Greetings! This is the interview that I did for the podcast activity. First, I apologize, I am a little over 5 minutes; however, I don't have any software that will allow me to edit it.
I interviewed an instructor from Graceland University named Libby. Libby is an elementary school teacher who also teaches adults how to teach children to read. Libby is a seasoned educator who has seen many technologies come into classrooms.
Roy,
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Admittedly, like much technology, I was unimpressed with the
concept of podcasts until I hit page 36 (yes, I realize that’s like 3 pages
into the chapter). I like the concept of
a professor setting up lectures that students can access when they need help
with something. If the professor gets
similar questions throughout several terms, he or she could set up a pod cast
covering that topic. Sort of like a FAQ
page. This could be done school wide
instead of being tied to a specific course.
For example, a student taking a physics course may struggle
with a mathematical concept. That
student could look up the problem problem (ha-ha) and get a refresher on how to
complete that particular mathematical operation. The same podcast could be used to help a
student in an accounting course, research course, etc…
After reading through the information on podcasting, I came
to realize that it could be an extremely useful tool in an online or a
traditional course. For students in a
traditional course, they could have 24 hour access to the professor. I even think of my kids when they are doing
homework and can’t remember what the teacher said about a certain subject. It would be nice if we could go back and
listen together then I could help them through their homework.
Roy,
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Let me start a little off topic. I must say that I am having issues with the
whole blogging thing. I am finding that
I have ‘lost’ some of my comments to my fellow classmates. If I have commented on your post and you
replied only to be met with silence, then I apologize. I must admit that, as I initially feared, I
find blogs much harder to keep up with than bulletin boards. Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there
in case anyone thought I was ignoring a comment.
Now on to what you’re
here for!
The main purpose of my wiki will be to allow instructors to
use newly acquired knowledge and to collaborate with other instructors to
re-create their training programs.
I believe that one of
the main advantages I have in the training course I am looking at is that my ‘instructors’
are also consumers. For example, one of
the participants in my class may be a firearms instructor and another may be a
defensive tactics instructor. The
defensive tactics instructor will not only be an instructor, but also a student
when it comes to firearms training and the same with the firearms instructor. This relationship will allow the instructors
to not only work with other instructors, but also work with ‘consumers’ of
their training.
I think that this relationship will give my students a
special ability to make their skills, “…portable and transferable outside of
the protective walls of the classroom” (Pg. 101 – West & West). I also think that this course will allow
students to ‘create and do’ (Pg. 101 – West & West).
All of that being said, I did not find a wiki project that I
felt fit my desired wiki lesson plan. So
I am turning my blog into a blogiki for the week. I am asking for some pointers from my loyal
(forced) readers. So far, here is what I
found:
Structured Online Critiques (Pg. 98): I like this as an option for an instructor to
put their lesson plan on the wiki and then the others in the group can offer a
critique based on the criteria on page 99 (strengths/limitations/conclusions/recommendations). I know that this is not a perfect fit when
compared with the intention of that wiki, but I think it fits good enough for
government work, which is what I do.
Collaborative Research Papers (Pg. 88): Think of this as a collaborative lesson plan
instead of a research paper. On student,
the instructor for that topic, would take the lead. The other group members would take a smaller
part since they would also have their own project to take the lead on. In this format, the other group members would
assist by pointing out weak areas and
helping to add new and creative ideas.
Yes I did start this out by saying that I felt my project
was better suited for contextual application, so I give you – Team Challenge
(Pg. 115): ‘Developing creative
solutions to real-world problems’ sounds like just what I need. So where does the challenge come from? Maybe, as the instructor, I could read each
lesson plan and throw my thoughts into the wiki in the form of a challenge to
get the group thinking about solving the problem. In this case, instead of the examples given
on page 117, my problems may come more in the form of: explain how you could
make this training more interactive or more collaborative. Team members could then use a ‘sandbox’ area
to brain storm and help the lead team member find creative solutions which they
could then add to the lesson plan.
While I think the team challenge would be more labor
intensive for the instructor, I also think it is the best way to draw the
entire team into the process.
Roy,
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The assignment this week was to develop a lesson plan for my
content area. One of my main reasons for
taking ed classes is to be able to develop an instructor development course to
help law enforcement trainers. As this
is my first education class, this is a little early, but I’ll give it a
shot.
Title:
There’s more to training than being a subject matter expert
Target Audience:
Law Enforcement Trainers – Instructor development does not
tend to be a priority for many trainers.
This course is designed for those wishing to become better instructors,
but lack the time for long classes requiring a significant time and monetary commitments.
Learning Objectives:
Trainers should be able to:
- Identify core principles of adult learning including understanding motivation
- Identify types of adult learning and ways to incorporate all learning style
- Understand that adults learn best when they can draw from the experiences of peers
- Situations and scenarios should be designed to mirror real life
- Develop and present a training course to peers
Teaching Materials
Needed:
Provide handouts explaining adult learning motivators and
learning styles. Provide paper and allow
time for class participation to brainstorm ways to make training interactive
and encourage creative ideas for encompassing all learning styles.
Provide a class roster with phone numbers and E-mails for
group work that will take place outside of the class.
Students will need to provide their own computer with
Internet connection for the portions of class that are not ‘on-site’.
Outline:
Trainers will start in a classroom environment for two days
of on-site classes. These days will be
spent familiarizing trainers with adult learning strategies, technology
requirements for online portions of the class, and most importantly the
trainers will be required to get to know each other (especially selected
learning groups). Lunch will be provided
and taken in a group atmosphere.
