To those who may happen across this blog - so sorry to have written more often. May this be a testament to the astounding loss of personal time that working full-time while going to school causes.
My last class was economics...and I got through it with good grades and a headache. Numbers just hurt my brain, but I have no trouble with the concepts. I specifically was interested in the international trade part of the class, as well as anything that could be applied to my current business.
The current class is marketing management, and is much more suitable to my interests. The textbook is great, and my professor, Jose, has a great little accent that makes the live chat sessions (i.e. classes) more bearable. My brain has been absolutely churning with ideas as I read the book, and I only hope I can remember some of them when it comes time to implement a new marketing strategy. I have really learned a lot in this class and am excited that the assignments have led me to form an actual marketing plan for my business, not just some made up stuff like I did for the first class (Juicy Red Tomato company? puh-lease!)
I am really amazed at the number of AIU students who don't seem to put any effort whatsoever into the assignments. I just finised critiquing the marketing plans for the others in my small group (4 other, plus me), and I spent 15-30 minutes per critique. Then, I read the 2 that had left critiques of mine. They consisted of about two sentences each, with absolutely nothing constructive in them at all! I was disappointed, since I would actually like to know what could be improved. The ones receiving my critiques are probably going to think I am overly critical or obsessed with my homework...both of which are partially true. :) Oh well.
One more week of this marketing class, then is my long awaited week off! During that week, I will head to an out-of-town board meeting for a couple of days, then onto my vacation, which runs into the first week of my next class.
I'm still excited to have this opportunity to get my MBA, but the novelty has worn off and now only the hard work is left. One more class to go before I'm halfway through!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
AIU E-zine, New Class and iPhone
Got an email today letting me know that AIU has an E-zine - see it here: http://www.aiuonline.edu/aiuzine/issue40/new.aspx
Also got my acceptance letter and student ID in the mail today. LOL - I guess they were waiting to see my grade in my first class before accepting me. I don't know if that's standard or not, but the timing suggests that it is.
Last night was my first "live chat" with my new professor for international economics. I must say that I preferred his method more than the previous professor. He set up the desktop differently, and used voice chat on his end so he didn't spend his time typing. He also allowed us to privately message other class members instead of limiting it to "everyone" at once. The only thing I didn't like better with his methods was that it was less interactive in the chat - he only asked a couple of questions requiring answers, and those answers were painfully obvious. Perhaps he will ask more questions as time goes on - there was a lot of introductory, welcome to the class type of stuff last night.
This class holds live chats Wednesdays and Thursday evenings instead of Tues and Thursdays, and the times are different. It still works out to where I can attend most of them. Another difference is that the group project, which every session has, will be in week 4 instead of the last week of the class. Unfortunately, this is when I will be at another trade show (GenCon, Indy), which could prove difficult. I'm not running a booth, though, so as long as I can get good internet access I should be able to work it out.
One last, quick topic for this post - I got an iPhone! The 2nd generation, with 16G and the white back. We ordered this particular one because it is in the least demand and would arrive the quickest. Apparently everyone likes the black ones better. Of course, once I purchased the $20 piece of gel with screen-protector (sticker), mine looked black, too.
The cool thing about AIU Online is they have a mobile site, which they call "MobiClas". I put that on my homepage (or whatever its called) of the iPhone and tried it out. Works beautifully! I can see my professors contact information, announcements and assignments. You cannot view the library, upload assignments and such, but that would be extremely difficult to do on such a small screen anway. Kudos!
Also got my acceptance letter and student ID in the mail today. LOL - I guess they were waiting to see my grade in my first class before accepting me. I don't know if that's standard or not, but the timing suggests that it is.
Last night was my first "live chat" with my new professor for international economics. I must say that I preferred his method more than the previous professor. He set up the desktop differently, and used voice chat on his end so he didn't spend his time typing. He also allowed us to privately message other class members instead of limiting it to "everyone" at once. The only thing I didn't like better with his methods was that it was less interactive in the chat - he only asked a couple of questions requiring answers, and those answers were painfully obvious. Perhaps he will ask more questions as time goes on - there was a lot of introductory, welcome to the class type of stuff last night.
This class holds live chats Wednesdays and Thursday evenings instead of Tues and Thursdays, and the times are different. It still works out to where I can attend most of them. Another difference is that the group project, which every session has, will be in week 4 instead of the last week of the class. Unfortunately, this is when I will be at another trade show (GenCon, Indy), which could prove difficult. I'm not running a booth, though, so as long as I can get good internet access I should be able to work it out.
