Wednesday 30 May 2012

A Reflection of Web 2.0 Tools ...


This post will be a reflection of what I learned in MIS course. Through the three various assignments of this course, I have mastered the use of technology as never before. I practiced training and teaching skills for the first time. This course was difficult at the begging and needs time and hard work, but at the end it brings me much more in return. We learned and practiced web tools in two projects. The first one was training sessions where each student explain one of the web 2.0 tools. The second project was   practical and we were assigned to create a Google site for our learning reflection and a blog to practice using these tools.


Here is my learning reflection about these tools and I arranged them according to my preferences … 

1.     Blog
I found it really enjoyable doing this blog. I like the idea of the new way to share my interesting things with others. The most challenging part is what topic I am going to post and what gadgets to be added???. I should be real in picking things that interest me, this is the main idea of blog!!. I liked people commenting on what I post. I also liked the fact that Blogger have a good support of Google and I can singe directly with my Google account...
2.     Twitter

     It was one of the tools that we studied in this course ... and I was assigned to train students in how to use twitter. I started with no idea about it, but I end up using twitter every day ...!. It really makes me connected and updated to everything I care about..

3.     Google Reader ( RSS Feed )
     Google Reader is a tool for gathering, reading, and sharing all the interesting blogs and websites. I liked the idea of getting live web feeds from these sources directly to my computer ...
4.     Google Chrome

     It was the first time using Google Chrome as all students were advised to use it for MIS course projects. I think I am going to use it for my educational and personal purposes from now on, because of speed, being easy to use and I really don't have to worry about updates ...

5.     Picasa
Once we started using Picasa I figured out that this program is going to be much easier than Photoshop program. It displays pictures clearly with high resolution. I learned how to easily add a photo with a simple click and edit some features to it using photo editing effects . I also found Picasa great to store pictures and collect them in different albums under different labels. I used this tool a lot for my blog and Google sites ...

6.     Face book
 Facebook is a great tool to spread your thoughts and views to the masses and in return get inspiration from the successful ones. I use this tool to be socially connected and updated , and also to keep connected with my classmates after graduation ...

 7.     Gmail 
It was difficult for me to quit Hotmail at the beginning, but after experiencing Gmail I  highly recommend people go totally for Gmail instead . I found that Gmail has lots of space, instant search, conversation view, built-in chat, secure and you can create labels, filters ...
8.     Google Docs
Google Docs allows me as a student to share documents with my classmates.  I can allow them to edit the document or to view it. Google Docs also helped me a lot in work with my group in collaborative projects. We saved time and paper revising and correcting our documents and Power Point presentation together online using this tool. I found the automatic saving feature a clever idea ...

 9.     Google Searching
It is the most used search engine on the world wide. I almost use it every day to find the information that I am looking for especially for my projects. I always refer to this tool to use its different features such as  weather search, translation, currency conversion and time in other cities ...

10.        Google Earth
I found this imagery tool clever, accurate and clear. Google Earth allows me to explore the world’s geography and access all kinds of information about our planet. I can now travel, take photos and videos of places I like, give directions and recommendations, and post these all online and share it with my family and friends …

11.       Google Calendar

I found the features of this tool very useful. I can share schedule with my friends and family. I can remember the events easily since it has  a customizable reminder which allows me  to stay on schedule. I can invite other people to events on my calendar. The one I like most is accessing the calendar from my mobile version of Google calendar. Life becoming easier ..!
  12.       Google Site

I found this tool difficult at the begging and by the time things became  easy ..!!. It was interesting to find that the information I collected for building my site lead me to be even more creative in my study. However, I struggled with the size limit of my site and I think Google sites would be awesome and more suitable for small projects ...

13.       Social Bookmarking ( Delicious )

  Delicious is great in organizing different sources of information that are relevant to me, and also great in building a history of useful resources for social sharing. I used this tool in   organizing the information that I collected for different projects throughout this course, and sharing the resources with my classmates. It saved my time...

In closing,

I would like to add that I have really enjoyed the experience of this course and projects, ..  It really enriched my knowledge. I appreciate the support of Mr.Tridib chatterji  and his feedback to our performance and progress, "Thanks a lot ".  I think I was truly fortunate to study this course … 


Monday 28 May 2012

Graduation ...

Succeeding in education truly makes all the hard work and extra effort worthwhile ...



Congratulations on your outstanding accomplishment girls ...


 

Good Luck girls in final exams ...




Answer:

1. Don't make silly mistakes.

2. Leave yourself enough time


to answer all the ……………!

Good luck girls ...

Saturday 26 May 2012

This guy makes me lough ..

 Russell Peter, is a Canadian comedian ...

I would like to share 0ne of his show with you ...

enjoy it ...







Thursday 17 May 2012

A cup of coffee …

can't imagine starting my day without my coffee! I freely admit that am addicted. I really truly love it ...



Arabic Coffee is all about tradition, hospitality and ceremony. It's a sign of welcome and marks the beginning and end of a guest's visit ...



The Dallah, is an important symbol in the UAE and even appears on our dirham coin.


