Authentic Assessment

I would like to share the information below that has helped me to increase my knowledge on assessments, which has also made me more appreciative of the Adult Education Programs.

Authentic assessments as noted by Myer (1992) is not the same as performance assessment, in that, they are similar to the point that both forms of assessments provide challenges, and engages the students; however, authentic assessments affords the learners with sufficient time for planning, completing the assignment, “self-“assessment, revising, and consulting  with another.  Additionally, when using “authentic assessments,” student assignments must be evaluated using the “same kinds of criteria (standards) used to judge similar task,” (Wisconsin Education Association Council, 2014).

“Authentic Instruction and Learning”

Based on Wisconsin Education Association Council, (2014) authentic instructions and learning are very much like “performance or authentic assessments” in relationship to students retaining knowledge and instructions. Educators desiring for improvement in assessments, and instructions have to integrate the two.  “Newmann, and Wehlage, 1993 article” states that instructions are “authentic if they help learners obtain the following objectives:

1.      “ Construct meaning and produce knowledge”

2.      “Use disciplined inquiry to construct meaning and”

3.      “Aim work toward production of discourse, products and performances that have value or meaning beyond success in school,” (Wisconsin Education Association Council, 2014).

Reference

Re Wisconsin Education Association Council. (2014). Performance Assessment.  Retrieved

January 06, 2014 from http://www.weac.org/professional_resources/Testing/performance_assessment.aspx

E-learning: More Than Meets the Eye

I am entering the last half of the last week of my course all about e-learning.  This was one of the few required courses I was blase about because of the content.  I work in a corporate environment and while we use online technologies, an actual online class is not what I do.  However, I am happy this course was required, have learned quite a bit, and could see myself facilitating online courses as a second job (I was told by someone he could see me doing that).  One of the most significant things I have learned is there is the same amount if not more preparation required for facilitating an online course as compared with a traditional face-to-face classroom or even a hybrid environment.  In a true e-classroom, there is no face to face interaction unless participants take advantage of collaboration through Skype or other applications for video chat.  This means instruction, activities, and assignments need to engage and motivate learners on their own.  This can be extremely difficult!  In my own experience, there have been courses that are more difficult to involve myself with whether it be the content (if it's required and I don't really have an interest, it can be hard for me to get motivated to complete my work) or the methods used (even with interesting content, discussion that is not developed to encourage research and support doesn't support engagement).  E-learning requires significant motivation for self-study and exploration and if there is not proper support from a facilitator, almost any learner can lose motivation to continue their learning.  Some major learning I have taken from my courses with this program are the different applications out there to aid in learning.  One of these is Piktochart.com.  Here is an example of my work that just so happens to be about the topic of this post:

Just a reminder...

IIRC, Facebook was started as a way for college students to share their thoughts and experiences regarding college -- all of it, not just classes, learning, opinions about professors or frustration with learning content but the entire social aspect of the university, who not to date, great places to get a beer, frats to avoid, etc. In a way, FB replaced some of the more traditional ways of interacting with other students, i.e., forming a club, electing officers, drafting a charter, roping in a faculty sponsor, setting an agenda and scheduling meeting times that were the most convenient for everyone involved.

Back in the day, before the World Wide Web, there was a series (tens of thousands, actually) of discussion boards on something called USENET that pretty much had everything one was interested in discussing. They all began with "alt." such that, if you were interested in discussing a particular topic (or even finding a companion), you searched groups like, "alt.cognitivescience" or even subgroups such as "alt.cognitivescience.quantum.theory" to engage with like-minded students and individuals. The FB inventors took that idea and made it Web 2.0 since, the old USENET groups were moderated (it's where the terms "flamer" and "lurker" originated, among other things) and one would sometimes wait for days for a reply to a post (bearing in mind that, back then, very few people had access to the Internet) -- suddenly, interaction was immediate and IRT (in real time). The meeting was ongoing and asynchronous.


That's what this PLN is supposed to be about -- Web 2.0 technology used for the purpose of sharing information, interests, gripes, opinions, insights, input, arguments and anything else we can throw into this that will add to the dialog -- and our own education.

Establishing a Culture of Assessment | AAUP

Establishing a Culture of Assessment | AAUP

Party like it's 1999

EEK! I just looked at the last time I posted and it appears that I've allowed this place to go fallow -- so much for the "post at least once a week" wisdom that old-school bloggers used to share (actually, I think it was once a day!). Anyway, I took the leap and, over a couple of nights and a couple of beers, put together this video résumé to throw out there to prospective employers:


Many thanks to Stevie Wonder and the Red Hot Chili Peppers for "Higher Ground" -- please don't come after me for royalties, I need a job!

