My Brain Is Honey

No, not literally. But it sure feels like it, all thanks to this new computerized course management program called BrainHoney. Yes, that's really its name. And true to its name, it turns my brain into sticky goo. I guess the program is not really that new; BYU-Idaho has been using it for a few years already. But LDSBC just adopted it last year and made it mandatory this fall. All courses must be on BrainHoney. Including mine. Now I should tell you that I have been labeled a "technophobe" by people close to me. And they might be right. But just sayin'...those very people who call me that are equally terrified of trying to learn new things that they're not naturally good at. We all have our strengths. Learning new computer programs is not one of mine.

The learning curve is just so incredibly steep. Blah! And sitting through training sessions, in which the presenter stands up in front of the room and demonstrates how to navigate through the program, is not even a little bit helpful. Remember, I'm an auditory learner. I need to talk through a process while actually doing it, or I learn nothing. So I learned nothing in the 2-hour training session I attended. And now, sink or swim, the semester has begun. My students look to BrainHoney to tell them how to prepare for class each day. They look there to find any documents they might need and to check their grades. They look there to find assignments and due dates. When they look, it's my job to make sure they find something that makes sense and truly reflects the content of the course. Help!

As of yesterday, they could see the syllabus and course schedule. Yippee! But when they tried to find two links to documents, which I'm certain I had pasted in, they could not. Frustrated, I had to print out hard copies for every student in the class. They needed these documents. What else could I do? I know, this whole thing is supposed to make for a nearly paperless course, and ultimately less work for me, but thus far it has created just the opposite in both cases.

But Monday begins a new week. I'm trying to stay hopeful. I spent two hours Friday morning with one of the kind and patient BrainHoney assistants, and she walked me through the process of pasting links into the daily lesson plan. We did all of them for this coming week. They seem to be there. But will my students be able to see them? Do you believe in miracles? And I haven't even looked at the grade book. Appointment with one of the assistants to show me that this Wednesday. Wish my honey brain lots of luck.

I have amended a Russian proverb to fit my needs:

"If you go to war pray once; if you go on a sea journey pray twice; but pray three times if you are attempting to learn BrainHoney."