Week Ten

It's hard to believe that ten weeks have passed by so quickly and its sad to say goodbye to my new online friends, I hope they keep in touch. Ten weeks ago I enrolled in a webskills course through the University of Oregon, not knowing what to expect and what I was going to learn. My ICT skills were somewhat limited and I was a "newbie" at studying online.

This course has changed the way I look at things and has given me the necessary confidence to explore more and use the many things that are so freely available on the internet. I believe that I have learned a lot of new skills that will be able to assist me in planning many of my activities and presentations in the new year. It has been a rewarding experience communicating and interacting with various teachers scattered all around the globe. What I have come to realize is that although we are from diffrent cultures and countries, we are very much the same in the difficulties we face and the joys we experience in teaching people. Not everyone is cut out to do this job (you need patience, patience and more patience).

Participating in a web based course is a weird experience, you communicate with people you don't really know, through a medium that is actually very impersonal and alien to me. I am a people's person, and this course has taken a lot to getting used to, but I managed and it has been fun. A special thank you to Robert Elliot for his patience, guidance and support during the course as well as the knowledge he has imparted on me. I would like to thank Francinah Mogoro and the United States Embassy in Pretoria for sponsoring me for this course and for developing educators in South Africa. I am in your debt.

On Sunday, my family and I will be leaving for the Eastern Cape coast, for a much deserved summer seaside holiday. It has been a rough year and I am glad that I can finally take a break and get a tan.

God Bless, and have a joyful festive season.

Greetings from a very warm South Africa.

Webskills Course: Week Nine

Week nine has come and gone and I am slowly starting to develop withdrawal symptoms, one more week and we will be finished. One thing I am sure of is that I will be spending much less time in front of the computer. Believe or not... after nine weeks of the webskills course I still can't tell you what the time difference between Centurion and Oregon is. Sorry Robert!

We sent our draft projects to our fellow team members for peer reading and also peer reviewed their drafts. It is quite daunting having your work peer reviewed by someone you hardly know. I find corresponding with someone you don't know online (a faceless person) difficult. The comments I received from my team member were useful and I incorporated some of his suggestions. I am very positive about my project that I plan to implement in the new year and really believe it will work. Our District Office received a sponsor from Vodacom (cellphone service provider). They will be donating a fully functional computer centre with all the bells and whisles to us. They will be starting in January, so by February we will have our own centre that teachers can visit. 

Many of the new things I have learnt on this course will be used in my future lessons and training sessions. Before I forget, I also want to thank Francinah Mogoro from the United States Embassy in Pretoria for sponsoring me and providing me with this opportunity.

Greetings from a very hot South Africa and have a great week.