 Maybe I'm being too tough on myself, saying that I've partied like it's 1999 (never considered using THAT song, frankly) by creating a video résumé and posting it on YouTube, for all 11 viewers I've had to see, because I don't think their are a bunch of people doing what I just did. Yeah, I'm no pioneer but it amazes me that more people aren't taking advantage of the technology that's available -- free (for the most part), easy to use and engaging.

The video was created using PowerPoint and converted to an MP4. I played with it in Camtasia and Articulate but I didn't see that those programs added anything to it, so this is what you get. Occam's Razor and all of that.

Par-TAY!!!

Cross-posted at #The Firebird Suite

Assessment in Adult Education

Well hello, it has been a little while since I posted on here, actually an entire class! I have been quite busy personally and just keeping up with the requirements of class has kept me busy. Well, enough about me... The current class (ending today) is all about assessment and evaluation. I thought I knew assessment but there is so much more than I realized which has provided me with valuable information in my job position. Well, Jim and I were assigned to be on a learning team together this class with another student, Tamela. I wanted to post this awesome PowerPoint we put together earlier in class. The assignment was to interview at least five adult educators in various types of learning about assessment. Jim designed the PowerPoint, we all worked on content, and I offered the voice. We hope you enjoy (sorry the sound quality is not the best)!

Cart before the horse on MOOCs

Saying that the MOOC debate rages on is rather like saying, "Mosquitoes bother me," yet I encounter that quotidian statement in pretty much every article I read regarding the issue. It probably doesn't help that the name itself sounds like some street-level pejorative but we use the words we have, not the ones we want.

As a fairly-new construct of how knowledge is delivered, MOOCs would naturally be controversial based on their relatively recent introduction to the education field. However, aside from stale arguments that MOOCs can't deliver what classroom instruction can (an argument that has existed since the introduction of the first online course), most of the arguments I've encountered against MOOCs have been specious, at best.

Probably the most contentious issue surrounding MOOCs is their potential for social and economic equality (as I argued for in the this paper) and it's funny how ironic arguments from the Left and the Right cavil about the death of the academy, the Left squealing about how universities should be opened up to everyone, the Right whining about  the death of elite institutions.

Putting matters of delivery aside, MOOCs are the first step in an educational revolution, where learners decide what knowledge matters to them and that knowledge is delivered to them as it matters. For the first time in human history, learners have the capacity to attain knowledge no matter their circumstances or geographical isolation (provided they have a broadband connection). The potential for economic and social justice is here and it's about to be manifest.

Are MOOCs a nostrum? Not at all -- the problem of income inequality has to be dealt with, first and foremost. However, the potential to undercut the current system has begun with MOOCs, especially as learners from marginalized populations take advantage of their educational opportunities an use that position to bring up brothers and sisters.

Indeed, the potential for social and economic change is huge due to the possibles afforded through informal learning opportunities. That possibility will be dealt with in a later post.

Crossposted at The Firebird Suite

My first Prezi

Please be kind.... and cross-posted at The Firebird Suite (under the Portfolio tab).

John Hunter: Teaching with the World Peace Game

Let me start this post by saying that Gamification is not a new idea it is simply a new term. As any teacher will tell you they use some sort of game to teach concepts or make learning more fun for students. John Hunter's TED Talk shows the successful use of and evolution of his World Peace Game.
Students today participate in online games like World of Warcraft, Minecraft, and Grepolis, which require critical thinking skills, collaboration, and problem solving. So, why are we still using static textbooks and worksheets to teach concepts like economics, geopolitics, history, etc.?

So why aren't we talking about Connectivism?

Not meaning to get too intellectual, here (because it seems that doesn't lead to ANY discussion) but when we say that "Open source learning is here to stay," I am apt to think of Michel Foucault's masterpiece, "The Order of Things," and the notion of the "episteme," that how we think about the world is determined by the time in which we reside, that intellect collectively evolves as we add to what and how we know.

Open source learning and the collaborative nature that guides it will only accelerate what we know. The more open source learning becomes the norm, the more human thought will evolve (especially since so much of how we solve questions is facilitated by the same computing power that allows distant minds to connect). Whereas researchers and scientists were once isolated in their offices or laboratories around the globe, they can now openly collaborate on questions about the universe; more than that, problem-solving (and problem-posing) is suddenly a globally participatory function, rather than a discrete and local endeavor.

And how would YOU use the Socratic Method?

... in response to a question posed in class ...