One last, quick topic for this post - I got an iPhone! The 2nd generation, with 16G and the white back. We ordered this particular one because it is in the least demand and would arrive the quickest. Apparently everyone likes the black ones better. Of course, once I purchased the $20 piece of gel with screen-protector (sticker), mine looked black, too.
The cool thing about AIU Online is they have a mobile site, which they call "MobiClas". I put that on my homepage (or whatever its called) of the iPhone and tried it out. Works beautifully! I can see my professors contact information, announcements and assignments. You cannot view the library, upload assignments and such, but that would be extremely difficult to do on such a small screen anway. Kudos!
Monday, July 14, 2008
One class under my belt
So this week is break week, which is great news! I really need a break (see my personal blog). After five intense weeks of my first online class at AIU, it is done.
The final assignment was a group project, which went much more smoothly than I expected. We had someone step up to be the group leader and I helped him organize the division of labor and did some proof-reading, in addition to my portion of the paper analysis that was required. It was pretty much completed more than a day before it was due, which was amazing to me, since I haven't turned in a paper that early on my own.
Overall, I would say the class was a success. I earned good grades, a bit higher than I actually expected. My husband was great at helping out with our son on the weekends so I could get my assignments completed. And most importantly, I learned a lot - about online learning AND the subject matter of the "business decision making" class.
My next class will be "Economics for the Global Manager". I have already received my Microeconomics and International Economics textbooks, and they are intimidating. I'm going to attempt to get a jump start on the reading this week so I won't feel overwhelmed next week.
Everyone, have a great break week!
The final assignment was a group project, which went much more smoothly than I expected. We had someone step up to be the group leader and I helped him organize the division of labor and did some proof-reading, in addition to my portion of the paper analysis that was required. It was pretty much completed more than a day before it was due, which was amazing to me, since I haven't turned in a paper that early on my own.
Overall, I would say the class was a success. I earned good grades, a bit higher than I actually expected. My husband was great at helping out with our son on the weekends so I could get my assignments completed. And most importantly, I learned a lot - about online learning AND the subject matter of the "business decision making" class.
My next class will be "Economics for the Global Manager". I have already received my Microeconomics and International Economics textbooks, and they are intimidating. I'm going to attempt to get a jump start on the reading this week so I won't feel overwhelmed next week.
Everyone, have a great break week!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Caught up
Not only did I catch back up in classwork, but I even turned in my assignment on Saturday and had all day Sunday to...well, I would love to say relax, but in reality I started reading this week's texts and worked in the nursery at church. Regardless, it was a much better day than it could have been.
This is the final week of my first class at AIU. During the final week of most classes, a group project is assigned. My group has 5 members, and we haven't yet heard from all of them. However, time is short so we have chosen a leader and a paper to critique, and even divided up the work as evenly as possible. I always get nervous with group assignments, because my grade is tied to the work of others - and in this case, complete strangers!
We have a plan to turn it our portions by Friday night so our leader can compile everything on Saturday. I volunteered to proof it on Sunday, which hopefully won't be difficult at all if everyone has done their part. We have a contingency plan in place, as well: if we don't have agreement with other member by Wed. night, we will re-assign their portion to someone else so the work gets done.
On top of the group assignment is a 7 paragraph written "speech" that we are to each post to the Discussion Board. Better get crackin'!
This is the final week of my first class at AIU. During the final week of most classes, a group project is assigned. My group has 5 members, and we haven't yet heard from all of them. However, time is short so we have chosen a leader and a paper to critique, and even divided up the work as evenly as possible. I always get nervous with group assignments, because my grade is tied to the work of others - and in this case, complete strangers!
We have a plan to turn it our portions by Friday night so our leader can compile everything on Saturday. I volunteered to proof it on Sunday, which hopefully won't be difficult at all if everyone has done their part. We have a contingency plan in place, as well: if we don't have agreement with other member by Wed. night, we will re-assign their portion to someone else so the work gets done.
On top of the group assignment is a 7 paragraph written "speech" that we are to each post to the Discussion Board. Better get crackin'!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Correcto-mundo
My prediction came true. I managed to get my discussion board assignment done during the trade show, but due to the fact that I basically took over as "second" in the finance room at Origins Game Fair I was unable to free up enough time and energy to even begin researching the paper that was due last Sunday night.
