Washington WiFi Works Great....

Day seven, and my week of Washington WiFi worked great! In fact, I have been connected via WiFi and DSL throughout my week here and was absolutely impressed at taking a class from so far away via UMConnect. It was an absolutely great experience! There are always a few glitches with technology just when you don't expect them, but it seems that the presenters prepared for this possibility through a pre-planned schedule of technology testing. Really, all the audio and video issues were worked out in advance and for that, my experience with the presentations was quite a good one.

There were some audio issues as well as video camera issues that could not be resolved, however. The audio issues revolved around feedback problems with computer speakers in the background as well as a headset that had a loose wire. Video connection issues prevented some presenters from providing a view of themselves to the class members--but other presenters decided to forego video and use only the audio, so there was consistency among all presentations.

For my part, the presentations, all using the same UMConnect online media delivery, went fairly well, although three presentations got a little long without varied activities offered between each presentation. Obviously, I have somewhat of an attention deficit, as I found myself--although extremely interested in the content and committed to supporting my classmates--daydreaming with my mind wandering from Washington to Minnesota and back.

So what did I learn? Plan, prepare, practice, and then present. Pay attention to the timing and pacing of online events--too many similar events can produce fatigue and inattentiveness (It is possible that children are not the only ones that have short attention spans!). Another thing that would have been ever-s0-helpful might have been to provide notes with each PowerPoint slide. I might be expressing a personal preference here, but it is so great to be able to read along with the speaker--especially since it is one of my strategies for for improving my attentiveness and comprehension. I am the type of person that would love to be able to turn-on closed captioning for any audio presentation that does not show the speaker, speaking. With my own personal style of learning and listening, closed captioning as an option for "listening" to the speaker would have been spectacular. Also, I would have appreciated a recording of the presentations--as being able to review them a second time seems to be a strategy that can help my comprehension and recall. Review is good for my soul!

In the future, when I present, I will try to address as many learning styles as might be present in my audience to cover the bases and accommodate the learning of a diverse audience. There are so many new tools that can be implemented through online resources that can make learning content and audio/visual presentation so much more accessible for all. I will surely need to investigate the features of UMConnect to see what accessibility enhancements can be utilized for a varied population of listeners/viewers.

Day One - WiFi at the Airport

Well, this is Day One of my trip and I am such a novice wifi traveler that I didn't know that you need to PAY for airport wifi service--but it does seem that nothing is free--unless it is OpenSource Software! So, I am now connected via Boingo Wireless for the tune of $7.95 for 24 hours--in this airport. It took me until now to get connected and they are just starting to board. Well, for $7.95 it is a good learning experience. I am looking forward to the trip and hope that I have used the resources that I have learned in class to collaborate and work online during my visit. So, I might need to spend a few bucks to connect, but, hey, this is so much better than just sitting here and twiddling my thumbs. I am happy!

Ms. EssGee Goes Northwest....

Well, this will be a big week and I plan to test out online collaboration and coursework to the utmost as I am heading Northwest for a week. I will be in the Microsoft realm and am wondering how the tools I have discovered and employed are going to serve the team project group and myself. I have a lot of work to get done from a long distance. The bandwidth where I will be staying is a little sketchy as it is located in a rural area and has some limits. No wireless access. I will need to bring my own connection cables, etc. to get internet access--or I can stroll down to Starbucks and sit there to do my work over a nice cuppa Java!

We have class the next two week online--and the next two weeks will involve student presentations of Exemplar CoPs. I am working on mine as my last reflective blog shows. I am anxious to hear about other CoPs that have been found online--whether great or not so great. Learning can be accomplished by showing both examples and non-examples (which mine might include). Well, off to a new adventure!

Victim, No More...Victorious over Vista...

Yup, problem solved with the help of a Microsoft Software Research Engineer named Kevin! Service Pack 1 for Vista is installed--albeit on a clean (new) harddrive. Evidently if there is any corruption or incompatibility in any program on the harddrive where Vista resides, the Vista service pack 1 is so sophisticated that it identifies any discrepancies in files, corruptions, or needed updates, and refuses to install unless everything in the original Vista is in tip-top shape. When it does finally install (even when it unsuccessfully attempts to install) service pack 1 saves all documents, program data and files, and windows files and settings in a file called c:\windows.old. This is very good.

One drawback of the Vista SP1 is that if you attempt to install it on a harddrive running Vista and the install fails, it is not possible to reverse the failed install. That is not good.

Since I had several failed installs, I have several files, windows.old, windows. old1, windows.old 2, on the harddisk, but the harddisk is now unusable--until I transfer the old files to another harddrive and reformat the harddrive and do a clean install. Very, very, not good!

But in view of all the hassles, once SP1 is successfully installed, wow, the speed of the whole computer improves, the files are renamed and moved to more logical places, and unnecessary folders are eliminated and others are moved to more user-friendly locations. This is good.

Unfortunately, some the software program will not operate properly if a needed file or folder has been renamed or moved by Vista SP1. It is necessary to either reinstall, recreate a missing folder, or find the moved folder or file and copy and paste it into the correct spot. For example, I had to create a folder called c:\temp, since the install program for software I just purchased required the folder--which I did have prior to installing Vista SP1. Hmmmmmm....that is not too good.

But, I must say that I am impresed with the absolutely great support I received from Microsoft--about nine hours of expert assistance over the phone for free. The usual cost of such tech support is steep--approximately $599.99 per hour! Sheesch!

Microsoft is very well aware of how complicated it is to install Vista SP1 and dedicates a free tech support site to resolve any problems. First I used online tech support, but later, received phone calls from Microsoft technicians and research engineers who assisted me in resolving the failed installs and helped me located needed files and documents. The tech support was superb, the explanations, easy to follow, and the customer service was great! The follow-up from the technical staff was first-rate and I certainly was made to feel an integral part of the solution and that it was their pleasure to resolve any issues. That was Very, Very good!