User:Hesperidesnz

 Hi, I'm a learning technologist at EIT (Eastern Institute of Technology), Taradale, Napier, New Zealand.

I was encouraged to participate in a WikiEducator Learning for Content Workshop by one of my Lecturers (when I was a student). I am interested in learning about open communities (such as wikiEducator) and the best practices involved in maintaining the integrity of those communities and the information which they provide. This includes such things as moderation of content and management of vandalism.

Employment
After leaving school I trained as a Coastal Radio Operator for the NZ Post Office, offering communication services to ships and small vessels at sea via RT and Morse code. Advances in satellite technology made this job redundant, so I retrained as a Technician for the NZ Meteorological Service and I stayed in this position over a number of years, both full and part time. An accident in 1999 caused me to take stock of my direction and when the timing was right - I headed back to school to follow up on my computer interests.

After completing my Diploma in Multimedia and Web Development at EIT, Taradale, NZ, I was successful in gaining employment there as a Learning Technologist. I also gained a certificate in designing and facilitating elearning during 2011 and at present weighing up my options for further study. There is little on offer in NZ in the e-learning/flexible learning/Instructional Design field at Undergrad level so am contemplating a move towards earning a Bachelor of Communication. Watch this space.

Personal Achievements
2001 - Awarded the NZRHS Silver Medal for Valour http://www.royalhumanesociety-nz.com/files/Cases_Sept_1999_to_Aug_2003_1546_to1594_.pdf following an air accident in 1999. (Case 1561)

Interests
My personal interests include genealogy, I spend time in libraries in NZ (Hocken Library and the Early Settlers Museum in Dunedin) and Australia (The State Library being a favorite in Melbourne - a fantastic family history section) - tracing my Gold Digging Scots ancestors. My other interests over the years have included Ham Radio, My QRZ page, Photography, supporting my children in their pursuits, tramping/walking and reading. My latest walk in the NZ back country was across the Milford Track in the South Island, an enjoyable 5 days with extended family and friends from across NZ and Australia. Photos of the trip are here on my Flickr Photo Stream if you would like to look at some of our beautiful country.

Book List
It seems people like to see what others are reading, so here's a list of books I have read over the last 12 months or so, (in no particular order):


 * Pure Gold and Rough Diamonds - JB Hislop (Family History Related)
 * Ultra Marathon Man - Dean Karnazes
 * 50 Marathons in 50 days - Dean Karnazes
 * Running Hot - Lisa Tamati
 * Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson (For about the 3rd Time)
 * Long Way Down - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
 * Nine Dragons - Michael Connelly
 * Weave World - Clive Barker (For about the 10th time)
 * Ratana - Keith Newman
 * Weather Permitting - Heather Heberley
 * 3 Novels by Matthew Reilly, a couple by Lee Child and lastly
 * Assorted chapters from various textbooks, a million web articles and the daily newspaper :)

Book List 2011

 * Discovered the Kindle app for the iPad, so theres no stopping me. Heres the list for the latter part of 2011:
 * Alone Together - Sherry Turkle
 * User adoption strategies - Michael Sampson
 * Rework - Jason Fried and David Hansson
 * The World is Open - Curtis Bonk
 * Semantic Web for Dummies
 * The Great Disruption - Paul Gilding
 * The God formula - Dr Jeffrey Martin
 * Persuasion Skills - Rintu Basu
 * 21st Century Skills - Bernie Trilling
 * The fourth Awakening - Rod Pennington
 * Elearning and the science of instruction - Ruth Colvin Clark
 * Write good or die - Scott Nicholson
 * Telesa - Lani Wendt Young
 * The Excellent online Instructor - Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt
 * The Online teaching survival guide - Judith Boettcher
 * Conquering the content - Robin Smith

My Blog
Post signing for this workshop I blogged about my interest in WikiEducator. As noted above, I have returned to formal education after a 30 years absence, but by no means does this mean I hadn't done any learning in the interim. Living in an isolated Island community for much of that time, my learning was limited very much to reading material, so the ability now to continue this self learning online alongside my formal education is an added bonus. Anyway, here's my thoughts, post signing: "I signed up for a free online workshop at WikiEducator that is going to provide online wiki training over a 10 day working period from 21 July – 04 August 2010. The beauty of this workshop is that I can do each lesson at a time that suits me, which is great as my work hours can be anything from 5am to midnight, any day of the week. Having returned to formal learning after a 30 year absence, I have embraced the way technology has allowed a shift from the I teach/you learn pedagogy of old, to a more heutagogical approach that suits me as a mature student. WikiEducator promote the ideal of freely available educational content, provide the forum (the wiki) and encourage users to make contributions, as well as facilitating the development of valuable skills based on collaborative learning and self acquired knowledge. It is this interaction and sharing that can be very empowering and for this reason an excellent online environment for someone who prefers to follow their own self determined path in areas of learning, development and growth."

Photo Metadata and Information
This photo was actually taken about 4.30pm in the afternoon NZT (the timestamp on the EXIF data is EDT). The image was then post processed in Photoshop - ? Desaturated; ? Sharpened; ? And some minor level adjustments. All the other images are as is, apart from being cropped and resized to fit the constraints of the image gallery.

Feedback and notes from my WikiNeighbours

 * Dear Stephanie, Can you share with us your experiences on what was most beneficial to you on learning wiki skills? --R C Sharma, PhD 14:11, 3 August 2010 (UTC)


 * He is rather grumpy looking isn't he! --Hesperidesnz 22:29, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

--jennip 03:15, 23 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Wow. Really impressed with what you have done (And Wayne has put you onto Apprentice Level 2 also) -Mverhaart 10:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

--Hesperidesnz 21:28, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi Steph. Thanks for your note. The Rees-Dart is my favourite tramp. I really recommend you do it one day. I haven't done the Milford - I've never got myself organised early enough. We've done the Keplar in torrential rain in a cold January. We read about the stunning views but couldn't see anything except rain. Will have to do it again one day. Your son must be incredibly fit! I have a friend from London staying at the moment and haven't done anything on WikiEducator for days. Hope to catch up this weekend. Hope to see you around campus one day. --Sally Woods 02:04, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to everyone who dropped by my page with words of encouragement and offers of assistance. I very much enjoyed the last 2 weeks of developing my page and snooping in everyone elses to see how they did all the cool stuff. I see the value of a wiki environment for all sorts of purposes ( not just educational) and in some form or another would like to keep an involvement here. All the best to all of you --Hesperidesnz 12:17, 4 August 2010 (UTC)