Eddie\’s Bloggage –>

Today I started on the online learning course. It started with a bit of procrastination but then I was able to get a start on it. Module One’s main focus was food hygeine. Some of the concepts I learnt in this module were bacteria, cross contamination, handling and storing of the food. I thought that it was a great idea that Module One started off with hygeine because cooking is not all about the nitty gritty so to speak of how to cook. Other things that surround it such as hygeine, bacteria and how we store/prepare food is critical because without doing it properly, that would mean there would be no ingredients to cook any food what so ever.

 I learnt alot from this Module because I personally work in a busy restaurant that is open 24 hours. Therefore, it was critical for me to know these kinds of things and how to prevent things such as food poisoning and bacteria spreading.

The Module easily took at least half and hour and that is just doing the reading. Took some time but it was intersting. Afterwards, I conducted the test for Module One. The test was very easy as I read all the theory very carefully as to make sure that I fully understood everything. Afterwards, came Module Two.

Module Two was in relation to receiving and checking delivery. The importance of this Module I think was the fact that sometimes restaurants are receiving deliviery in bulk and it is essential for the goods to be in good condition, such as differnt types of meat in separate bags, expiry dates etc. I found some of the things I learnt in this course to flow with Module One. For example, temperature quality, meat and poultry storage, quantity and stock rotation from what I can remember. Again, from what I have learnt in this Module I can relate to my work. At my workplace, we have all variety of poultry including pork, beef and chicken. We also have seafood. With the amount of food that we go through to cook is unbelievable. We would usually do stock once every week and this would mean that we need to thorough research as to roughly how much we need to stock up without the chance of it being unused or expired.

After doing the Module Two test, it was apparent that I did not fully understand strongly in regards to checking deliveries as I work on the floor and the bar. Out of ten multiple question, I only got seven correct.

One of the annoying things I learnt after doing this test was that I could not continue to do Module Three until I had successfully completed a perfect score. Therefore, I conducted the test again and thank good ness after my second attempt I managed to get a perfect ten.

I felt that this became frustrating for me because you really needed to learn your stuff before doing the test. I think this module took approximately fourty five minutes to do and became quite stressful. So now I will rest and the other modules later on.

The online learning course that I have decided to complete is a cooking course obtained from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/masterchef/modules_index.shtml

The reason as to why I have chosen this is because I have always had a passion for cooking. I would usually cook a variety of food at home but I wouldn’t consider myself to be a top chef. Therefore, I think that by undertaking this online course I will benefit with a variety of new skills and attributes that I can bring next time I make some mean fried rice. Better yet, the course is free.

Before starting on the course I wanted to make sure that it was the course I wanted to do and that it met the requirements of the assessment. Firstly, it had to be at least a four hour course. This course did meet the requirements as it was broken up into two levels. The first level comprised of five modules with each taking about half an hour to complete. Then level two was the advanced level which one had one module. After both levels were completed, it continues by saying that if i was successful, I will be able to obtain an online certificate to show that I have passed the course.

Another aspect was that it needed to be half practical and half theoretical. This again met the requirements as there was theory in regards to storing raw meat, knowing when meat is cooked etc. Also, how to present your dishes after making some desserts. This can be linked to my learning style as I did not want to do something that would not allows me to learn my preferred way.

Some of the objectives I want to achieve is to learn a different ways of preparing and cooking food. I want to fulfil my skills and knowledge so I can confidently apply it next time. Another objective is to gain an insight on chef mastery and attributes.

From the looks of what I have read about the course, it seems to be a wise decision and seeing as though I have gotten it approved by the teacher, I will in the next coming days start on this course. I really look forward and can’t wait to learn something new. Hopefully, I can gain some new knowledge in the process so that maybe I will be able to teach somebody else, maybe my girlfriend perhaps.

I just have recently finished completing a questionaire in regards to learning preferences called VARK. VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinaesthetic. The results revealed that I have a mild Visual/Write preference. This is not surprising for me and this can be reflected on when I am studying, I tend to see what I need to do and write a lot of notes. Sometimes I write too much, my eyes get sore.