I feel terrible getting behind like this, and even missed two classes, but have managed to watch the re-runs of those today, and turn it part one of last week's assignment. Part 2 will have to wait until tomorrow, as the library has decided to not work this evening. Not good.
So, behind as I am in schoolwork, you can only imagine how the house, yard, and laundry are looking. I've got two days to whip it all back into shape because Friday is my birthday and I'm going to visit family in Tennessee. Saturday and Sunday will be committed to finishing this week's (unit 4) assignments, then I'll only have one more week of this class, and 6 more weeks before my first week off. I probably shouldn't be looking forward to that already...but I am!
I feel terrible getting behind like this, and even missed two classes, but have managed to watch the re-runs of those today, and turn it part one of last week's assignment. Part 2 will have to wait until tomorrow, as the library has decided to not work this evening. Not good.
So, behind as I am in schoolwork, you can only imagine how the house, yard, and laundry are looking. I've got two days to whip it all back into shape because Friday is my birthday and I'm going to visit family in Tennessee. Saturday and Sunday will be committed to finishing this week's (unit 4) assignments, then I'll only have one more week of this class, and 6 more weeks before my first week off. I probably shouldn't be looking forward to that already...but I am!
Monday, June 23, 2008
My predicitions on Online Learning at a Trade Show
You can tell that the later it gets in the day, the less creative the titles of my posts become!
I got my first grades last Thursday, and was pleased. I don't think Unit 2 (week 2)'s assignments will earn as good a grade, but at least my power point preso was pretty! :)
I'm leaving for a trade show (Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH) tomorrow, and while my reading for class is completed, I will have to work on my assignments on the road/hotel/convention center. I'm predicting that the quality will suffer. Perhaps I can use the results as a small-scale research project for class. :)
I won't be back until the following Monday night, and will most likely miss at least one class due to travel. I hope I don't get behind! That has been a constant fear of mine since beginning a few weeks ago. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and it kills me to not get it "perfect"...which of course it never will be. I have accepted that, so technically I must be a recovering perfectionist. LOL
Class attendance has continued to be low, but class participation from attendees is pretty good. I feel like I'm answering more questions than others, but perhaps that is only my perception. I really do learn more by answering questions (especially when I'm wrong) and asking them then by staying silent. I highly recommend attending all your classes, and not watching the "rerun" (archive), in order to get the most out of your online learning experience.
I got my first grades last Thursday, and was pleased. I don't think Unit 2 (week 2)'s assignments will earn as good a grade, but at least my power point preso was pretty! :)
I'm leaving for a trade show (Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH) tomorrow, and while my reading for class is completed, I will have to work on my assignments on the road/hotel/convention center. I'm predicting that the quality will suffer. Perhaps I can use the results as a small-scale research project for class. :)
I won't be back until the following Monday night, and will most likely miss at least one class due to travel. I hope I don't get behind! That has been a constant fear of mine since beginning a few weeks ago. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and it kills me to not get it "perfect"...which of course it never will be. I have accepted that, so technically I must be a recovering perfectionist. LOL
Class attendance has continued to be low, but class participation from attendees is pretty good. I feel like I'm answering more questions than others, but perhaps that is only my perception. I really do learn more by answering questions (especially when I'm wrong) and asking them then by staying silent. I highly recommend attending all your classes, and not watching the "rerun" (archive), in order to get the most out of your online learning experience.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Week 2
I finished my Discussion board assignment yesterday, in hopes of getting ahead. Then I ran into some snags trying to get started on my paper...which is actually a power point presentation. I've dealt with pp preso before, but never had to make one from scratch, so I spent an hour learning how to use MS 2007.
Looks like tomorrow I'll be learning more about tomatoes and why managers tend to leave their current companies.
I'm headed to a trade show next week and am afraid I'll get behind, but suppose it will all work out in the end. I'm pretty excited that I received my first grades today, and they were good.
Sorry I can't write more interesting things at the moment - I'm pretty tired.
Looks like tomorrow I'll be learning more about tomatoes and why managers tend to leave their current companies.
I'm headed to a trade show next week and am afraid I'll get behind, but suppose it will all work out in the end. I'm pretty excited that I received my first grades today, and they were good.
Sorry I can't write more interesting things at the moment - I'm pretty tired.
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