MCC Instructor Highlight: Joan Jakiela

This posting is highlighting the extraordinary work of Professor Joan Jakiela at Manchester Community College. Joan teaches Transitional Development (Social Science B150) and asked us in ETDL to help with some technology workshops. The students in this class are returning students, adults in transition.

Joan wanted to expose different aspects of MCC and technology to these students to better prepare them for their program and future career. We led two workshops: eTutoring & Microsoft PowerPoint. ETutoring is a free online tool available to MCC students. It was a valuable resource when Joan assigned an essay because ETutoring has an online Writing Lab.

Joan with Sarah and Jessi lee from ETDL also helped lead a PowerPoint workshop and hand-on lab in class. The students were assigned to make a presentation about their future career. The class was a hit and the majority of the students learned a new program.

Joan said "everyone in the class found it valuable. I have a 4^th grader and a 7^th grader that both had to present a PowerPoint slide show along with handouts this week. I think this helped my students realize this is a program they need to learn now, rather than later!”

Below are some student comments on their experience learning PowerPoint:

• “I have never been afforded the opportunity to use PowerPoint before and I was pleased to see how easy Microsoft has made it. It is a heck of a tool to use to relate information to a group. This is a program that many companies use and is a powerful asset for our future careers.”

• “It looked so foreign and complicated at first; I didn’t think I could ever do it. But after Joan Jakiela’s PowerPoint class, it’s so simple and impressive. The more I practiced, the more I could add, and I put together a good, professional presentation.”

• “I really enjoyed learning PowerPoint although the computer is still winning the battle. The hand-out given to me was important because it helped me absorb the information and I became better. I wish this stuff was available when I started school in 1965. I pray that children and young adults realize sooner than later that this is amazing & valuable information that they can use in positive/healthy ways to create a better world for themselves and future families.”

• “My experience with using PowerPoint is highly encouraging. It was very helpful to me in the sense that I was able to organize my presentation in a short time. It drives away my anxiety! Importing clip art and images were superb. Overall it was fantastic.”

Kudos to you, Joan for using technology in the classroom effectively! You have also given your students tools to help them succeed in the world! Keep up the good work...

If you have any questions or comments, please let us in sandbox know:

sandbox@mcc.commnet.edu