Starting my M.Ed. Program on 11/11

Congrats, Acolyte, for completing half of your journey.

Less is more, and today's MS PowerPoint's AI-enhanced Designer can assist me with lots of impressive ideas for presentation.

BTW, from the score, experience, and your assigned work, I believe the University guys could easily identify who you really are on their list ... Could that bother you?

 

I'm not sure what you mean? DO you mean that someone from ACE might see these posts on this forum? I'm only sharing my experiences - not intending anything nefarious. This is most likely my last college experience. I'm 54 and this is my second Master's. I'm just sharing with the hope that it let's someone know what to expect if they chose to go with ACE.

 

The ACE Experience
12.30.24

Things have been quiet for ACE over the holidays. Classes start up again on 01/6/25. I have received notice that the class will be "published and unlocked" on 01/3/25. Also, the tuition bill for the class will also be posted to my account on 1/3/25.
There has been lots of chatter on the ACE portal chat and people starting groups on the "GroupMe" app for the upcoming classes. I held off on taking the initiative of starting a group for my upcoming class to see if anyone else would, and someone did.

As promised, here are some graphics I built for the papers in the first class, submitted here just as examples of how basic they could be and still fulfill the requirements.
I decided to make all of mine match in style so that when the final paper/document was compiled from the separate assignments it would feel like a cohesive doc, but other students submitted a wide range of style and complexity in their graphics. More next week after classes start.

 

The ACE Experience
01.07.25

This first session I am taking "Design of Instructional Media"

Classes for the new quarter technically started yesterday, although they "published" the classes on Friday. The first week seems a lot like the first week of the previous class:

• Mandatory Attendance confirmation
• Pre-Course self evaluation
• "Getting to Know You" post on the discussion forum about who you are and why you are here
• A 2-3 page paper incorporating a graphic representation of the value you bring to a client as an instructional designer. (This class is all about abstracting concepts to visuals)
• Three video "lectures" (about 12 minutes of content)
• A discussion post about your graphic paper
• Two responses to classmates about their posts

Oh, and something the forum may find interesting. American College of Education (ACE) is 20 years old this year.

Here's a little timeline they put together:
https://ace.edu/campaigns/ace-20th-anniversary/?_cldee=Jtxuu5xmgbff301zowvmEPWU8PeVOSdYmnpJcJkBs9X973CThyvZQ4273qjfZjWK&recipientid=lead-8b2e321054d6ee119079000d3a4f1235-b34cab9e282741e7920c90f39e4910e7&utm_source=ClickDimensions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ACE%2020th%20Anniversary&esid=a1414bab-d8b0-ef11-b8e8-7c1e5247ba68

 

The ACE Experience
01.16.25

Not much to tell this week - My first week assignments have finally been graded and I'm at 100%. I've completed my discussion posts and replies for this week and haven't quite started my paper yet (Due Sunday evenings)
This week's paper is designing an online training course. They've provided a three page template for guidance. I've done this work before in my previous Master's program, but it can be time consuming trying to get all the required bits into place. I don't want to wait until Sunday afternoon to get started, but that happens sometimes. So far I'm still spending about 8-10 hours a week on this degree.

And of note: the HLC (Higher Learning Commission) just renewed ACE's accreditation for another 10 years, which bodes well for anyone considering ACE.

https://ace.edu/news/ace-gets-full-hlc-reaffirmation/

 

The ACE Experience
02.06.25

This is the fifth and final week of this period. So far, I'm still holding steady at 100% for this class.
The instruction has followed the same pattern since week 2. Video lectures / teachings. Some recommended/required reading, a discussion board post, two responses to other's posts, and a project due by late Sunday night.
I typically do the videos and readings on Monday and / or Tuesday - the discussion post on Tuesday or Weds, then at least get started on the homework at some point so I don't have a blank page waiting for me on Sunday.

The discussion posts have often been more than just a post on their platform - they have required attaching other work (like a course outline or a video or other presentation) so, you have to put the time into creating that as well.
I also try to respond to at least THREE people instead of the required TWO. It's kind of an assurance that I get 100%.
The instructor usually sends a reminder email in the middle of the week to see if anyone needs help, but other than that, this course has been rather self-guided.

This class "Design of Instructional Media" has also been very graphics and video/presentation heavy. It doesn't bother me much because that is my job - but I can see how it would be difficult for some - I just find it time consuming.
Like, I've just done 8 hours of video and animation for my job, and here is another 3 hours to make something for this class, lol.

The bottom line is that I have one more assignment to complete this class - first, you need to evaluate the course plan you designed using one of two recommended Quality Assurance checklists, then write a three page paper about
the knowledge and skills you have acquired in this course and how you applied them in your course design. You need to include your initial course plan as an appendix. That's due on Sunday night.

Once I've submitted that, I will have completed TWO classes at ACE. Combined with the three they allowed me to transfer - that puts me exactly at the halfway point in the journey toward the M.Ed.