Week 2 - Pina Coladas and Microsoft Publisher

"The Ultimate Escape from the Dip Ed" !!! ... pina coladas, luau's and sunsets on the beach - COUNT ME IN ... once I conquer Publisher that is ;-)

And so, another lesson which reminds me how much fun it can be for a student to learn, when they are given the opportunity to work on something in which they have an authentic interest in.

This is certainly how I felt when Greg proposed that we could create our very own travel brochure to anywhere we wanted in the world. Images of far away places and exotic destinations filled my mind. All the places I long to go but have not yet journeyed ... Shantaram's Mumbai, India and the Ajanta and Ellora Caves; the great pyramids of Giza; the Mayan ruins in Belize; the beaches of El Salvador, the Carribean, Mont St Michel and the small country towns of europe... places that call to me to with whispers of the unknown.

And yet, how could I create a brochure to do justice to those places not yet traversed? Impossible and so I chose instead to recreate a simple Hawaiian adventure, and perhaps convince others to play hooky and join me on another trip there?

And behold, I discovered while in the throes of creation that I was at the same time taking even more baby steps towards a new and improved technological me. This soon to be ICT specialist - well versed in internet jargon and up to date on the latest web 2.oo progams. (Ok, well maybe I'm getting ahead of myself :-). But it is exciting isn't it? I mean, especially for us (no doubt about it) mature aged students who sometimes feel a step behind the Gen Y's when it comes to all this ICt stuff....

Have been having fun working on my webquest this week. We have chosen a "Survival Quest" which I must admit was inspired by CBS's Survivor Series. Yes, I'm a survivor junkie - could be worse ;-) Hey I even managed to attach the theme music to our quest, which I was most impressed about - I can tell you that.

Who would have thought I would be talking widgets and files all on my own? And understanding what I was saying at that. I actually love the idea of webquests as a teaching tool and know this one will be my first of many.... I just hope I can bring as much fun to the students who do the quests as I have had designing them...

As far as the e-portfolio goes, I seem to keep getting stuck. I have tried doing it in Publisher but the templates are a bit on the lame side and I can't figure out how to do a button down the side that changes pages when I click on it. Have also tried in powerpoint, but I'm having the same button issues. I know there has to be an easy way, I just have to find out what the hell it is... and how the hell I fix it... will keep plodding along :-)