EDUC 630 Introduction

Welcome EDUC 630 classmates.  I am Dale Hicks.  I am a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.  I have been in the Navy for almost 22 years now and have had many opportunities to experience new technologies in the workplace and classroom.  I have been a student with Liberty University since 2005, all in the online program.  When I first started the program, courses were still using VHS taped lectures and Blackboard was primarily for testing.  I have seen the program grow through the use of DVDs and now online presentations while expanding the scope and use of Blackboard for online discussions, collaborations, and resource management.  It has been very exciting and has piqued my interest in the field of online learning and educational technology.  I have only two classes remaining, including this one, to complete my Master’s degree.  While I have been studying online learning and edtech , I have learned about some technologies that I have enjoyed using and since applied both my academic and professional pursuits.  There are three primary ones which come to mind; blogs, wikis, and telecommunicating.  I spent twelve of the past seventeen months deployed to the Middle East.  These technologies enabled me to be an actively involved member of several online classes.  I had the opportunity to collaborate with several classmates to complete two major research projects by using wikis to create a centralized collaboration site.  Skype allowed live communication over thousands of miles and ten time zones.  Our blogs were great for managing our metered discussion on several topics.  I have also found the use of Smartphone and tablets have become more common.  They seem to offer increased mobility which enhances the ubiquitous quality of today’s learning environment. 

My links:

Portfolio - http://hicksedtechnologist.blogspot.com/

Ed-Tech wiki - https://hicks-edtech.wikispaces.com/0.+EdTech+Home

Training-4-Sharing wiki - https://training-4-sharing.wikispaces.com/+TRAINING-4-SHARING

Navy blog - http://windjammerscpo365.blogspot.com/