March Monthly Summaries

Tonda Martin

March Monthly Summary

I have enjoyed this course much more than I expected.  It’s provided a great overview of adult education.  I am glad that we were invited to do research and complete projects in a variety of areas; personal experience, adult educators, adult education programs, and adult education organizations.  More than once it was hard to make a choice about what to present, because there are many fascinating things going on in the field of adult education.  I learned through the group experience, we really do come to the work of adult education with different orientations, expectations, values, strengths, growing edges and goals; it can be a challenge to honor each one for their individuality when working on a collective project.  I strongly suspect this will be a continuing creative challenge for any group experience in adult education.    

Jennifer Hindman

March Monthly Summary

The month has gone by very quickly and we’ve completed another two projects.  I appreciate my group members and their willingness to work collaboratively together.  For not their willingness, we would definitely be sunk! The research we have completed on programs and organizations has been interesting to say the least and I’ve learned about organizations that are formal in nature that support Adult Education that I didn’t even know existed.  I did feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of work this month, but with the support of my group members, I buckled down and we are actually ahead of schedule.  This has left me with a feeling of accomplishment and relief.  I look forward to our project demonstration and wrapping up the course work. 

March Monthly Summary

Stephanie Moran

I know as we are closing out the month of March, we should be sensing spring has arrived.  However, the gray days and cold temperatures have hardly paved the way for a spring like atmosphere.  I was happy to have a week of spring break earlier this month, but for me, it really meant more of the same.  It did give me an opportunity to get caught up with my school work and even work ahead a bit.  This has been a busy month for pulling together the components of the group’s projects.  I have found the assignments both interesting and helpful in understanding the impact of adult education and how the various adult programs and organizations that exist contribute to the context of adult learning.  As we discussed and considered the different programs and organization that are out there, it was interesting to arrive at the decisions of what two programs and organizations we were going to investigate and report on.  In both cases, we were able to select very different organizations.  That allowed me to see how even in the context of governance and program development, there can be different styles and methods attached to organizations.

    

Our group has been able to become more acquainted and familiar with each other.  This has been helpful in organizing our projects.  Our group has been very willing to let each member participate in whatever way they can in effort to contribute to the project.  Jennifer has been a great help in jump starting our projects and giving them a final glance as she is most experienced with the APA formatting.  This has been a great help for me to have someone to assist me in the process of learning for this class.  Tonda brings a creative and holistic side to all of our work which is a breath of fresh air and brings meaning and purpose to the learning process.  She is also an expert on relationships and communication and has helped facilitate healthy group dynamics.  So, I have been learning much more than just the content that is being presented.  I am also learning how to work as an on-line colleague and group partner.  With much more of my group dynamics being learned face to face, this has been a beneficial, unforeseen component.  As we move into the final project, we are already communicating on which direction to go, how we want to present, and what we need to do to get there.  I anticipate another busy and rewarding month ahead.