I think in respects to my style and its relation to the layout of my blog, it can been seen that I write a lot at times. Therefore, making my eyes sore. But I do this because I like to analyse even the smallest of things. But I don’t want to write everything because then it will turn out to be an essay. I try to maintain a logical structure when I write so if I want to go back to something I wrote, it will be easier.

My learning preference will influence my learning in E-learning experiences through a variety of ways. Firstly, I am a visual person and this can be seen by me analysing every small detail in regards to anything I see. Sometimes, I pick up on the smallest things that others don’t pick up on. I think this gives me an advanatage as it allows me to minimise the amount of small mistakes I might do.

From a Write perspective, I write a lot. I already have gone through this in regards to my in relation to studying. However, from a technological perspective, I think I tend to write a lot. I don’t seem to think what I write. I just what comes into my head and I think thats how things I guess lead to essays.

I think it will be good to see my learning style i.e mild Visual/Write will affect the way I do my course. Will I learn faster? I am not sure but I will see in the next coming weeks how I go then I shall be able to assess everything.

In this post, I will be discussing what a guest teacher was lecturing us about last week and the impact it has on people from a technological perspective. During class, the guest speaker was talking about virtual worlds, but more specfically, he was talking about ‘Second Life.’  More infomation can be seen at www.secondlife.com.

After this lecture, it has definitely opened my eyes into this concept of using this tool as a mechanism of developing a greater interction between people. Such examples like seminars, job interviews and training inductions were discussed as being useful tools in a Second Life environment. Personally, I think this is a very useful tool as it allows people to save time and money. However, with every advantage there will always be a disadvantage. One major disadvantage I can think of is that minimises the use of face to face interaction which can be invaluable for a corporate organisation. Especially if I was to choose a career in Human Resources in the future, I will be using human interaction most of the time.

Therefore, I think that face to face is better as it allows the best form of interaction and sense of community. However, such programs like Second Life is a very effective tool due to the increasing popularity of technology and the fact that we as people can never have enough time for everything.

I believe that there should be a balance in using these tools (Second Life) with actual face to face interaction. The benefits is two fold and I think that organisation will grow and succeed if they are able to implement not just only on one side, but with both virtual and the real world.

The past few weeks have been an amazing journey in regards to how E-learning can be used as an effective tool to see one’s progression and see their flow of learning. I find this not only important for University students to do, but also people working in the corporate world. I think that learning is inevitable and you can not stop learning. Therefore, writing about what you have learnt allows learners to remember information easily. It can also be used to see the consistency in one’s own learning and if they need to change anything with the way they are doing things.

I have given deep reflection to this useful tool in respects to the real world. One example was last year when I was helping out at my aunty’s accounting office for work experience. I did not receive any money for this, however I gained a wide range of experience and knowledge through this. The reason as to why I brought this up is that what I learnt last year at that period, I can not remember everything that I learnt and was taught.

 Therefore, I think if I used a tool such as this edublog, it will allow me to capture the important knowledge and grasp the key concepts at one place so if one day I do manage to forget something, I can go back here, read what I wrote and refresh my memory.

In the future, I think this will be a tool I will use more often so that I can retain the learning and knowledge in one place and develop my learning in the real world with the assistance of the virtual world.

Today in class, we did a group activity where by each student had to pick up a lolly from a bag. There were four different colours each representing a particular discussion topic. I chose the orange coloured lolly which meant that I was supposed to talk about a key e-learning tool that I thought was useful within the course of this semester. Personally, I found the Netvibes to be a very effective and useful tool to use as it allowed me to link up all my favourite web sites onto one place just like adding pages to a favourite section. I go through a variety of web sites and this place allows me to have everything altogether in one place. I don’t even need to know the web site any mre because it in one place so it makes everything that much easier to navigate.

We also disscussed about our next assignment in which we have complete an online course. At the moment, I am very hesitant because it seems that learning will be difficult due to no human interaction. I guess I will see what happens. I can’t judge something I have not tried. I’m thinking of either learning another language, something technical such as photoshop or maybe cooking. I like cooking. hehe…