Comments on: Glad to be a learner first…after a day of disasters http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/ As an educational technologist, I am exploring ways to make learning more relevant, engaging and authentic. Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:16:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Dean Shareski http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27497 Dean Shareski Thu, 20 Sep 2007 03:40:34 +0000 http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27497 Jim, We looked at Drupal and other options. I still feel Joomla is a good option since with any of these, there is always issues like we faced. The biggest technical reason was our ability to manage one database. I don't really understand all that means but that was one big reason. Bottom line is there's no perfect solution. These issues will arise no matter what. Joomla has great capabilities that schools will grow into. Drupal was one of the options but Joomla won because my colleague had more familiarity with it. The backend backup issues were just an oversight on our part....it's not the software as much as the implementation. Not one person at fault just part of our learning. Jim,

We looked at Drupal and other options. I still feel Joomla is a good option since with any of these, there is always issues like we faced. The biggest technical reason was our ability to manage one database. I don’t really understand all that means but that was one big reason.

Bottom line is there’s no perfect solution. These issues will arise no matter what. Joomla has great capabilities that schools will grow into. Drupal was one of the options but Joomla won because my colleague had more familiarity with it. The backend backup issues were just an oversight on our part….it’s not the software as much as the implementation. Not one person at fault just part of our learning.

]]> By: Jo205 http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27496 Jo205 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:31:45 +0000 http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27496 I agree with the principal. There is not a 'one size fits all' proram for learning. Every learner is unique and has to evaluate each circumstance individually. I like the thought that thinking about something one way doesn't mean you have learned it. I never thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense- there are multiple points of view to almost everything. In order to learn something completely, the student must be able to look at several aspects of the same problem. Also, students have come to be very dependent on their teachers. Teachers have to start teaching their students to discover and explore on their own. Learning is much more effective when the learner has discovered something on his own accord. Being told something is much less effective than figuring it out on your own. These revelations seem to be obvious, but sometimes they are lost with time. I think that keeping in mind that everyone is different, and therefore learns differently is vital to teaching. I agree with the principal. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ proram for learning. Every learner is unique and has to evaluate each circumstance individually. I like the thought that thinking about something one way doesn’t mean you have learned it. I never thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense- there are multiple points of view to almost everything. In order to learn something completely, the student must be able to look at several aspects of the same problem.
Also, students have come to be very dependent on their teachers. Teachers have to start teaching their students to discover and explore on their own. Learning is much more effective when the learner has discovered something on his own accord. Being told something is much less effective than figuring it out on your own.

These revelations seem to be obvious, but sometimes they are lost with time. I think that keeping in mind that everyone is different, and therefore learns differently is vital to teaching.

]]> By: Jim Strom http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27494 Jim Strom Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:31:12 +0000 http://ideasandthoughts.org/2007/09/17/glad-to-be-a-learner-firstafter-a-day-of-disasters/#comment-27494 I have a friend who says, "I had problems with Joomla as well and it has some real troubles. I'd be interested in hearing why Dean didn't choose Drupal. Also curious about the criteria used in the decision making process. There may be other choices yet." I have a friend who says, “I had problems with
Joomla as well and it has some real troubles. I’d be interested in hearing why
Dean didn’t choose Drupal. Also curious about the criteria used in the
decision making process. There may be other choices yet.”

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