As we close out the spring semester, I think it is right time to reflect on the highs and lows from the last 4 months! Did the weather God again decide to play dice on the first day of spring semester? The first day of semester had to be postponed because of the icy roads in Houston! Yes, we go crazy and ecstatic when there is snow/sleet. Even the slightest forecast of snow shuts off everything in Houston! But hey, I am not complaining, we always appreciate opportunities to breathe! Coincidentally, during the onset of last year Fall semester, weather wreaked havoc when Houston was left battered with Harvey. So, hummm.. let's see what happens in Fall... Understanding myself and my preferences: This semester I switched to a different Graduate program. Last semester had been a bit stressful for me. I realized I don't enjoy studying alone online. I am not trying to negate the flexibility of online learning, but I enjoy interacting with people and learning from them. For me online learning can be supplemental, it cannot be primary source of information and stimulation for me. The decision to leap to a different program was not very easy. It was almost the third week of spring semester, but after carefully looking at the curriculum of College of Education and College of Technology, I realized I am better suited to College of Technology, University of Houston. I am very grateful to College of Technology faculty who allowed me to switch and helped me to catch up with the curriculum within a short span of time. One of the best experience of MS HRD program is the diversity inside classroom. Be it in terms of nationality or gender, College of Technology has a highly diverse diaspora. We also have couple of adjunct faculties (who are also part of large corporate institutions). They often brought a cross disciplinary approach which raises the quality of instruction to a new level. I must also admit that this is the first time in my life when I attended evening classes. Typically the evening classes run from 530 pm to 830 pm, but on some days the classes can go beyond 9 pm. And if you are someone like me who goes to bed by 1030 pm and need 7 hours of sleep to function well, you will need to tune your body clock!!! Course work: This semester I took one core module (Designing and Managing E-learning) and another optional module ( Designing Organizational Learning Intervention) . Designing Organizational Learning Intervention: Dialogic Organizational Development is a relatively new field of Organizational Development. Because of my academic and professional background, I always tend to be very quantitative and deterministic. I must admit that at the beginning it was very difficult to grasp the idea of " emergent" process. But as the weeks progressed, the concepts of Dialogic OD started to make sense. We often think and believe that the world around us is linear and predictable. But in reality all the transactions at our work place and even inside our family are interwoven with layers of complexity. Each of us bring our own "lens" and we interpret things according to our own biases and this often gives rise to " multiple realities". Dialogic OD is a humanistic way of constructing future possibilities. As a part of the graduate coursework we had to observe and interview a HR consultant. Our team chose a consultant from the Center of Diversity and Inclusion, UoH to understand how we can embed dialogic OD in our everyday transactions. For those who are interested, here is a wonderful video by the forefathers of Dialogic OD. Designing and Managing e-learning So far this has been my favorite module!! I absolutely enjoyed the way this course was designed. We had perfect balance of theory, hands-on practical exercises and interaction with industry experts to hone our understanding on creating e-learning modules. As a part of the process we learnt a new authoring tool: Articulate. Articulate is very flexible and gives a leverage if one is already well versed with Microsoft Powerpoint. There are various custom made templates available from e-learning heroes which sometimes can be a boon to a newbie. However, Articulate only works for Windows based platform, which can be hard for someone who uses a different platform. Over a course of 12 weeks we made an E-learning module on basic math for Halliburton. I am yet to undergo a course work on Instructional Design, but however this module made me go through the steps of ID while we were developing the project. As I reflect on the process, I have a feeling for corporate world probably SAM model works better than the ADDIE model. The process made me realize that it is better to make small prototypes, gather feedback and refine the process rather than perfecting the entire content in a single go. Other moments: Field trip to Houston Museum of Natural Science We had absolute fun filled curriculum at HNMS. The showstopper was of course Charro, the Iguana at the butterfly center.
Studying together: This was the first time I participated in an online book club. ISTE regularly holds book club and this time it was a moderately intense session on the book Learning First, Technology Second. This is a great way to meet and learn from fellow experts. As a bonus, I was also introduced to ETC Blogging buddies. The general idea is that one has to post at least once a month and then read and comment other fellow bloggers post. I find this idea to a great support for a newbie blogger like me. This summer I am planning to devote time to develop some skills in graphic design and also invigorate my other creative endeavors!
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