I’m almost finished the certificate program in Adult and Continuing Ed that I’ve been working on at the University of Alberta for the past 18 months. The last class is finished in December and commencement is in Spring of 2006. After this, I’m planning on moving on to the next degree.. Of late, I’ve begun to suffer from “self-directed learning-itis”. I know Knowles believed that most adult learners had a desire for a high degree of self-direction in their learning, but I’m not sure if I’m on the self-directed path due to this, or if it’s just that I can’t find a course that interests me or that I can afford to take.

I suspect it’s all due to a shortness of attention spans. As I’m moving through courses, I’m being briefly exposed to a term or concept that interests me more than the actual topic of the class. Ergo, I’m jumping into the internet, online journals, libraries, and breaking the bank purchasing books from Chapters and Amazon to explore these areas.

The downside of this is that I’m less interested in completing the work for my assigned classes than I am in exploring the work of others in the topics that have grabbed my attention. Since I’m almost finished the program, this isn’t such a big deal at the moment. I am worried that this may carry over to my next jaunt into the classroom – it’s a 3 year (3 semesters a year) program and I can’t afford to continue in this manner and expect to make the Dean’s list.

*ARGH* There’s just not enough time (and $$ for tuition) to do everything I want to do. Can someone spare a winning lottery ticket and rescue me from this horror?

Technorati Tags: continuing education, self directed learning

The fireworks began at approximately 9:30 pm in Makati and are still beeing shot off sporadically at 2am. From 11pm through 1am, it was a massive symphony of light and sound. Across the horizon, it appeared as if the fireworks were being shot off every 2 – 3 feet. I know my perception of the distance is way off, but that’s why it’s called perception and not fact 😉 The hotel held a massive party in the lobby and everyone was decked out to the nines. I even saw a few fellow countrymen wearing kilts! The party was winding down around 2am, but on the bright side I think I might finally get a good day’s sleep (I sleep during the late morning and mid-afternoon and work all night) for once.

The Pinoy celebrate Rizal day on the 30th of December. Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines. Translated poems and selected letters are available at the Austrian-Philippine website.

Wednesday was the first day we had to tour the city and see the sights. Timing couldn’t have been better, since Paul heads home on Thursday morning. Checkout the online tour of Intramuros at the official Philippine Tourism website.

Christmas morning began with a 1:30 am phone call from mom & dad and was followed a few hours later by a call from Drew. It was nice to hear everyone’s voices. When you’re busy at work and trying to sightsee in the off-hours, you don’t always have time to miss everone. I’ve tried to keep in touch with Drew in IM and email, but it’s not the same as talking to him – even with the few second delay on the line.

I will be in town for Rizal Day (30th of December), so I will need to try and find out more about it before then.