Below are links to the reflection papers I wrote during the course.
Reflection Paper
Week 1 Jan15 – Reflection on the future of the course
With no doubt enrolling in this course is going to be one of my most unique college experiences, I have always heard my peers talk about online courses and how they are flexible, how you need to be fully engaged with it and how time management is key. This semester I enrolled in four online classes, one first session, one full semester and two-second session classes. I recently enrolled in an Aviation Minor and the flight hours I have to build while still trying to maintain a good Gpa and also fulfill general education requirements is why I chose to be enrolled in four online classes.
Online classes are unique in a way which is kind of frightening but that’s the beauty of flexibility and freedom when I log into Carmen I see the blueprint of the course which serves as an analogy to a maze in my opinion. You choose your own path, there are twist and turns but at the end of the course, it’s your motivation and time management principles which would count. I believe that e-learning is a revolutionary experience our educational system is witnessing, in a way which teaches people to be self-driven. You are forced to be self-motivated in order to set schedules and do research in order to excel in the course.
Most of the concerns I anticipate would be with structuring an effective schedule which would help me meet deadlines, as well as finding a set date and place to make progress in the class during the week. I also feel like the transition into online learning would erase the intimate classroom experience I have felt all my life because I love to engage in thought provoking discussions.
However, I believe that if I take advantage of Carmen Connect, I will be able to replace that feeling of being intimate in a traditional classroom and still be able to engage in discussions with people from various parts of the world through the video conferencing and screen sharing platform the system provides.
I’m very positive I would excel in this course because I’m treating this class like a true test of the what it takes to be successful, where one needs essential tools such as time management, a self-driven attitude, and limitless curiosity to learn and develop oneself, however when the process gets tough I won’t be afraid to email my professor and ask for help cause what are we on this planet without help from one another.
Reflection Paper
Week 2 Jan 22 – Reflection on Goal Setting and Motivation
I believe William Prempeh 3 years from now, would be a problem solving critical thinker, an effective interpersonal communicator and technically proficient computer user working to become one of the greatest philanthropist to walk this earth, the journey would begin by working or volunteering in the aeronautical engineering private sector focused on global telecommunications via solar-power internet planes. Since I grew up in Ghana, and have witnessed the challenges and constraints students face back home because of a lack of access to telephone or internet communication this has driven me to attain a degree here in the birthplace of aviation in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Aviation. I hope to use this expertise as well as my proficiency in English, a local Ghanaian dialect and potentially other languages to help bring to life this revolutionary plan to connect many remote areas in Africa to the world.
Some of the challenges I may face would be being selected as an ideal candidate for such a position but I believe planning towards attaining this position in the future the S.M.A.R.T way, I would be able to achieve it. I plan to overcome the challenges I would face by continually being up to date in terms of research about such positions. I have to look out for specific internship opportunities which would merit me the right credentials to obtain such a position in future, not only do I have to look out for such positions but I have to have a realistic approach to the search. I could possible every other month get in contact with professionals in the field of global telecommunications and ask them for the necessary steps I need to take, this frequent communication would be a great network for me to explore how realistically I can attain the necessary professional skills I would need to meet the credentials for such a position within a timely manner. Setting a particular time within a two-week period to reflect and analyze my progress as well as do more research on such a position would be very beneficial to the process. When I meet the small weekly goal I set during my session I should probably consider rewarding myself with something I would cherish very well.
Before the class I believed I was the learner who set huge goals biweekly to meet deadlines but after reading the SMART goal article, I have realized that approach is not the most effective way to strategize towards academic success. I’m now figuring out a good way to incorporate the SMART goal setting method into my daily routine.
Reflection Paper Week 3
This week’s online collaboration was very engaging on so many levels, my group used the group-me app, emails and text messages as mediums of communication. Online collaboration is far from what I expected. There was definitely that initial challenge of trying to get everyone to communicate and share ideas through one single platform. We barely had the chance to have a group call to shed light on our group project but nonetheless is was an interesting experience and an educative one in the sense that it served as experience which I believe would come in handy in the future, when doing international business or consultation or just working online for one company and reaching out to employees or clients in different states or time zones.
One interesting phenomena is that in week three we were all getting accustomed to finding the right environment, time and task setting strategy for the class, and this is where I personally felt the main challenge came in terms of group organizing, because most members didn’t have that set structure in terms of when they would execute activities for the class, being in a group meant that it was more challenging to collaborate because members in different time zones with different learning environments all had to bring ideas and information to solidify the groups project. This also meant it was hard to have a conference call to get a more intimate sense of why each member contributed what they did there wasn’t much room to scrutinize or ask questions about other member’s contributions.
Furthermore, this served as a wonderful learning experience because not only were we engaging in an online class we were engaging in online collaboration, our group overcame the obstacles and put up a great presentation.
– Week 4
My learning experience in week 4 was filled with a lot of challenges, what I found most challenging was finding the right blend in organizing time, task and the appropriate study environment as well as adequate environment management for the course. I tried to find an appropriate location and set time in the week but I always ended up doing assignments in the class either too early or too late, never really found the perfect environment. I largely accredit this struggle to the fact that this is my first online class ever and taking it at a time when I have a huge course semester load has proven difficult.
When it came to organizing tasks I realized that creating a to-do list on my notes app on my iPhone helped a lot in terms of planning, I used the smart goal strategy to effectively draft when I was going to attend to the assignment and how much time I was going to spend on it. I believe if I was stricter on creating the task with respect to embedding the right time management. I would have been more successful. One aspect of SMART goal setting which could have been incorporated in my task creation process could have been an end reward at the end of a fulfilled task. I believe a reward would have motivated me more to stay on top of the class.
With regards to group work, one unusual circumstance I had to accustom to was online collaboration without ever meeting my group members in person. This was difficult because it was hard to coordinate a good environment and time to meet, some students were in different time zone and that served as an inconvenience in some cases. However this was good experience and I feel like it would be good for international business students and any student who has aspiration to work on a global.