never really been a Apple ‘fan girl’, plus my computers at home and work are all Windows and I have an Android phone, so when I began looking at tablets, it seemed like a natural choice.  

What really attracted me is that I carry a notebook EVERYWHERE I go around campus, so I figured if I get a tablet, I want it to be it’s replacement. By allowing users to write on it, as well as type, the Note 8 can act as a combination of a notebook, planner, e mailer, etc. 

Currently, my residence buildings don’t have Wi-fi; however we are planning on upgrading the system this summer, meaning that at most I might have to suffer a few months of having to sync the tablet to share info between locations, and wouldn’t be able to check my e-mail on it, but in the grand scheme of things, that seemed minor (or I could just wait a few months for the 3G version to come out).

Beyond all the bells and whistles, the other attractive piece was the price point of this unit, rumoured at being lower than the iPad mini, it’s main competitor, which is priced at $329.99 for the Wi-fi only version. Of course, now that the product is actually about to be launched, I look it up online and find the price to be $429.99 for the Wi-fi only version. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper. 

Now I have to try and balance the want for a new toy with the value of the product itself, and see whether I can justify the cost. Right now I’m leaning toward thinking that it likely isn’t worth it, but we shall see what summer brings. 

‘Tis that time of year…

Tomorrow is the Spring Open House for Fleming College.  As a student leader, this was one of my favorite times of year: I got to meet amazing people and brag about a school that I loved!

This year (my first as a professional), I’m finding myself having mixed feelings. I am still looking forward to meeting new people and bragging about my campus, but this time also means that I will soon have to say goodbye to the incredible students I have had the pleasure of getting to know and work with over the past 6 months.

This really hit home this morning as I was speaking with next year’s RAs about the Open House and how it works (with the number of visitors we’re anticipating I need all hands on deck).  Don’t get me wrong, I am really looking forward to all the amazing things I know next year’s team will accomplish, and have already begun planning some pretty awesome changes, but I am going to miss the group I have now.

The funny thing is, ever since I finished hiring the group coming in next year, I have been so excited to begin working with them, but now that I’m faced with having to say goodbye to the ones leaving, I’m less than pleased. I guess that’s a feeling I’m going to have to get used to working in this field, with new students coming and going every year.

I also want to make a special mention to some of my residents as well: to the one who brings me a coffee just because; to the one who always locks himself out of his room (at least 2 or 3 times per day); to the one I had a little chat about respect with a few months ago, but who is now one of my most involved students; and to all the other ones I didn’t mention, who make every single day a little bit better than the last.  I wish you all the greatest success in life, and I hope that we were able to help make your college experience a memorable one

Book Transplant

Anyone who knows me well enough will agree with me in saying that if you look up ‘bookworm’ in the dictionary, my picture will likely be in there. I usually have a book at arm’s length, and if not, my Kobo is likely in my purse. I have been known to devour books faster than I can replenish the stack, and am very quickly running out of shelf space in my bookcases (they currently resemble a bad game of Tetris as I am now stacking books on top of each other wherever I can find a few inches of space).

As part of my #oneword2013, I had decided to read one work/development related book per month in 2013.  That being said, in my constant thirst for knowledge I have already managed to read well over my annual goal, so have decided to turn it into a #52in52 and see what comes of it.  I was tracking the reviews in a previous blog, but have decided to link them here so as to keep things a bit more streamlined (and to keep my feed from becoming overrun by book reviews).

As I attempt to figure out what I want this site to look like, things may move around a bit, but for now you can find my impressions of the books I’ve been reading so far this year under the Book Review page (you can also follow me on Goodreads to see what else I’m reading)

Why the new page?

I’ve been writing off and on (mostly off) for the past 2 or so years on another site, and just haven’t quite felt that I was getting what I wanted out of it.  In January, I made a commitment to myself to begin writing more, but soon my book reviews started taking over the blog and I kind of lost the motivation to untangle it all.  I figured that I would try for a fresh start, on a new page, and configure it in a way that I can still incorporate all my pieces.

We’ll see how it goes…