Putting Educational Innovations into Practice.

Winter/Spring 2011 Discussions

Hi, Everyone:

Because a number of people are completing GRAPE Camp asynchronously, we want to give everyone an opportunity to express his/her views. Please introduce yourself, tell us something about yourself, and let us know the reasons you are attending GRAPE Camp.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kristen Radsliff Rebmann on March 7, 2011 at 3:19pm

Hi Everyone! I am an assistant professor in Library & Information Science at San Jose State University (CA). I live in the Coeur d'Alene area of Idaho and teach in our online graduate program. My Ph.D. is in Communication from UCSD and my research is (broadly) in the area of learning design to support new literacies. I'm attending GRAPE camp to get more involved in the distance learning community, to improve my own teaching, and to meet others with similar research interests.

Cheers!

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on March 7, 2011 at 6:30pm

I'm happy to have you with us, Kristen. SJSU is one of our academic partners as part of the CSU system. I'm sure you'll find a lot of useful resources that will help with distance learning. Plus, we have a very active Library and Information Sciences Editorial Board, so they will definitely welcome you.

Permalink Reply by Jessica Caldwell-Lehr on March 9, 2011 at 12:42pm

Hello Everyone,

I am Jessica from Worthington, Ohio. In my present position, I work as a content editor for Franklin University. I have been in academic publishing for over ten years. I am currently in the process of applying to graduate school to get my doctorate in workforce development and adult learning. I am attending GRAPE Camp because I am new to peer reviewing and would like to learn new skills. I think learning is a lifelong process and anything that would assist me in doing my job better, is a good thing for me.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on March 9, 2011 at 12:52pm

That's great, Jessica. The MERLOT Peer Review Process is pretty unique, but you'll learn skills that you can use in other peer review activities also. Additionally, we have some workforce development communities in MERLOT, so that should be attractive to you also.

Permalink Reply by Pamela Howe on March 10, 2011 at 9:38am

Hi Everyone,

I'm Pam Howe from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I've been aware of MERLOT for many years and would like to get more involved with the good work that goes on here. My areas of interest are in Visual Communication, Information Design and Instructional Design.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on March 10, 2011 at 9:48am

Hi, Pamela:

I think I've mentioned before, that Ray Purdom, UNCG, is the Editor of Faculty Development for MERLOT. I'm sure you'll be able to make a contribution in that area.

Permalink Reply by Steven Cooke on April 11, 2011 at 8:43pm

Hello. My name is Steven and I am participating asynchronously in GRAPE Camp. I am currently an Adjunct with APUS. I have been teaching online for just about a year now and am looking for additional resources to utilize in my classes as well as new avenues to transition to only teaching. Speaking of which, I am looking for work.... I can teach business and management courses and am currently teaching hospitality management courses with APUS... Just putting that out there. I look forward to the opportunity of working with MERLOT and the exposure to the variety of resources and experience found here.

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on April 12, 2011 at 6:53am

Welcome, Steven. And congratulations...you are the first person from April GRAPE Camp to use Voices. The star of the class!

We have a lot of materials in Business and Management, so you should be able to find a lot and we will also welcome you for doing Peer Reviews. Also, since you are currently teaching in the Hospitality area, you will be happy to find out that we just added Hospitality as a category in MERLOT. You will find it in Workforce Development, i.e. Workforce Development/Hospitality. This was added because of our partnership with INACAP in Chile. However, we hope you will add any materials to this area that you can think of.

Permalink Reply by Steven Cooke on April 12, 2011 at 8:20pm

That is definitely good to hear. The more opportunity to get involved the better!

Permalink Reply by Larry Boles on April 12, 2011 at 1:55pm

Hi Cathy (and all my fellow--um, grapes?),

Just finished the Business Peer Review Tutorial. It was helpful. This feels more manageable. The tutorial was very informative, although a minor criticism (just to get practice here) is that the background music could have been reduced in volume. Otherwise great.

Larry

Permalink Reply by Cathy Swift on April 12, 2011 at 2:40pm

Thanks, Larry. I've heard that about the music before. I need to go back and redo those videos. It's just been a case of no time. I do plan to do so.

PS You can say Grapes, or even Campers! :-)

Permalink Reply by Pamela A. Gibson on April 12, 2011 at 7:13pm

Hello, Cathy,

Although Larry considers it a bit loud, I found it very calming and immediately wanted to know where you got it! My students would appreciate the 'mood' it sets and wouldn't automatically tense up while 'studying' my presentations!