Initial Feelings On Course Practicum
Starting the final course in the
certificate program really made me think of how I felt when I first started. I
had been thinking of working on this certificate for many years but didn’t start
it until January 2018 and am now in the final course. I admit I have a variety
of feelings because it is the final class. I am feeling a mixture of sadness
and happiness, sadness because it is the end of this amazing journey and happiness
because I have come so far! However, I look at the experience as everything must come to an
end, and that I am creating several projects that shows people how hard I worked. I look forward to improving both my portfolio and my class and showing them to employers and other people with pride. I look at all my classmates who dropped out
along the way and realize I am very happy I stuck with it. I have so much pride
looking at my projects when I first started and how they look now, and how it
will be better once I finish. I am excited thinking of the class I am creating!
In general, I found the program easy
because of my experience. In a previous
job I was employed as an instructional designer, where I created classes for my
coworkers to learn such as computer training and accounting. When I created
classes, I started by doing needs analysis, looking at everything including the
skills of the learners, and would go talk to the person requesting the class
and why. Once I finished that step, I started designing and implementing the
class. This was at a time where technology was not where it is today, though it
was only eleven years ago. Back then, the company was run by older workers who
did not want to change the ways of learning, so we were still using compact discs
for classes. Because I had a previous job as a website designer, I knew how to
upload classes on the company intranet, and they were able to access the
program anywhere at work. Social media really did not exist at that time as it
does now so that was not even considered. I taught myself several software
programs to keep up with the technology and this helped me when I decided to go
more towards freelance work. After I left my job, I learned how to upload
videos on YouTube and how to use Facebook to promote my business.
Having the interest in learning new
skills, and already being technological advanced made creating my portfolio and
my online class simple for me. I had to learn how Google Sites works but to me
it was easier than knowing HTML, which I learned back when I was a website
designer. Personally, I do not see many challenges I would face, but in general
the biggest challenge outside of technology is time management. One of the
biggest issues an online developer occurs is that they do not realize they will
need more time than they thought. For me, I like to do a little bit at a time
so that I am not overwhelmed. This has helped me in jobs and in school. I am
comfortable with skills and I bring to the program many years of experience
which will help me. I really feel my skills, along with my willingness to learn
new skills will result in me being an even more successful online developer. I
know there will be times I will be overwhelmed but I also know the stress will
be temporary and the light at the end of the tunnel is a class I am proud of.
