1. What did you think was most difficult about the course?

Remembering to do and then actually completing the labs. The lab work was much, much more monotonous than the group work, and thus was harder to get myself to complete.

2. What do you think was easiest?

I think that the group work was definitely the easiest part of the course. My partner and I got along well and got our tasks in when we were supposed to through really excellent teamwork.

3. What did you learn about working in teams with peers?

I learned that communication is key to completing what you set out to do. The more we communicated, the better we performed as a team.

4. What was most challenging about working with peers at a distance?

When miscommunication and unforseen problems arise, it is harder to deal with the problems in a timely fashion.

5. What was helpful about working with a team?

When one of us didn’t know how to do something or how to go about a task, the other generally had an idea or the skill we needed at the time.

6. What was most challenging about working for a client?

It was sometimes hard to meet the specifications that the clients had in mind on the first try. We sometimes had to retry our assignment in order to get the exact result the client had in mind.

7. What did you learn about communication using technology tools?

I learned that when we used our tools frequently, we would get our projects completed much quicker than when we did not.

8. What were your favorite technolgy tools to use? Least favorite? Why?

My favorite tool to use was e-mail. It made completing our tasks tremendously easier. My least favorite tool was Microsoft Excel. I didn’t find it very easy to use, and the task and labs involving it were among the ones I disliked the most.

9. What do you feel you learned in this course about solving problems?

I learned that through teamwork a plethora of problems can be solved much quicker and easier than they would normally be solved by one person alone.

10. What would you do differenly if you could take the course again?

I would definitely complete my labs quicker and I would also try to get my team to finish the tasks quicker so that we would not have to worry about anything towards the end of the class.

Go out and look up alternative tools besides Power Point. Which ones did you find? Are they better? Worse? Why?

In my search for alternatives to powerpoint, I stumbled upon this list of powerpoint alternatives. http://mashable.com/2008/02/16/forget-powerpoint-online-presentations/

While exploring several of these alternatives, I discovered that a few of them were inferior, both in the fact that they had inferior graphical qualities and rely upon the user having access to the internet to operate them. However, others, such as Google Documents, were highly comparable to the familiar powerpoint program. I think it’s quite excellent that there are viable alternatives to powerpoint out there on the internet. It’s pretty cool.

Talk about your experience of the last couple of weeks in terms of working on the Tasks, using the software, and working with your Team.

What are the most important tools you have used up until now and why?

In the last few weeks, I have definitely learned new things regarding the software we have been using. I was familiar with all of the programs before, but only in a wide sense. I now know how to do more complex things in the programs that I did not know how to do before. Working on our tasks has developed these skills much more than anything else. With the tasks, we have to use the things we’ve learned and in the process learn more. I find the tasks to be much more productive than the labs.

Working as a team has been excellent, and I think the most important tool in the class has been my partner. When one of us doesn’t know something, the other generally does, and if neither of us know what to do, generally one of us comprehends and solves the problem faster than the other and is able to explain it to the other. It’s an excellent two way street that has genuinely helped me, and hopefully my partner as well.

http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/powerpoint/images/2OutlineWeb.gif

That first link is an example of a good powerpoint outline. It is a good outline because it is concise and briefly explains what each slide and bullet will be about without becoming too detailed for an outline.

http://www.allaboutoffice.co.uk/powwdo27.jpg

The second link is an example of a terrible outline. It is far too short and is indecipherable to anyone but the one who wrote it. The only person who could build a presentation from that outline is the person who wrote it, and that makes it a bad outline.

Your blog for this week is a reflection on the semester so far. What has gone well? What has been problematic? What have will you do differently for the rest of the semester?

This semester has gone well so far. I have enjoyed working in a group with Christina, and I think we are pretty productive together. Our biggest setback was when our third group member dropped the class without telling us, leaving us to completely restructure how we went about our first task. After that, however, we’ve been working pretty well together. Another, more personal problem I’ve been having, is getting the labs in on time. I’ve learned from the labs, but sometimes the mere act of doing them is so daunting that I put it off for far too long.

Something I would like to do differently for the final half of the semester would be to get my labs in on time. I would also like to finish our tasks sooner than we have been. Overall, though, I’d have to say I’ve enjoyed my time in this class.

Because of the nature of Ray’s task, our group process has changed. We have to work more cohesively together in order to do what needs to be done to complete the task. Where as before we would divide responsibilities and then combine said responsibilities to complete the task, now we have to do just about everything together and at the same time in order to make sure we’re doing it right. There’s really not much more to be said about what has changed, and there really won’t be until we finish the task.

Describe your experience with completing Hester’s Task. Give details about how your group did their work, what kind of feedback you received, and how you felt in general about the process. Also, tell what you will do differently on the next Task.

Completing Hester’s task was definitely a learning experience. We learned a lot about how the game is played and how to think about the game itself. I think it was actually easier than the second task, mostly because we got more right on our first try. The only difficult areas were getting to know my partners and then having to compensate after one partner dropped the class without telling us. The feedback we received was constructive and helped us complete the task with a good grade. On the next task I think we will work more cohesively as a team, having two gone through two tasks together as a team.

Talk about your experience with Leto’s Predicament. What went well? What was problematic? Did you have enough knowledge of the appropriate programs in order to do the work, or did you need more? How did your Team work together? What was your role? What did you do? Are you happy with your Solution? What will you do differently on the next Task?

Finally, how important is communication with your Team and your Client in creating a product and coming up with a solution?

When completing Leto’s predicament, I think the easiest part was composing the letter itself. We ran into minimal speedbumps along that way, except for the fact that the spell check happened to not be working, but that was easily remedied after it was pointed out. A more problematic part was formatting the letter. We didn’t adequately know how to do that, so it was a learning experience. During the task both my partner and I had adequate knowledge of the program we used, and anything we didn’t know was easily looked up. Our team worked well together, as usual, by spiting up duties. I composed the letter itself, while my partner formatted the page to specifications and then we both edited it. I think it worked out well for us.

I’d have to say that I’m happy with our solution. After getting feedback we definitely formed a much better solution than we previously had. On the next task I believe we will work more cohesively, as this task helped us come together more. Communication with the client was definitely the most important part of the task. Once we received feedback, our solution definitely became much, much better.

This week, I would like you to think about the role of computers in your life as a student. How has it changed things for the better? The worse? What would you like to see change with learning using technology? How can you learn better with technology?

As a student I’d definitely have to say that computers have changed my life for the better. Information is now much easier to find with minimal effort. If anything it is now too easy to find, sometimes leading to a bit of laziness or procrastination on my part. With the rate technology is growing, I really don’t think I could suggest some sort of change that hasn’t already happened or isn’t already being developed. I actually think that technology may be moving faster than the average student can cope with, however there’s not much you can do about that. To learn better with technology one must learn the technology. I think that through learning the technology we’re using, doors are definitely being opened for new ways to learn just about anything.