Monday, December 12, 2011

Final Week Reflection

Last Week: Final Reflection
All the work has been turned in and the kiddies been tucked in. LOL! The semester is over and it seems like it just started. My final reflection is on our group project. I was teamed with Heather and Ken. Great partners I had and they did such a good job. I usually do not like group assignments but they did more than I ever expected. The team flowed very well together and we did not have any problems. I learned a lot about virtual teams and social loafing. I liked that we talked about best practices of virtual teams and how to cut down on social loafing.
On a good note I am half way to my masters. I have 5 classes left and have signed up for two in the Spring. I will be done before you know it!
See you guys later!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Week 13: Article Research

This week we started doing research with our teams. We each had to get two articles and write a brief synopsis on each. We also had to put key words at the bottom of the summary for quick reference. We also had to do a article evaluation. I am looking forward to meeting my team after Thanksgiving to start putting all of this research together. We will have to put a power point together for our presentation the first week in December. This semester is flying by.
On a happy note, Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is around the corner. These are always great times with family and friends. See you next week!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Week 12: Team Project

Hello,

I am posting from my sisters house tonight. My daughter and I are out of power tonight but others in my neighborhood are not so lucky. We have several houses tonight without a home or damaged beyond repair because of a tornado that came through. My heart goes out to those tonight. I am a little frazzled with all that has happened so close.

Tonight I submitted our work project plan. Looking forward to working with Heather and Ken.

Hope everyone is ok tonight and I will see if I have power back on at the house in the am.

Doug

Monday, November 7, 2011

Week 11: Second Life, Land and Building

Week 11 Reflection: Second Life
This week we covered the building portion of second life. This to me has been the hardest part of Second Life. Our assignment was to find three items and then build three items and put them into our virtual classroom. I found a leather recliner, table lamp, and a stack of books. I built a picture, picture frame, a tie-dye rug, and a round glass table. I thought this was a true challenge because I have never done any of this before. I had a tough time with the picture frame and picture. I was able to finally make the wooden frame but was hard to line it up with the picture and get it straight on the angled wall. It took a lot more time than I expected.
Another thing we did this week was to create some kind of business in Second Life and present as a group. We did an upscale mall. I thought my favorite was the resort done by another group. Everyone did a great job on their project.
See you next week.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Week 10: Second Life

Week 10: Second Life
This week we dressed up for Halloween. All of us had great costumes and was fun to do. We also had a Scavenger Hunt to do in Second Life.  We had to go to different places, look around, and take pictures to show the instructor that we had been different places. The one place that I liked was the Sistine Chapel. It was very interesting to go inside and see all of the pictures there. Something to actually see even thought you are not actually there. The other place was very cool was the virtual state fair. It had a haunted house that was very well done. Below is a picture of the front of the house.
 See you next week!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Campus Week in Second Life

Campus Tour Week:
This week we were suppose to pick a partner and go into Second Life. We needed to tour and explore another college campus in Second Life. My partner was Holly and we were assigned Bowling Green State University.  The University was very well done. I thought the detail in everything was very well. I could not help myself from comparing it to Epcot at Disney. It had that future world appearance with all the buildings but then it had some old country areas as well. It felt like I was back in Epcot. It had a couple of good things in there. I loved the dance and music area. You could click on the dance statute and your Avitar could do all kinds of crazy dances.  Also the campus was divided up in 4 areas or islands; Creation, Collaboration, Community, and Interaction.
Below is the other part of our Assignment. We had to take a couple of pictures together while we were touring.  Ok, we will see you next week!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Reflection: Second Life

This week we signed into Second Life. I was not too happy about this from when I first heard of this. But the more that I work with it the more I like it. The first class meeting we had was the first time that I really felt a part of a class while being online. It was strange at first but it does seem like a good thing. I can see why so many people get hooked on this type of thing. Also, I see how it is a very important to Universities and other educational programs. Another advantage of using this for educational reasons is the fact that you don’t have to actually go to class and you can save money on gas and tuition being a distance education option.
See all of you later in SL