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From (RW) Well, I have 2 environments; home and work. Both of my environments are quiet. I am fortunate to have my own office at work (with very little foot traffic around) and at home. I also don't have any children now thus my environment is as quiet as I want it to be. My work office is very well lit while my home office is darker – my personal preference because I find it easier to read the computer screen when the light is dimmer, especially when I'm on it for long periods (I'm sure this goes against "best practices" for eye safety!). At work I have the option of listening to music while at home I can access a TV and/or music from my office. The downside to both of my spaces is that I have minimal natural lighting which I have found makes me get an anxious feeling quicker when I'm working than if I were working where I had more natural lighting (my last job gave me more natural lighting so I'm comparing). I take frequent breaks and often find myself writing much of my thoughts down while sitting in my dining room in front of large windows then going to my office to type it up. ____________________________ From (SM) My environment is very conducive to learning and learning online. I have a private office and the halls around it our usually quiet. My work schedule is very flexible so I can go online when I want to work. I have free access to my own computer and the internet connection is very good. The temperature in the building is often uncomfortably hot in the winter, which I find makes me feel lethargic and makes it difficult to concentrate at times. Hope this info is helpful, Paul. Sandra ____________________________ From (SM) Yes I am comfortable to a degree with the technology. Where I still feel uncomfortable is probably less about technology itself and more about getting accustomed to the format for the online class, as I described and you replied to in the other Forum. Which is part of what is confusing, all these different forums are hard to keep track of, what do I read, how do I remember who wrote what. It is a bit overwhelming right now. And I still haven't figured out how I missed the one reading assignment on the Zemke article. It wasn't on the assignment sheet I printed out for the course. Sandra ____________________________ From (PH) I currently have a blanket in my office at work and will often drape it around me while I work. I can not concentrate when I am cold. Trish ____________________________ From (DF) My environment is very quiet. I do most of my work at home in my office. My office has very good lighting. I have picture of my family all around the room. The walls are all white. I can watch TV in my office. I enjoy working in my office at home. My home is very peaceful. I have a lot of art work in my office. ____________________________ From (DF) Sometimes I go online at work, but I really rather do my work at home. The environment can be very busy at times. It's hard to try and take care of patients and find the time to work online. So working at home is better for me ____________________________ From (PH) My office space consist of books, books and more books. My husband and I share our office and he occasionally works from home so it can get a little messy. I take over the office at night. Trish ____________________________ From (JH) Right now my online environment is very comfortable. I am at my computer in the cozy basement of our home. We call that our "R & R Zone." The Rs stand for Rest and Relaxation. But we could also say, Recuperation, Reflection, Reorientation, Recreation, Rejuvenation, or any other 'R' words one could think of. It has a large couch, a love seat; two old rocking chairs; a sewing machine; a gas log stove; carpet on the floor; an oil painting [of a beautiful Amazon River scene] that I brought home from Brazil; pictures of, my wife [Carol] & I, our children, our siblings, our parents & their siblings, and our grandparents; TV & VCR; piped in music, shelves containing mementos I have been given or brought home from foreign countries; book cases and many books; desk; and, filing cabinet. It is truly a place I love to be. Carol and I spend many evenings there just being together and talking. I also do a lot of studying and faculty work there. This is my "hide-away." It would be difficult for me to find a more inviting environment. It just adds immensely to my exhilaration and joy of interacting with the class participants I teach online [this being the online course in which I am involved, 2005 Winter/Spring Semester]. ____________________________ From (MS) My online environment depends upon the time and place, which varies often. When I started school last semester my husband surprised me a new computer. That way I don't have to sneak down to the basement when my son isn't looking for me. I usually have to wait until he is sleeping anyway if I want peace. Sometimes I stop at the library on the way home from work and enjoy that environment. I can also go online at work, time permitting. It is a nice new office all to myself. ____________________________ From (PB) My online environment from my office is often noisy and distracting. My online environment from home is quiet. I find that it would be ideal to always work in an environment that has no distractions, but that is rarely the case, and I've learned to make it work. I'm also interested in the knowledge and experiences to be gained from the online education experience, but on a social level, it is limiting for me. ____________________________ From (JH) This is regarding my online environment in my office at the University. I have my computer extremely comfortably placed by choice in from of me down low [about the level of my knees] and I can look down to it without having to "crain" [sp?] my neck. I look down at the monitor screen through a glass on my desktop. I have a very comfortable high back chair. My computer [state-of-the-art] which the University provides works very well [almost] all of the time. I can call the help desk at the University, when it gets messed up. In my office, I have books, journals, CDs, and papers, etc., placed, stacked, and piled on bookshelves, my desk, on boxes and the floor everywhere. I have my chair, and another chair for a visitor. My phone is accessible to answer. My filing system is my own, and I can usually find what I need in the stacks or wherever. I keep my door open and people stop by occasionally -- I like it that way. Many people laugh [or gasp] when they see my office. I have pictures, etc., of various sorts on my walls. One picture of my wife [Carol] and me, and another is of the head of a donkey that looks like it is laughing, and the caption under it says, "No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck." That helps me keep my sense of humor. Sometimes when people stop by, I say: "Come in, sit down, relax, converse; My office does not always look this bad, sometimes it's even worse." Occasionally, my wonderful, loving wife, Carol [we have been married almost 47 years], comes in, shakes her head, and insists that we straighten up my office a bit. I like that and she is most