Eberhard
Introduction
All beginning is hard (a German saying). With that in mind my introduction is supposed to introduce five artefacts on highlights in the master program studies. The introduction will consist of four parts: who I am, learning goals, the description of the portfolio, my classes and the competencies going along with gained new knowledge.
Who am I
I am in my last class in the MEd program. As a step in between I took the PBDDET after a BMgmt. This said it seems I am the only one without prior teaching experience as I worked after a German non-academic bachelor in industrial commerce in a savings and loan bank although my profession was thought for the industry by the means of creating things like cars or furniture and so on.
In the bank I worked in accounting/bookkeeping, floater in diverse fields of customer service, IT, market research, audit, and personal loans. Of course, as a specialist in some fields I also had to train colleagues.
Somewhere in between I took courses for the German equivalent of an MCSE which might give me some advantage for my choice of the technology path.
In Canada I worked in a call center, a first choice school for first nations, and also in a kind of a saw mill at the hopper to balance my bank account. Since discrimination is an issue for older workers I also could not yet settle but found that best chances are in the field of education. Let’s see whether this is true.
My still first marriage is already lasting over 33 years and my son, who started his master program later than I, is already working in education as teacher although he is a bachelor in politics and English and a master in politics, business administration, law, and last not least philosophy, that all in arts with no teacher certification at all.
While I am fighting through the last course I am visiting my family in Germany for a couple of months.
Although I have first to get into the theme of creating an ePortfolio, I am looking forward to working with you. As Craig put it, please correct me when I mess up, as English is my second language.
Learning goals
When I immigrated to Canada there were problems with the recognition of my German formal education. But before redoing an apprenticeship I did in Germany I decided to top it by studying the subject I did before as a vocational training.
Next I found myself talking to a college dean for enrolling into a management program. It would cover earlier already gained knowledge on a higher level. After getting the college diploma I applied at the Athabasca University to transfer my diploma into a bachelor degree program, the Bachelor of Management.
As I had finished the program I tried to find work which was quite a challenge. Nothing happened and I found myself back at AU enrolled into a master program. Three possible programs were the Master of Arts integrated studies, the Master of Education, and the Master of Business Administration.
Although I like a wide diversification in studies, the Master of Arts integrated studies was to general. The Master of Business Administration was not a fit for my budget, so I finally arrived at the Master of Education program to go for.
While I worked for a savings and loan association at the headquarter I learned that they had an own training and teaching center. The apprentices became trained by the own training center as well as in a vocational school and I was interested to become part of it as in the past I had helped several apprentices to pass their program. This spurred me and my decision for the MEd program. Another aspect was a wider field of knowledge. A first degree in business enhanced by a kind of a teacher degree should widen a possible field of working.
Additionally I have always been interested in adult education. Learning at a distance is sometimes the only way to study while working. Something else comes in, learning at an older age, especially learning beyond fifty as I started with fifty.
What I needed to know was how to create lessons, face to face and/or at a distance. The MEd program offers everything about distance education which also involves classical ways to look at and change into a feasible distance education format.
When I entered the MEd program my learning goals were:
- Improving my English speaking skills
- Improving my English writing skills
- Expanding my reading by critical thinking
- Learning how to effectively teach students
- Learning how to prepare lessons at a distance
- Understanding the goals of adult learners
Selected artefacts
Artefact # 1:
MDDE601is concerned with the distance, introducing distance education focussing on different locations and times. The first artefact is assignment 1 about workplace learning at a distance. Search skills and review skills are getting trained.
Artefact # 2:
MDDE602 is concerned with statistics and qualitative and quantitative methods to present findings, of course, after working the problem out first. The second artefact is assignment 1 about comparing methods, more exactly, research methods.
Artefact # 3:
MDDE603 introduces instructional design at a distance. Learning theories substantiate and support the practice. The third artefact is assignment 2 about combining theory with practice. Applying the learned is asked for.
Artefact # 4:
MDDE620 is defining technology with a focus on distance education. The fourth artefact is assignment 2 about technology, providing distance education. Competing technologies concerning transmission had to be examined.
Artefact # 5:
MDDE703 teaches proposal writing and delivers a procedure to be readable. Whether an education institution needs an update or a thesis or dissertation needs to be described for acceptance. The fifth artefact is about learning at 50+. In the first place I planned to write a thesis about learning at an older age but the University could not provide an authority for neuro-science and education bundled, so this is postponed to a dissertation.
The conclusion may recapitulate the course of studies and reflect on them. Results may or may not surprise, even myself.
My classes in the study course
TERM 201109 - MDDE601 - Introduction to Distance Education and Training
TERM 201201 - MDDE602 - Research Methods in Distance Education
TERM 201205 - MDDE603 - Foundations of Instructional Design: Systems Analysis and Learning Theory
TERM 201209 - MDDE604 - Instructional Design in Distance Education
TERM 201301 - MDDE605 - Planning and Management in Distance Education and Training
TERM 201305 - MDDE620 - Technology in Education and Training
TERM 201309 - MDDE621 - Online Teaching in Distance Education and Training
TERM 201401 - MDDE701 - Quantitative Research Methods
TERM 201505 - MDDE702 - Qualitative Research Methods
TERM 201505 - MDDE703 - Research Proposal Writing
TERM 201705 - MDDE694 - Capstone e-Portfolio Project
