At a Crossroads.....

Where do we go from here? This academic endeavor started a little over a year ago has quickly come full circle. We started with twelve and ended up with ten. Thousands of posts (not all of them actually read), hundreds of hours reading and researching, and countless hours on the Internet, our experience is coming to an end. Jessie La Cross asked me this morning if I was going to continue blogging? I couldn't give her a definitive answer. Is anyone in the class going to use some of the components we discovered in this class? Will Windows Movie Maker ever be applicable again? It's hard to say one way or the other, but if you don't have an excuse to use it, it's easier for an individual to use that as a legitimate excuse.

I'm not going to sit around and pat myself on the back for this accomplishment because the bigger picture is about 60% complete. I will be moving on for a PHD from North Central University in what appears to be January. There is one small problem I must figure out between now and then. How am I going to pay for it? Looks like my career in bartending will continue to grow rather than expire as I had hoped in it might.

My passion from this experience has given me the strength to consider alternative employment in the educational sector. I might continue my duties at SCC in another role, perhaps move out of the state, or end up back in a corporate setting. The one thing I do know is that I don't think I am long for my current situation. I have an appetite for online learning and to play a critical role in that development. For now, I will have to settle for being an online instructor in one of SCC's Principal's of Management classes.

Onto the questions
What comments and/or suggestions do you have about the seminar experience?
First and foremost, the seminar experience was a good one. It was a great way to wrap up the course. I might suggest doing the seminar leadership before the class creation project, It can work either way. One thing I can testify to is how difficult it is to lead a seminar online. It has obvious advantages and disadvantages. The most obvious observation being 100% student participation. You might not be so luck in a classroom. It's not as easy to hide in an online classroom as opposed to an actual classroom.


Did the format work for you?
The format is what drew me to the program. I travel a lot in the summer and this worked perfect. I did homework from another country, on the beach, in the car, and other places. This has to be a preferred method for working adult students. The PHD Program is going to be the same format as this program. If I wait for the cards to fall into place, I might not be able to begin that process for years to come.

In general, do you think seminars work well for adult learners?
Seminars are complex and you need to have a proficient level of academic maturity among students in order to conduct a successful seminar. The only suggestion I would offer is letting students define the weekly objectives.

I want to take a minute to thank and congratulate all the member of the GMIT group. We had some hot conversations at times, but everyone worked well in this program. If our conversations got heated, that's good because it shows growth in education.

I am going to sign off on this blog, who knows, I might jump on here in a week, or maybe not again. It's kind of like an anticipation for a bad sequel.

Good luck everyone, I know the choices and paths you enter will only lead to greatness for everyone. I also wanted to give a hearty THANK YOU to Pat Artz. This past year has really changed my outlook on a lot of things and given me a new professional persepctive I never saw coming. I hope there is another GMIT cohort, the students would be lucky to have and share the experience we just concluded!