Take home assignment: After the completion of the second
day, trainers will be required to start developing a 10 minute training
presentation. They will develop this
presentation using a wiki program which all students will have access to. Each trainer will have been assigned to a
small group and they will assist each other in developing their training
program. Group members will review each
other’s ideas to provide feedback and ideas.
Trainers will be encouraged to review projects outside of their group,
but it will not be required. (The
instructor will be active on all wkis.)
Trainers will meet for a third and final on-site class where
they will present an interactive portion of their developed programs to their
peers. Peers will be required to
evaluate the presentations in several categories including:
- · Interactivity
- · Ease of understanding
- · Adult learning strategies used
The evaluations will be done outside of the learning groups
(Learning group A will evaluate learning group B and so on). Evaluations will be based on the submitted
lesson plan and the presentation; however, evaluators will take into account the
limited presentation time allowed.
Evaluation:
Individuals will be evaluated in several areas.
- · The amount and quality of feedback given on wiki assignments
- · Adult learning principles applied to peer evaluations
- · Thoroughness of written lesson plan
- · Inclusion of different learning styles
- · Group interaction (polite, involved, etc…)
Roy,
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
It took me some time to get into the wiki program, so I have
not had much chance to play with it. As
I have never used the program, my comments are based solely off of the reading.
Before I begin, I would like to start with my ‘constructive modification’ of ‘The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology’. On page 126 the author states, “…set parameters on the wiki form the start.” It’s just nice to know that I am not the only one that constantly types ‘form’ instead of from.
Before I begin, I would like to start with my ‘constructive modification’ of ‘The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology’. On page 126 the author states, “…set parameters on the wiki form the start.” It’s just nice to know that I am not the only one that constantly types ‘form’ instead of from.
In several places in the text, the various authors have
pointed out the importance of allowing adults to have a hand in their own
education. (Pg. 5; “[adults] need to be
seen by others and treated by others as being capable of self direction”: Pg. 91; “…adults have a deeply embedded need
to be self-directing...”: Pg. 122; “…when adults are presented with
self-directed learning opportunities, the greater their chances are of learning
the information.”)
Wiki spaces offer a unique ability for students to, “…actively
participate in their own knowledge construction and also participate in
co-writing with others.” (Pg. 122). I also see a nice tie in with statements on
page 11, “…learning environment will be more effective if it incorporates
real-life examples of situations that adult learners may encounter…” I see these wiki spaces as a great
opportunity to learn not only the content, but to learn a way to collaborate with
a team when not all members can be in the same place.
Now you’re saying “but Roy, in your last post you stated
that the technology of blogging may get in the way of learning the core
concepts” and you are right, I did say that.
So why is wiki different? In my
opinion, wiki is a technology that does not have an adequate alternative. The discussion board is, in my opinion,
easier to use and just as effective.
According to the authors (my only resource as I have yet to use a wiki),
“[wikis] require few technical skills and allow the students to focus on
collaboration and information exchange without getting distracted with
technical difficulties.”
Another difference is that all members of the group are
using the same graphical interface, meaning that I am not required to adjust to
multiple layouts, formatting, and color schemes. Oh, and one other difference; the wiki is secure
from the ‘hidden audience’ spoken about on page 123.
In the beginning, I was less than excited to learn the wiki
technology, but as I have read about it, I think it will be a good experience.
Roy,
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Here’s to hoping I can disagree with
technology!
I tried my best to dive into this
reading with an open mind. I have never
had much use for blogging, in fact, my opinion about blogging was summed up
well in the movie ‘Easy A’: "I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought...but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds. "Roman is having an OK day, and bought a Coke Zero at the gas station. Raise the roof..." However, since I have had limited (take that to mean no) experience with blogs, maybe this semester will change my mind; unfortunately, this weeks readings didn't.
On pages 16 & 17 of ‘Blogs as a Learning Space: Creating Text of
Talks’, Prof. Santos describes the three concepts of the engagement
theory: “Relate-Create-Donate”. As we
have all read them, I will not repeat each concept, but I will state that I agree with those concepts. In fact, I believe that all of readings made
good points about the effectiveness of blog style writing. I believe that allowing students to share
ideas and have open discussions about the material is an invaluable tool. I agree with Jo Ann Oravec who stated on page
618 of her article, ‘Bookmarking the
World: Weblog applications in education’ that “Weblog development can empower
students to become more analytical and critical…” So now you may be asking, ‘if you agree with
all of this, what’s your problem with the weblog?’
Ok, I do agree with much of what was said in the readings
about the effectiveness of blogging, but I ask this question; is the blog the
most effective way of achieving those concepts?
The second question asked was in regards to a blog being the
same thing as a bulletin board. Initially I thought they were the same, but as
I read about blogs, I came to realize that they are very different. In chapter 6 of ‘The Professor’s Guide to Taming Technology’, Teresa Carter points
out some of the differences that lead me to believe that a bulletin board is a
better place for the learning that Prof. Santos wrote on.
The first difference that I noted was on page 91 where Ms.
Carter states that “[blogs] can be as
distinctive as each author…” While
is certainly a big benefit to blogs in the ‘real world’; however, in a class of
twenty students, I have twenty blogs to read through which are all in different
colors and different arrangements.
Another comment that I took note of was on page 93 where Ms.
Carter discusses the instructor being able to gauge how course material is
being comprehended and being able to see the connections that students are
making. I believe that students should
be free to discuss ideas, have conversations, and make mistakes free of concern
from how current or future employers may take the information. Blogs are public, whereas the school’s bulletin
board is a private forum open only to those in the class and school staff.
Well, for those of you still here, I thank you for taking
the time to read my ramblings.
Roy,
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