Not to be confused with the thick, dark Turkish coffee, Arabic coffee is paler in color and is served in a small cup with no handle called a Finjan ...
It is traditionally ground with cardamom and prepared by adding cloves and saffron ...


Cardamom
                                             

  cloves

                         
Saffron 



The coffee is served and received with the right hand ...
The host serving the coffee fills the small cup only half full so it cools quickly. As soon as the guest drinks it, the cup is refilled continually until the guest jiggles the cup indicating he has had enough.
It is customary to take 2 to 3 cups ...

   

Sugar and milk are never added but it is often served with dates, an extremely popular sweet here in UAE …

Arabic coffee can be served anytime at home, at social gatherings or business meetings …    

Monday 7 May 2012

Once a wise man said ...


When I was young I wanted to change the world ...
 I found that it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation ...
 When I couldn’t change the nation I began to focus on my town ...
 I couldn’t change the town, and as  I grew older I tried to change my family...
Now wiser, I understand … the only thing that I can change is myself ...
Suddenly, I realized that if long ago I had changed myself, 
I would've had an impact on myself ...
 I would've had an impact on my family ...
My family and I would've had an impact on our town ...
 their impact could have changed the nation ...
 and I could indeed have changed the world ...



It is not fair to ask others what you are unwilling to do yourself...
  Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Sunday 6 May 2012

Trip to Dubai Metro

 Finally, after months of hard work, we were rewarded with a visit to Dubai Metro...
 Dr.Andrani Hazarika accompanied us in this trip, as she was the one who arranged for it. The students were excited and ready with their cameras to snapshot some classmates' memories... We all enjoyed the trip especially Metro ride!...


 

Friday 4 May 2012

Gardens of Versailles

Versailles, the royal chateau was one of the most beautiful palaces that really amazed me.   It is an absolutely huge building covering 67,000 square meters and consisting of 2,300 rooms. It is UNESCO world heritage site. I have visited plenty of palaces but have never seen such wonderful gardens.… Here are some pictures of  Versailles Gardens … 


The Grand Canal
The Royal Walk
The Queen's Grove
The Grove of Three Fountains
Apollo Fountain

Lots of thanks to you Nadia for the precious gift ...


 May Allah accept your prayers and grant you all what you ask for Insha'allah ...



Ameen :) ...

Salut Mes Amis,

I would like to share with you one thing that interested me since I was 15 years old. It is French language.  The first time I heard French I felt that this language has such a beautiful, rolling rhythm that it attracts my ear whenever I hear it spoken. I decided to learn it and I was sure that I will enjoy speaking a language less common than English as a unique knowledge….

I started as a beginner in the Alliance Français de Dubai and then I continued in Berlitz, an international institute for languages. When I first began French, I did not have background in the language. My first class was challenging but it left me waiting for more. It was not easy but nothing is impossible, and the teachers were always helpful.  The most difficult part I found was the grammar. I ended up so happy that I managed to reach a good level of fluency in French ….

French language helped me a lot when travelling overseas especially France, Belgium and Switzerland. Learning different languages truly enrich the mind to be better understanding of cultural differences. I felt great communicating with French people in French and I realized that practicing the language is far more useful than just studying it….  

Saturday 14 April 2012

History Course ...

 History course was one of the courses that I really enjoyed so much!....  It was taught in a very attractive way, we were really fortunate with the teacher! The course enriched my knowledge about what happened in the world in pre-Islam era and after Islam. We covered  also the different empires in history like Ottoman, Umayyad, Persian, Byzantine, Roman and Holy Roman, Mongol and Mughal and we ended up the course with the most tragic events which were world war I , and world war II..... 



We had the opportunity to learn more about the Golden Ages of Islamic History or as it called the Middle Ages and the class was assigned with different presentation topics. 
My group and I prepared a presentation about the contributions of Muslims scholars in different Sciences and in details. Honestly, it was a nightmare with all these information, but brilliant and fascinating at the end.  I will share with you a part of our presentation in which we merge    Islamic architecture and music in Andalusia.....  




 I was really inspired by 1001 inventions and I recommend this site to you ....

Friday 23 March 2012

Back to College


Many returning adult students to college are tentative and anxious about coming back into the class room.  Personally, the time and various responsibilities, such as kids, are the biggest factors that I thought might bog me down quite a lot.   
 It would be a little weird if I haven't done anything related to education activities in a long time period, but thanks god …

At the beginning … I was afraid with the amount of time that it had been since I had graduated from higher diploma and was uncertain of being able to succeed with good grades. Once I started attending classes I found that I was still capable of being a good student. The class is small and I am the oldest student in the class. Fortunately, the young students treat me as just another fellow classmate, and I am included in conversations about everything from homework to small jokes and games. I knew from that very first day that everything was going to be okay!  I continued on to accomplish my goal of a bachelor degree. And I am really enjoying the experience.

My Advice …
If you have the passion to go for further education, then it is possible to overcome any obstacle that comes in your way.  Adults who are at the age of thirty or forty plus should never be shy to proceed for higher education.  It's time to fulfill all your education dreams and attain prosperity forever....