helpful. Any and all people are welcome to stop by. This means that you are most welcome to drop by my office, or make an appointment to come by, if you have some academic related or other matter to talk over. I get a lot of work done there, and enjoy my online environment. I hope this gives you a word picture of what I consider my wonderful online environment. ____________________________ From (LA) I have two areas I prefer while at home. My most comfortable spot is in my swivel rocker sitting in Indian style with a $5 plastic lap desk supporting my notebook computer. This chair is in my bedroom, away from my mini-Toys-r-us greatroom and the pitter-patter of medium and little feet. The lighting is great and if my eyes get tired, I can adjust the lighting. My husband installed some fancy little mechanism that allows me to adjust the track lighting in that part of my bedroom. There is also a 200 gallon fish tank in the corner next to the chair. The sound of the water is relaxing and helps me to stay calm. This is where I can steal away to a few minutes alone to get something accomplished without being disturbed. I sometimes sit at the homework hutch so that I am able to supervise the children - this is usually in the evenings after ballet, tap, cello, violin, and tennis lessons. I have explained to my children what it means to have an on-line course so they know whenever they see the mygateway screen up, that means to chill out for a spell. They are usually pretty supportive. Believe it or not, I get a great deal accomplished sitting at that hutch. ____________________________ Frrom (RoW) I have quite the variety of online environments. I access mygateway from several different places. Many times, I log on from work (my office) where generally it is quiet and I can concentrate on what the subject matter is. Although, I can only do this when I have time or during my lunch
break. However, the connection at work
is broadband as opposed to my connection
at home. My connection at home is dial up and although the environment is
more conducive to learning, the speed can actually have some impact on the pleasure. The external factors are
much more enjoyable at home. I have music and surroundings (plants, comfortable chair, a painting) that really enhance my relaxation. However, I also connect from two different computer labs that I operate. I work with middle school students and have to give them my attention. However, when there is a lull I can log on when I have a few minutes. I think that is what makes this setting very beneficial for me. I can logon and work/read at times that are good for me. ____________________________ From (AP) During the day, I am in an office at Mehlville High School with the rest of the special education staff. When I or anyone else in our office do not have classes, we are at our desks. We each have a desk with a computer on top of it to work on IEP's or anything else. If I have extra time, I will do some of my work here during lunch. If not, I will be at home on my computer that is in the family room. In this room I have a 2 year old boy and a 4 year old boy running around the room begging to get on the computer to play on the Teletubbies website. ____________________________ From (KS) Like many folks, I have a quick connection at work. Is it "broadband"? And dial up at home. At work I generally am stealing a few minutes to log on and can be interrupted at any time. Friday afternoons are a good time for me, but I often feel like I should be doing something else. My office has papers everywhere and lots of postcards displayed which I enjoy looking at. I'm not as comfortable with the chaos as some folks and thus one of things I feel like I should be doing is cleaning up. My office has lots of natural light which I love!!! At home, well right now I'm in my oldest son's room who just moved back after two and half years at Mizzou. It resembles a dorm room with a refrigerator, microwave, toaster and unfortunately lots of dirty dishes and an unmade bed. The other spot at home is called our computer room. It is filled with CDs, guitars and papers of my 18 year old. The best time for me to work at home is on weekend mornings when the folks in my family are sleeping or working. Evenings the teens hog the computers... ____________________________ My school environment takes place at home in our home office but in the past semesters it has also included a laptop in my bedroom. I haven't pulled out the laptop yet. The office is quiet but background noise in the house can be heard. At work, I have logged on and printed material to read but since I have a staff of six (three are new employees), my environment is very hectic and can be noisy when everyone is in the office. Currently I study after I put my son to bed around 9:00 but hope to spend time after work everyday reading and then posting later in the evening after my son and husband are settled for the evening. ____________________________ From (TO) I have two online environments. One is at home, which is quiet with very little or no distractions. The only major distraction is my dog, who feels that if I am home it is definetly time to play and give him attention. My other environment, the one I use the most out of the two, is a hotel room. Although this is the environment that it is used frequently, it is has more distractions of the two. After leaving a client's site, I will catch up on emails first and then read or reply to the discussion boards. How is this distracting? The phone and email notices are constantly remind me that I am at work not home. ____________________________ From (AI) My environment is always busy. I work at home were I stay home with my 7 month old. Four days out of the week I either have both 7 mo & 1 year old, or 7 mo and 3 year old-all wanting my attention. On w/e I work 13 hr shifts. Sleep and rest is totally over rated :) ____________________________ from (ND) At work my environment is chaos. I'll have down time and think for a moment I can still a few minutes to log on and and add a discussion and as soon as I become engulf with thoughts I receive a call for the receptionist I have a student. I continuously do this throughout out the day and become frustrated. ____________________________ From (ND) Considering my computer room is in the second room of my bedroom my environment at home in pleasant when my husband is sleeping or at work. The teenage daughter is at school or over to a friends house or the pre-teen son is at school or over to a best friends house. Or even a night like tonight they are at the local boys and girls club engaging in healthy activities. All other times it is impossible to steal a moment to get online. Their is music, video games and television. ____________________________ From (TS) My online environment is strictly wonderful in my opinion. I have soft classical music playing, fresh scents in the atmosphere, and usually I have something warm to drink such as coffee, tea, or cocoa. Oftentimes I'm interrupted by my children. They often come into my office to be nosy or ask lots of questions about what I'm doing, or what I'm working on. I enjoy my online environment, it's wonderful! |