Audio conferences, competencies, and learning Thai!

Sometimes we take for granted technology that we use everyday. I think we take for granted the use of audio conferences at the University of Alaska. From Thailand the use of audio is an innovative, efficient, and practical tool. In my email I get messages about meetings, courses, convocations, and faculty development all offered by audio. Audio conferences are a remarkable technology that permeates our academic culture. Even without our use of audio conferences for course delivery, audio is remarkable.

The evolution of audio conference platforms and the reduction of cost to use audio conferences is also remarkable. This year we put our audio conference platform out for competitive bid and www.genesys.com was the winner. We used genesys.com last year also. Previously we used a system developed and provided by the state of Alaska. It was much more expensive and did not have the features and capability of our current system.

Yesterday I shared some information on competencies and evaluations with Siriwat. The use of competencies for course evaluations is a topic of wide interest. Again I think we take for granted strategies that we have used for years.

For most of the morning I was working on my Rosetta Stone Thai CD. I did three more lessons. I also read some of the material that I purchased from Richard.

We went to Phra Predang by bus in the afternoon to get some more e-go cards. It is always fun to wander around a Thai town. The rich activity, almost chaos, is fascinating and very different from Alaska. I think my eyes and my mind become overwhelmed by everything I see. Sometimes my feelings are overwhelmed too because of the courage, energy, and tragedy that I see. Human beings are a remarkably adaptable and energetic species.

Today we will spend at STOU, on Sunday with will be visiting a regional and provincial center at Phet Buri (Phetchaburi)

Next week I want to use for visiting some other locations. We have an appointment with the Center for Non-Formal Education in Phra-Predang. I also need some time to pause, reflect, and re-focus.