Know Thy Worth

Human Capital Theory is the name of the game and it keeps bringing me back to relationships. Many times, I have over heard another female exclaim, "I know MY worth and I am too good for that!" The issue is always about a man and how he devalues her in a relationship and she deserves so much more. This statement can be applied to another relationship, the employer/employee relationship. Does one not provide a service to that employer? Are one's skills and talents not compensated for? And recently, the most commonly quoted statement in the office place is "that is above my pay grade." Although the employee may know the answer or have a solution to the problem, they place a value on the information that they provide to others within the company.

By this same thought, knowing ones worth in a work environment, appears to be directly related to their educational standing. From what I can tell at this moment is that one's productivity is higher because of a higher level of education which in turn creates a higher salary. Productivity is not directly related to one's talent, skill, or social setting and does not present the same outcome.

I am really going to have to roll this concept around in my head for some time because at the moment, I don't have that strong of a grasp on it yet.

More to come on HCT.....

Staying Afloat and Early Thoughts

Well, even though the first full week isn't completely over, I am still staying afloat. Unfortunately, the posting site is done this evening, but this just gives me a reason to watch the Skins game tonight. At any rate, the first postings have me thinking about what came first, education or the need for education.

Think about it, how was it decided that to hold a career and to be 'successful' in a job, you should train or become educated in that field. As I think about this, there seem to have always been apprenticeship programs. You studied carpentry under someone that had already learned the craft; you studied agriculture under a successful famer. The list can go on and on. But education, was completely different from these apprenticeship and training programs. Education was about literature and philosophy, but not about an actual application of the skills learned.

I can't help but think about when education started to transform into a training for your future. Even in watching the movie "300", it was stated that the Spartans were trained in all areas, the arts, philosophy, also how to fight.

So this is how I start off the semester, in thought of how training and education started to merge into one. How was it decided that there is preparation that a person should go through prior to starting a professional life? And is all education about becoming a professional?

And so, the semester begins, what came first, education or training?

Start of Fall 2010 Semester

Amazingly enough, I have made it through my first year of the MDE graduate program. Last semester was my hardest, with the travels, blizzard, changing jobs, and adjusting to life at home with school work. One would think that it would be harder to do schoolwork on the road, but I somehow found comfort in my schoolwork in the many Marriott's across the country.

At any rate, here I am, at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester taking DETT621, Training at a Distance, and OMDE606, Cost of Distance Education. I am hoping that I will learn what goes into a distance education course, cost and training.

Currently, my courses are starting to merge with my professional life. When I started this program, I was an accreditation coordinator and was using my degree to develop a process for evaluations of distance education institutions. I determined that it was time for me to move on and now, I am creating an auditing/review/evaluation process for mortgage education schools. This is a different educational field for me as it is geared more so towards the training of mortgage loan originators. No longer am I responsible for ensuring that an entire institution is living up to the educational standards set forth by the accreditor, but rather, that training is being delivered effectively and in accordance with the policies set forth by the regulator.

Well, today being the official first day of class, I figured I would try to get a head start, seeing as how you are never caught up in dealing with school. My goals this semester are to be more vocal in class and not a classroom lurker. I am making the efforts now to make sure that my voice is heard, and that I also document my progress throughout the course. I think that only one course will require a learning journal, but I think that this will be beneficial as I track my progress throughout the course.

Here's to a new semester, filled with great opportunities!

I have learned a lot about myself from this course. I learned that I need to practice better study habits. I also learned that putting in the time upfront, actually pays off in the end. One of the most important things that I learned to me, is that I really like this field. I appreciate the dialogue and conversation that this course brings me. I wish I was more 'put together' so that I could be more of an active participant, but that is all in hindsight now. From this course, I learned how I would actually like to operate my own course - as a conversation. It helps the process of learning with others. Also, my lack of participation online makes me feel like I am alone in class when the truth is, I am not. This semester was a true test of me as a student, but given the fact that I continued on, made me feel a lot better. I do not have to be alone in an online environment and I think that is the greatest lesson I have learned in my first year of an online master's program.

Instructors

This week I started to think more about the instructors than myself for a change (this is a first). I know a lot of instructors, teachers, or professors that teach in an online environment. Unfortunately, I always here them sort of complaining about students and excuses, the larger class sizes and also how some people just don't get what they are trying to do. Although this may appear as just complaining on the outside, it is their way of exchanging ideas best practices and the like about their job. A lot has changed for the instructor in this day of online education. Students are older and expect to be catered to more. Time feels neverending because in an online environment school is always open. But what about the instructor. The class sizes have increased, the students and schools have become more demanding and other issues. For instance, how does an instructor adjust their teaching style to students without actually speaking to them? Can they change how they talk to students in all posts to ensure that everyone gets it? How do you encourage the student that 'sits in the back of the class?' While I get help and encouragement from the instructor, who is actually there to help and encourage them? How do they know that the student really understands the point they are trying to get across? The reflective portion of education not only lies with the student, but also takes place with the instructor. And while the conversation of education is sometimes only thought to benefit the student, maybe it is the measuring stick for the instructor as well.

Lots of Ideas Floating Around

There have been a lot of talks about witness learners, metaphors, and learning in an online community. First, let me say, "My name is Terasita and I am a witness learner." Even in f2f courses I was the student that stayed quiet as long as possible. However, many of my teachers would not let me stay this way becuase they felt my voice needed to be heard. I thank them for this encouragement. However, now, I feel like I need to be quiet to be able to understand and absorb the information. I try to get a gauge of the entire course prior to participating. Unfortunately, this means I miss the bus, a lot. Its not as though I think that I am going to learn through some type of osmosis, that just logging in will provide me with the information that I need from the course.

On another note, the instructor has the class looking at metaphors a lot. Metaphors are a hard thing to explain and to create. But this allowed me to think outside of myself and see what my experience is in the course.

Theories

In a reading this week, there was a lot of the mention of theories and how they can aid in teaching. I remember when I first started teaching and I was left alone in the classroom to do what was expected of me. Amazingly enough, I just relied on how I was taught. I did not look into theories, I did not study the best techniques, I just taught. Thank goodness for administrators and in-services. Of course while I was there, I hated having to sit through these tortuous events, but now I see the benefit of this. They were actually helping me by explaining theories in a way that I could relate to them.



Although I was not able to talk the talk while teaching, while I am studying I am finally able to understand the concepts that I was being told to apply in the classroom. I think that were I actually in a classroom now, I would understand what was going on. I would be able to reflect on how I was teaching and what my students were actually getting from the lesson.