J is for Joy

In the learning environment, J is for Joy:

• the joy of lifelong learning;
• the joy of pursuing courses or degree programs of interest;
• and yes - the joy of completing a course on schedule and taking a break before the next course begins!

It may sound strange to say J is for the joy of student loans - yet without them, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish what I have so far, nor continue to pursue my doctoral studies and remain on the path toward my goal of becoming Dr. K'Lee, Educational Consultant!

In our home, J is also for the joy of a supportive husband, who encourages me to pursue my dreams ...

and J is for the joy of little furry companions who keep me company during the day - and save my place at my desk or anywhere else when I walk away for a few moments!

Of course, I also have wonderful daughter named Joy - but she prefers to go by her full first name of Joylynne these days!

What brings JOY in your life?

"I" is for Instructional Design-Instructional Technology

I started an "ABC" blog challenge last year, and never completed it. Since I stopped with "H is for Home School," I would like to pick up with "I" since it works well for the purposes of this post.

So... I is for Instructional Design or Instructional Technology. As I mentioned in my previous post of belated new year greetings, my concentration for both my M.Ed. degree and my current Ed.D. degree program was/is instructional design/technology or educational technology.

While instructional technology and educational technology tend to be used interchangeably, they have subtle differences. Educational technology addresses educational needs and problems with specific processes and tools, including computers and other electronic technologies. Instructional technology is actually a subset of educational technology, specifically dealing with teaching and learning applications.

Instructional design, though related, focuses on creating instructional materials that fit the needs of learners. It usually follows what is known as the ADDIE model, which stands for the following:
Analyze learner characteristics and identify goals;
Design learning objectives;
Develop instructional or training materials;
Implement (distribute/deliver) instructional materials ; and
Evaluate effectiveness of materials toward achieving learning goals.

*An interesting note: Part of one of my last assignments for my current course, "Technology and the Curriculum," was to create a blog for educational purposes. Since I already had this one, my mentor allowed me to use it rather than starting over. It would be great if ALL assignments were as much fun as this!

Related articles

• A letter home explaining what I am really studying in my PHD program (veraterekhova.wordpress.com)
• Effective Communication in an Instructional Design Case Study (lynnmunoz.wordpress.com)
• Project Management for Instructional Designers (downes.ca)
• IDT 600 Week 2 Instructional / Educational? (lucykefauver.wordpress.com)

Belated Happy New Year 2012-Time to Pursue Education

Since it's still January, I wanted to take the opportunity to extend belated Happy New Year greetings to all my blog readers.

I don't know about you, but 2011 was an eventful year, and not all in good ways. One of the best events of 2011 was my youngest daughter's marriage in June, which means I now have a wonderful son-in-law. My middle daughter also became engaged, so that's another wonderful memory for 2011.

Toward the end of 2011, I also acquired a wonderful new freelance opportunity as an instructional designer with an established company that provides training courses and simulations for a variety of clients. This is the type of work I had been waiting for since the last short term job in 2008, after I earned my M.Ed. in instructional technology.

The worst event of 2011 was that my Mom passed away in July, after a brief battle with lung cancer. She had been a breast cancer survivor, but apparently she was not cancer-free, as tests revealed other spots of cancer throughout her body, in addition to the mass in her lung.

The remainder of 2011 proved to be stressful, due to grieving and dealing with estate matters. Since both parents are now gone, my siblings and I have estate matters to manage, as it was in my parents' will to sell the house we all grew up in and divide the profit among the four of us as our inheritance.

Now, I'm happy to face a new year of opportunities. Looking ahead into 2012, I'm eager to continue to gain experience as an instructional designer. It's great to have a good job I can do from home!

I also am continuing with my Ed.D. program, actually winding down toward the dissertation phase. I am wrapping up a course now, and then have three elective courses remaining before the research courses begin prior to working on my dissertation.

How about you? What kind of goals do you have for the new year? How about pursuing education in some form? Whether you take one course online, or decide to earn a degree, education is not a wasted effort.

Related article

• Welcome 2012 - Time to Establish Goals (kleebanks-freelance-consultant.com)

New Month - New Opportunities to Succeed!

[I apologize ahead of time to those of you who read more than one of my blogs, as I am posting this in each one as an update!]

Hello - yes, it's really me!

After getting off to such a good start with blogging in 2011 - I have had three unusual months in a row and am NOW trying to get back into it, in this new month of August.

Brief summary with the major events of each month:

*May: I had a GREAT private writing client who paid me $100+ per article, PLUS bonuses! He kept me busy most of the month; one week, I had my first ever $1000 week - and ended up making over $2400 for the month.

*June: Good news and bad news!

The Good News:

My youngest daughter got married and I acquired a wonderful son-in-law!

My middle daughter also got engaged, and my oldest daughter was already engaged - so two more weddings coming up in the next two years.

Also, I got rehired to work as an online writing tutor for the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Smarthinking.

The Bad News:

My Mom, who had been in failing health, fell a couple times at home, and while in the hospital for x-rays, tests revealed a mass in her lung.

*July: My Mom passed away.

It has taken awhile to get back to even feeling like writing or doing any other kind of freelance work.  Mom had been sick for quite awhile, and we thought she had beat breast cancer a couple years ago...

She was under  hospice care and surrounded by family members during her final hours at home. Her final words and fervent prayer were that God would take her quickly, so she could finally see her Lord and her Ben (my Dad) again.

We're glad she's no longer suffering and we're rejoicing that she has rejoined Dad in heaven - we lost him nearly nine years ago, to lymphoma.

***********

NOW... it's a new day, new week, new month - representing new opportunities to succeed!!

People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive.  It is as though they were traveling abroad.  ~Marcel Proust

The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.  ~Seneca

Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation.  For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.  ~Albert Einstein

The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

**Quotes from   **

H is for Home School

Continuing with my unofficial A to Z blog challenge (since the official one ended on April 30th)...

H is for HOME School!!

In addition to being a proponent of eLearning - I'm also a fan of home schooling. I home schooled my four kids for 11 years; it was challenging, yet rewarding. This was back between the mid 1980s to mid 1990s. At that time, we didn't have as many options for online home school curriculum or enrollment that are available to home schooling families now.

Home schooling may not be appropriate for everyone, but it is a viable option for a growing number of families, for various reasons.  I wrote these articles using titles offered at Demand Media Studios - the first for LiveSTRONG, and the second two for eHow. 

 Homeschooling image by Jason Kaspar

These articles may be helpful for families considering home schooling (please note that the copy editor chose to insert hyphenated forms of  home schooling words throughout this first article, in spite of me explaining that it's more commonly written as either two words or one compound word):
Home Schooling Effects on Children.