Failed by the Education System

Last month I took my Level II C++ class, and it was the worst experience ever.  I will post more about this, but for a bit of background, I am taking 5-week online classes at the University of Advancing Technology out of Tempe Arizona.  My online instructor disappeared from the class for 3 of those weeks (later we found out he had a death in the family), we didn't get a new instructor until about 9 days left of the class, and were still awaiting grades and answers to questions from Week 1 on through.  In the end I had to chalk this one up in the loss column and even decided to change my major to Web Design and Development: 
Comment below any of your horrific class experiences you have lived through.


Suffice to say that the following is merely the class review that I wrote and posted: 


This class has been the worst class I have ever taken in my education career, and considering that throughout the past 14 years of my post-high school education I have attended 3 professional colleges, and multiple military training courses that is saying something.  We didn't even get access to our Pearson book until almost week 2 and even then content was missing and out of order.  It is now week 5 and I still have unanswered questions from week 1. 


I am very sorry to hear of Professor Gardner's loss but I don't see how the college can expect and entire class to pay for the way this class has gone.  I was originally told that if I filed for an incomplete that I would be provided with 4-5 additional weeks to complete the coursework and given the lack of grading, feedback, instruction and responses I felt that this would be necessary for me to even get close to grasping how to successfully complete my assignments.  Now that I have realized that I will only be provided with 1 more work with an incomplete after not having instructor assistance for practically 3+ weeks, I know that I just don't have the knowledge, experience or know-how to successfully accomplish these tasks, to sit here and say that I truly do not have the tools for success in this course honestly has brought so much stress and many tears of frustration.  We have been set up for failure in this course and I commend those that have been able to pull out a win.  I have slept no more than 2 hours a night for weeks now to try to make it through this class and to also stay on top of my other class that I have been taking at the same time.


Disappointment doesn't even come close to what I feel for the way that things have gone in this course.  I had to have extensive talks with scheduling, my advisor and other school officials due to this course.  I have even made the hard decision to step back and put myself backwards in my education to change my major because this is just now an acceptable way to gain an education for me.  I am paying a lot to attend UAT and I had to get an additional personal loan to pay for the difference between FAFSA and I have to work additional odd jobs and second jobs on top of being a single mother just to afford to go to school and then to have an experience like this is truly very frustrating for me. 


I have given so much to this course and I was failed.  I understand that Professor Coddington is not to blame for the previous issues, and I have had wonderful results working with her in other courses.  Unfortunately by the time that she has come in to this class it was just too little too late for me.  The damage was already done.  I have had to stand here in defeat to know that I must take a loss for this course.  It is very hard for me.  I have never failed a college course before in my life.  I have never felt so inadequate and so utterly deserted by an instructor.  I have lost the trust that I had in my education here.  I have busted my butt to have the 3.9 GPA I have on top of life and this kills me inside.  I honestly don't know what else to say in reflection of this experience. 


I wish all of my classmates the best as they make many additional life altering changes due to this experience from withdrawing from school completely to changing colleges to changing programs of study and to pushing through somehow.  We have definitely put our blood, sweat and tears into this, and I am drained.  Thank you to anyone who has offered advice, explanations and assistance.  I treasure all of the votes of confidence and apologize for failing in my own part of the effort.

Passion for Computers

I have recently applied to go back to college and I sent in my application to UAT (University of Advancing Technology) this week.  In so doing I had to answer some of those joyous admission questions, I thought that I would take the time to share one of the answers with you.  This one is about my passion for computers.  I find that I don't always talk a lot about myself and my background and wanted to go ahead and give you this small glimpse into me if you were interested.  Enjoy!

I initially fell in love with computers when I was in grade school and was given an older MS-DOS machine.  Even without the fancy images that we are so used to seeing today, I knew that computers would always be a love in my life.  I remember playing the MS-DOS version of Dungeons and Dragons and becoming completely absorbed into this new world that was even more amazing for my imagination than a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.  If I thought that I was hooked with MS-DOS; I was completely enamored by the time that I began my middle school years.  I will never forget the fun with typing games and how quickly I caught on to typing.  I can honestly attribute my typing skills by a desire to play a game that stole my attention: The Oregon Trail (this was a reward for finishing typing ahead of scheduled time).  It was from this moment forward that computer games would become a staple in my life.  By the time that my family was able to have a personal computer in our home I was losing hours of my life to gaming.  I wanted nothing more than to turn the stories in my head into games.  I ensured that any elective classes I could find in high school were quickly turned to any available computer classes.  I withdrew from my music classes to pursue my true love of computers.  I was taking seemingly unrelated classes in order to learn new computer skills such as Accounting and Business Law. 

