We had our last class on Monday.
At the beginning of this subject I was very wary. Although I realise that technology is increasingly being used in businesses and now, training and development (the career I wish to work in), I do not really embrace new technology unless forced to. After being forced into using new technologies, this even includes moving from a CD player to an ipod as happened mid this year, I am always happier and can see the benefits once they have been demonstrated for me.
Victoria was very patient and I believe the class as a whole did not have much trouble being introduced to the new technologies of netvibes, delicious, uts online and blogging. There were some who picked up on it earlier than others. I feel I was able to adapt to this blogging thing pretty well, however netvibes was rather difficult.
Therefore in one of my final blogs I would like to say that I enjoyed this subject more than I thought I would. It makes me consider my opinion towards our e-learning subject for next year.
I am still going to attempt the extra assignment for module three which is due on Wednesday, must remember to post it on a separate page. Im planning to finish it on Monday or Tuesday night.
Signing out,
Amanda Newton 
Now i have completed almost four hours of an e-learning course I am able to come to conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the course. Most of my evaluation is shown through my final reflection which you can see by clicking on the link at the top right hand corner of this page.
It was a good course, I do not regret choosing it. It was easy to follow and understand. The only negative thing I can see (which i keep saying) is lack of different activities at the end of each small topic. And feedback, which is hard to do through a computer (at this stage in technology – im sure in a few years this comment will seem very outdated).
Last night I did another hour of the BBC German language course. I finished module 3 and got up to ‘Holiday Accomodation’ in module four. This hour was not too bad. As i knew i only had a small amount of time to complete I was enjoying it. However as I had not really retained that much from the modules before, I was finding it hard when we were asked to call on the knowledge of basic things such as introducing ourselves.
I was planning to complete the final 1.5 hours to make it four hours of the course, however after the hour I had had enough and did not want to complete anymore. Each module was pretty much the same, therefore I felt i had seen enough to be able to make judgements and write my final review (Plus I was running out of time and did not want to waste time doing the same things when I could use that time to write more blogs).
Yesterday I completed a further 1.5 hours of my BBC German online e-learning course.
Before starting my second part of the course, I had a think of what I remembered from the first hour of the course, which was a few days ago. I found that i could remember the course structure and the layout perfectly, however could not really remember much of the German, which I was supposed to be remembering.
My comments are fairly the same as they were after the first hour. Structure and layout of the course is very appealing, however the repetitiveness is annoying.
By the end of this 1.5 hours i have completed module 1, and worked my way through module two. I began module 3 however stopped after the first point. Next time i start back will be at ‘Having a snack.’ This time I was not spending as long on each topic. The choice is there wether you participate in the activities or not. Therefore sometimes I did not. I believe the flexibility to do this is a great idea. It also offers the opportunity to complete any tasks again if needed.
Today I completed the first hour of my e-learning course. From the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/index.shtml
I began with the first module called ‘meeting people.’ I thought I would at least finish the first module in an hour, however by the end I had only completed the first three outcomes of that module. There is a lot in each outcome that the learner can explore, and I looked at all of it in each outcome. Once the learner has finished listening to the conversation that is being played out they are able to participate in activities which help the learner practise their skills and help to retain the new knowledge in their minds. These activities are interactive and involve the learner, such as guessing the meanings of words and writing and saying answers to questions.
I felt the e-learning program is set out well with an easy to understand and follow structure. The learner interaction is interesting, however a little repetitive over time. I did particulary like that if provides links to other sites where one can learn about the culture of Germany and its people.
However as languages are hard to learn, I was getting rather sick of it after the first hour, not sure that I will be able to make the four hours because it is hard and confusing. I now know more than I did before I started, and can remember a few phrases, I dont believe I will still be able to remember them by tomorrow morning. This could be a combination a lack of summary in the course and also the nature of learning on the internet.
