Going to try a new approach to teaching – learning circles with an online course. Going to take a while to organize, but it’s a start!
Blog
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Public Speaking
To get over my fear of public speaking, I joined my high school debate team. I wasn’t a great debater but joining that club allowed me to get comfortable speaking in front of crowds. Still not great at smaller social gathering (that’s a work in progress), in front of an audience I’m okay.
3 things that work for me:
- Know what you’re going to talk about but not exactly how you’re going to talk about it.
- Have a “map” of your speech to know where the important points and how they connect.
- Practice before, even if it’s just in your head. Aloud is best, but a quiet moment also okay.
These points have worked for me but I have also typed out entire talks when I had a time limit or was speaking on behalf of a group where the specifics of my speech were more important than the style.
I have bombed. I have been stiff and robotic.
BUT I have also done well and gotten better over time. I won’t ever be a GREAT public speaker but I’ll get by. -
Do It with Others
The longer I work, the more I realize that “do-it-yourself” should be replaced with “do-it-with-others” or “do-it-together” because collaboration is better than competition (and collaboration can foster community). Haven’t applied it completely to my work, but I’m starting to see how it can work around the edges.
This short post is more of a way for me to hold myself accountable for following up on this idea (and to update this website a bit more often).
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Website Update
My old website template was out of date and unsecure so I had to update change it to the default WordPress theme.
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Learning about Linux
Really brief – learn everything you need to about Linux / GNU operation system and privacy tools. Not everything, but something to start.
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Take It to the Streets
This is what I spent my summer doing. From there website:
University of Toronto Scarborough, in partnership with community partners, hosted two-day digital story workshops for resident-led initiatives identified by community partners. Participants scripted, narrated, designed, and directed short stories that serve as a window into their lives and experiences and tell stories of Scarborough from within the community.
Individuals were trained on how to create a multimedia video capturing their story of community-building. Through these workshops, the University of Toronto Scarborough and our community partners are working together to build capacity and invest in professional and leadership development opportunities for residents across Scarborough.
Workshops were facilitated by Digital Storytelling Toronto, an initiative of Centre for Community Learning & Development. Thank you to Free Geek Toronto for providing laptops for these workshops.
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Operating Systems
For years, I just continuously upgraded my Windows operating system, avoiding the poorly developed one. At work, we install and use a Linux distribution (Mint) on most the computers we sell. I’ve dabbled with Ubuntu in the past. For a month or so I was using a Chromebook as my travel machine and now I purchased a used 2010 MacBook Air. So what are my thoughts?
Honestly, while they’re all different if you’re doing basic tasks there’s really no difference. I mean the only thing you know is Microsoft Office then working on a Chromebook or a Linux machine can be challenging because only the web apps are available for those (no desktop support for those OS). Google Docs works on everything so if you’ve made the shift a completely online platform you’ll be find. LibreOffice is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux so it’s easiest to move between them (can’t install external apps on a Chromebook).
So it’s now about the specifications.
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Video School
I’m always on the look out for online tutorials that freely available. Vimeo’s Video School is good starting place for people looking for tips and explanation for most of the technical aspect of creating videos. From explaining different camera shots to how to storyboard to why pre-production is important, these short articles are written in clearly and get to the point. Check it out.
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Refurbishing
I’ve recent had slight career switch, moving from instruction into social enterprise full-time. I’m now working with Free Geek Toronto, a non-profit social enterprise that recycles and refurbished computers with open source software and give employment opportunities to those facing barriers to entering the work force. There’s a large managerial component to this position, but I also get to do some training / workshops as well.Lots of great opportunities for me to expand what I do.
So if you’re looking for an affordable laptop, check out Free Geek Toronto!
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e-learning
One of the advantages of hosting my own website is being able to experiment with a variety of tools, specifically those available for free (or low-cost). Without an upfront cost, I tried Drupal. It was incredibly difficult to use without any training so I deleted it (also didn’t need content management system YET). After taking a couple of online courses, I decided to give Moodle a try. I found much easier to use. In the last couple of days, I’ve started creating an outline and structure for a course. It needs a lot of work, but so far so good.
Learning Moodle is part of my continuing professional development. Every article about education states that online learning is the future, so to future-proof my skills, e-learning course design and facilitation is something I need to build.
So, if anyone reading this has any tips, or links, please send it along!