As I got older and branched out from games such as Myst and the original Sims, I found my gaming passion in Role-Playing-Games (RPGs).  I explored many angles of these games and found myself always wanting more than could be found in the current games.  I did web design and learned some basic design and code writing techniques.  I was always let down by the lack of RPG games geared towards women.  There were many games that I was interested in, but they only allowed for the main character to be played as a man.  Once character customization really took off, I found myself even more enthralled with this world I could become a part of; it was akin to becoming completely immersed into a book, but I had control of the story and now I could even make the character be who and what I wanted them to be.  I found myself gravitating more towards games with more advanced customization options where I felt that I could relate more to the character.  The Sims started this off, but it was RPGs that stole my heart and my attention.  With games like Elder Scrolls, City of Heroes/Villains and Dragon Age as well as various turn by turn games, I found myself devoting as much time as I could to these games.  Yet, I still wanted more out of them.  I wanted more from the female characters.  Rarely do games allow a female to become the ultimate lead, rarely do the games allow a woman to be both beautiful and sexy in armor, as well as appear to be realistically protected by it. 

My love for technology has bled over into my military career as well.  Throughout my military career I have been able to work on Apple, IBM, and Linux based machines.  I have also gained work experience on visualizations, plans writing, and development to add to my love of computers.  I find myself in this age of computers always wanting to DO more and to LEARN more.  I have always felt a strong desire to pursue further education with computers and to delve into the depths of them for years but it wasn’t until now, with the close of my 11-year military career, that I am able to devote the required time to pursue this love.  

Accelerated Reading Program

Earlier today I came across an article from a teacher's point of view about the Google funded accelerated reading program and the effect that it is having on students and libraries and general interest in books by youth.  Jen Marten's stance was against the accelerated reading program saying that it is segregating students based on reading level and locking them into that level in a way that it is becoming detrimental.  Some examples that she cited were children being forced to carry reading level cards and show it at the library, being only able to check out books within their reading level (which is tested for).  Also of teachers receiving reprimand for having books in their classroom that did not fit into the level of the students.  She also goes on to say that the money could have been better spent in actually purchasing books and funding libraries, librarians and book exchange programs, which is always a great idea in my opinion.  I feel very passionately about reading and about my son's interest in reading here is what I had to say:

Admittedly I am not completely up to speed on the Accelerated Reader program, but I am horrified of what I do know about it. Why are we trying to squelch the thirst for knowledge??? I read all kinds of book that may have been "above" or "below" my level, but I learned so much about myself, about life, about the world around me! Volumes of knowledge that a small town Montana girl might not have otherwise learned away from big city life or the travel to countries around the world. Reading something that interests us is such a BIG deal in SO much of the development of our minds and brains no matter what age! I am sad at anyone who does not find reading enjoyable because that have experienced something that sapped the joy out of it for them, something like a stupid forced leveling program. It is easy to gauge your own progress, if you can't read it try a little lower level but no one should be bound within those constraints. I hope no one EVER takes the joy of reading from my son, or they will know my wrath!

I got another take on it from a friend with a school age son: "Yep, is called AR and they do testing on the books they read, too. The more AR points they get, the higher their level and they get prizes at Ian's school. My son actually does really well with it, but I'm sure it'd like anything else education related where something might work great for one kid and not another. At school, he chooses books that are his level. At home, though, his bookcase has a huge variety and he can choose whatever he wants. It's one of those things where you can't fully leave it in the school's hands."  "
Though, my son is still very young and his reading level is low. I'm sure the challenge will be greater as he gets older and books get more difficult and longer and the time he has to invest in a book gets more significant."

She brought up a great point that parents need to take more responsibility and not rely on the school to do everything in the learning of their children so I said:
I agree with you that you need to provide them with books at home! Liam and I read at least 1 book a day but usually 3 (of course we are talking toddler size) but Liam LOVES reading (and licking various objects on the pages haha). I prefer the Book It! Where you got points per pages! So the level was more flexible! Except that I remember getting banned from anymore points. I seriously won soo many personal pan pizza I got sick of them.
I was picturing more of a middle school and up age, when kids really start to get labeled, separated and embarrassed by different knowledge levels. If you are higher or lower you are abnormal at school 

This brought up more about labeling from another friend with school age children:
"My son is in third grade and they get "labeled" now. I feel horrible for the kids that are struggling and are not encouraged to read. I'm fortunate to have a book worm. As a result, he has strong writing and grammar skills."

So I guess the key to combating as many negative effects of AR (Accelerated Reading) is to do what you can as a parent to instill a love of books in your children at an early age.  Books are a staple in my house and that will not change.  I wish I had more time to read "mommy" books as opposed to the majority of the time just getting into Liam books.  But I share a love of reading with my father and I love being able to talk about a book together and to trade books and discover new topics and authors and stories together.  I sincerely hope that I can share that with my son as well when he gets a little older!  

What is your take on the accelerated reading program?

If you would like to read the original article it can be found here:
Dear Google, You Should Have Talked to Me First  

Liam in a book nook

Reading at the library