Session1: Introduction

INTRODUCTION:

My name is Jenny Lopez, I am a returning student to the Instructional Technology Program. My experience with instructional technology has been wide as it pertains to its daily use in the elementary classroom. I have been an elementary school teacher since 2001, and staff developer in for Science Instruction at this level for eight years. The process of brainstorming, implementing, revising and evaluating has been widely promoted during teacher planning meetings, and is becoming the norm in planning for instruction even at the elementary level. As a public school teacher, I may not have too many options on the level of technology I have access to deliver my instruction, but I do have the daily opportunity to meet with my students and collect their work, make rubrics that helps me focus on the teaching objectives, and design conceptual instruction that gives my students a better chance to succeed in the all academic areas of instruction.

My personal goal is to enhance my knowledge on where e-learning is heading and create an active link to my teaching profession.

Outside my school hours, I am a lecturer and instructor of Bible Counseling Courses. In this area, I am always open to find and implement ways of instructions that can reach people worldwide. In my favor, I have, the wide access to the internet, even in the most remote places. The challenge is that, for the most part those that access it, do it for informal ways of simple communication, and not for formal instruction. To me this is both a challenge and an opportunity to learn and implement!

e-interaction preference
Regarding my preference for online interaction- I truly appreciate the asynchronous activities. My time to read and complete assignments is usually late into the night when my three children are asleep. I also squeeze some of my course reading during my lunch hour. Blogging and emailing has worked for me. Knowing my assignments ahead of time also allows me to think ahead and and plan how locate resources. Blackboard is also extremely helpful for updates. I would love to have the opportunity to meet face to face, but distance is also an obstacle for me. If I had to attend class sessions at the main campus I would probably get home pass midnight and that would create a conflict with my babysitting arrangements. A face to face session would be beneficial in many aspects. Therefore a knowing the date ahead of time would be helpful.