Putting Educational Innovations into Practice.

2014 MERLOT Summer GRAPE Camps

Please introduce yourself here so everyone participating in GRAPE Camp can get acquainted. You are welcome to share any information you want. You can also ask questions here.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 10, 2014 at 2:33pm

Welcome, Allison. We do have a number of materials in the anatomy area. Hopefully you've been using them in your courses. As I have mentioned above, Jeanne Sewel, the Editor of Health Sciences, will be so happy to see that you're in GRAPE Camp. We're glad to see you here.

Permalink Reply by Kimberly Barss on June 11, 2014 at 12:25pm

Hi, all! I am Kim Barss from Excelsior College in Albany, NY. I am a full time Instructional Designer and an adjunct professor in the School of Health Sciences. I am pursuing my doctorate, have a wonderful little 16 month old boy and in my spare time my husband and I have a small farm where we raise goats, pheasants, chickens, turkey, and rabbit. I am excited to be here! I am often advocating for the use of MERLOT in our institution and present on integrating OER multimedia into courses.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 11, 2014 at 1:03pm

Hi, Kimberly. So glad to hear you have been promoting MERLOT. It's a wonderful resource. I'm sure your son keeps you hopping. What a great age! Your farming effort sounds like fun. Do you sell any of the products (i.e. goats milk, eggs, etc.)?

Permalink Reply by Kimberly Barss on June 11, 2014 at 1:05pm

Hi! Thanks for the reply. We do sell eggs, rabbit meat, goat meat, chicken, pheasant, turkey, and a fluctuating variety of other things. It's a lot of fun and our son loves to "help."

Permalink Reply by David Curtis on June 27, 2014 at 2:43pm

Good Friday Afternoon.

My name is David Curtis and I have joined the 2014 Merlot Summer Camp - to learn about the Peer Review process. I retired July 1, 2010 from the Metropolitan Community College District in Kansas City, Missouri. I was the Blackboard Manager and Instructional Designer for the last 10 years of my 17 years of employment. I taught and teach Introduction to Sociology, online for the District.

I also teach Introduction to Sociology and Social Inequality, online, for Park University. It is a private university, located in the Kansas City area that has about 40 "campuses" on military bases around the world.

Finally, I am a Master Reviewer, as well as on-ground and online trainer for Quality Matters. And my relationship with Quality Matters has led me to this training. I keep busy teaching, working, some golf, movies and following my daughters beginning opera career. She leaves next week for Italy for a six-week opera festival, she is a Mezzo Soprano.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 29, 2014 at 7:20pm

Welcome, David. (He is doing the self study GRAPE Camp, so I'm glad he was able to introduce himself.)

David, I know you're going to be working on MERLOT reviews in conjunction with Quality Matters. However, we also have a Sociology Editorial Board, so you are welcome to review for them when you "graduate." With all of your activities, however, I don't know when you'd have time.

How wonderful for your daughter. Did she inherent her talent from you?

Permalink Reply by David Curtis on June 30, 2014 at 7:53am

Cathy

Thanks for the warm welcome. And I might consider being involved in the Sociology Editorial Board. But here is a "broad" concern I have. I was never a full time instructor, thus never got involved in journal articles, etc. etc. So I wonder how "valuable" someone like me is in the company of full professors of sociology, teaching at universities, with impressive vitaes, etc. I am just pondering outloud.

As for my daughter, well what I hope she inherited from me was the idea (and the support) that she was free to pursue many directions in life - and that whatever "talents" she might have possessed, in the end, people that have the chance to succeed at her level must "discover" their talents and then work hard for years to specialize. She has been singing since she was 15 and only now, 15 years later, is her voice at a level where she hopefully can establish a career as a professional opera performer.

If you want to see and hear her - go to http://www.taracurtis.com/

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 30, 2014 at 11:54am

David, don't worry. You would be very valuable. Not all of our reviewers come from big, research institutions. In fact, some of our Editors are from community colleges and we have many adjunct professors who teach part time. We're not really research oriented. In fact, we are focused on teaching, whether at a technical school or a private institution. Having taught in the classroom is the main requirement.

Tara's website is terrific. I played some of the songs. She really has a powerful voice. She obviously really did pursue her talents!

Permalink Reply by Rachelle Anderson on June 29, 2014 at 2:48pm

Hi Everyone!

My name is Rachelle Anderson and I'm in my first set of courses for the MS in E-global learning through TAMUC. I read through each of the posts here, but soon realized I had not posted my own.

I am an elementary educator in the Texas public school system. I currently teach first grade, but I've taught kindergarten through third grade. My background also includes the financial industry (banking and brokerage). If I'm not teaching or taking classes, I am spending time with my two young girls, ages 5 & 11.

I'm looking forward to learning more about MERLOT and contributing to the best of my abilities.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 29, 2014 at 6:40pm

Welcome, Rachelle. I know you will be able to find a ot of resources in MERLOT that will help you in your teaching. Our Teacher Education Board will also welcome you after you complete GRAPE Camp!

Permalink Reply by Lynn Lease on June 30, 2014 at 11:13am

Greetings!

I am Lynn Lease, Founding Director of the Center for Educational Excellence and Senior Instructional Designer at the University of Northwestern Ohio. I also currently serve at the First Year Experience Coordinator at UNOH. I am a Master Reviewer for Quality Matters which has led me to participate in parts of the Grape Camp.

I am currently in the dissertation phase of a PhD program in Education with a specialization in Instructional Design for Online Learning. The title of my dissertation is "Community College Instructional Designers' Use of Free, Pre-designed Interactive Learning Objects" which makes my current involvement with QM and MERLOT even more exciting and applicable.

I have taught undergraduate university courses in Communications, English, and Diversity. I am licensed in the state of Ohio to teach grades 1-8. I also hold a Reading Endorsement through the state of Ohio. In the past, I taught 7th grade Language Arts.

I hold an MA in College Student Personnel Administration and a BS in Journalism/Public Relations.

I look forward to learning more about MERLOT and ways to become involved.

Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on June 30, 2014 at 12:08pm

Thank you for letting us know all that, Lynn. I'm sure the First Year Experience is a worthwhile project for you. I taught a similar course a number of years ago. Dealing with freshman takes a great deal of patience. :-)

I'm sure your Ph.D. program has kept you hopping a lot. I love the fact that you're looking at interactive learning objects...it really is applicable to MERLOT. How are you gathering your data?

We're happoy to have the patnerhip between MERLOT and QM. We do have so much in common!