Writing Center Spring 2014 Workshop Series

Have an English paper coming up?  Then check out the Germantown Montgomery College writing center and brush up on your writing skills!  The weekly campus workshops take place in HS 203 on Mondays at 2:00 and Saturdays at 12:30.  But what if you’re not on or near campus?  That’s easy!  For the very first time this semester, the writing center is taking distance learning a step further by providing an exclusive online workshop every Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:15*, and you can attend them virtually anywhere! Simply go here, make sure you have the latest version of Oracle Java installed**, type in a username and you’re good to go!  But how does the workshop itself work exactly?  With any online learning session there are bound to be compromises, right?  Not at all!  Read further to find out just how streamlined and intuitive the distance learning writing center sessions are – you may end up preferring them to the ones on campus!

Each online workshop is handled through powerpoints, on-screen demonstrations and occasional videos while Professor Allison Hutchison, current host of the program, speaks to you over a microphone.  Students interact with Professor Hutchinson with a built-in chat box that the professor reviews as she goes through the session.  It’s all very dynamic, as it’s much easier to type a question and know it will soon be answered instead of waiting awkwardly with a raised hand as one does in class.  From topics ranging from Microsoft Word formatting, methods to form a strong thesis and ways to correctly paraphrase, Professor Hutchison speaks and presents the material at a nice, smooth pace and is always very receptive to the responses of attending students.  It’s a simple process and at times can even be quite fun due to how amiable and casual Professor Hutchison is.

Overall these workshops have been a real blessing for me since I had wanted to attend workshops in the past but always had some sort of class or distance conflict preventing me from going.  I have learned quite a bit about how to improve myself as a writer since attending the first online meeting and am very thankful for this new and convenient alternative the college has offered.  Don’t miss this opportunity to maximize your writing potential; join me and Professor Hutchison for the next online workshop this Wednesday!  See you there!!

* Be sure to attend at least ten minutes in advance so you can give the online program time to start up.

** You can also download the client for viewing workshops on your phone for free by searching for “Blackboard Collaborate” in the app store.  To learn more, you can also go here.

You may check out the dates of each workshop by viewing the Workshop Flyer SP14.

You may check out the topic descriptions by viewing the Workshop with description & full schedule SP14.