Before discussing how the Socratic Method can be used in the classroom (and which teaching methods promote self-directed learning and independent learners), I was compelled to have a little fun with this after stumbling across a website about how to Use the Socratic Method to Easily Win Arguments during my search (there's a better site about How to Argue Using the Socratic Method that's more comprehensive and isn't focused on "winning" an argument) as it brought to mind this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) that makes hilarious sport of the Socratic Method:

Sir Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Sir Bedevere: And what do you burn, apart from witches?
Peasant 1: More witches.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Sir Bedevere: Good. Now, why do witches burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of her.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!
Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!

Having had my fun, I'll begin by stating the obvious (which I assume will be repeated here, ad nauseum, if others participate in this discussion) that the Socratic Method is effective in teaching critical thinking, and refer to the site that gives the most comprehensive explanation for the Socratic Method (http://www.socraticmethod.net/) and describes, by implication, how it is used in the classroom (or, in Plato's case, The Symposium). For anyone unfamiliar with the Socratic Method, I recommend using that site as a quick guide for getting up to speed.

The first part of this three-part question, "Locate several websites that describe the Socratic method and how it is used in classrooms," seems redundant since, at least in all the websites I visited, the Socratic Method was described before any discussion about how it is used in the classroom. Having said that, all the sites I looked at and liked discussed how the Socratic Method promotes self-directed learning due to the method's emphasis on A), critical thinking and B), using questions to get students to probe deeper into a topic. Likewise, all the sites suggested that the Socratic Method promotes independent learning due to how it causes students to question themselves and the validity of their answers -- an existential dilemma that forces a learner to confront what they think they know by further researching their beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. Finally, none of the sites advocated any particular or unique method for using the method (other than contextualizing it) but rather made distinctions between the "classical" vs. "modern" approaches.

This site about using the Socratic Method in a third-grade math class was very interesting as far as it illustrated how critical thinking skills can be taught to even young learners. On the other hand, this site about the failure to use the method in a secondary English class was a nice reflective piece on teaching methods and how she would do things differently. Finally, there are some excellent strategies for using the Socratic Method in the classroom at ReadWriteThink -- one of my favorite websites.

Of all the sites I viewed, my favorite was from Stanford as it was more explicit about the self-directed and independent learner benefits of the Socratic Method. I highly recommend it.

A witch!

21st-century learning vs. 20th-century thinking

The members of this PLN are all students at an online university where we are currently pursuing Master's degrees in Adult Education and Training and, at the moment, taking a class in technology for adult learners (although much of the material we're studying applies to learners of all ages) -- thus, the impetus for starting this blog.

Although I consider myself fairly informed about new technologies (indeed, some of the readings have seemed quaint to me, even though they're only a few years old), I have to say that several of the assignments have opened my eyes to new methods, ideas, theories and yes, technologies, that I had not been aware of until just now. So much of the literature refers to "emergent" technologies, as well as the emergent properties of learning networks, and I feel something emergent in myself regarding my new-found knowledge.

And then, I get hit full in the face with the reality that, well into our second decade of this century, those of us thinking about how learning should and will occur in the 21st-century remain in a slender minority of thinkers.

This occurred to me when I was participating in this week's class discussion, one largely focused on webcast and podcast presentation technologies. A couple of responses from fellow students to the instructor's questions about the potential downside of those technologies had me wondering how prepared we are, as a society, to embrace how technology will not just demand a change in methods but in the theories and practice of pedagogy.

For instance, a student (in all earnestness) responded that a potential problem with webcasting lectures might be a bad feed or poor connection, disenfranchising the student(s) from the content of a lecture due to forces beyond their control; apparently, that student (the one who made the response, not the one experiencing the "bad feed" -- you know the vicissitudes of the Inter-tubes and all that) was not aware that a webcast can be archived and posted such that it can be viewed at any time. In fact, that student's argument (as I read it) was that a webcasted lecture could only be live, a one-time affair, and that students were at the mercy of a schedule, much like my Psychology 101 instructor who threatened with, "Class starts at 9 am and the doors would be locked from the inside at 9:05 am."

I confess that I was a bit dazed by the response, wondering if that student was oblivious to the fact that, with the Internet and the technology of online learning, instructors not only post the webcast so it can be linked at any time but, if they're good at what they do, they augment their presentations with additional elements (such as interactive capabilities where learners can attempt to emulate portions of the material or access supplemental materials that "plug in" with what is being taught, other video or graphic examples to use, etc.). Given the nature of the response, it was apparent that the commenter didn't understand that the direction of 21st-century education is the freedom of students to make decisions about the what, where and when of their learning. A one-time only, live webcast is counterintuitive to that direction and counterproductive to 21st-century educational goals.

That was one example; I won't spend much energy on another student's response of, "Well, the power could go out and then what are you going to do?" There's little reason to speak (aside from what that student said) on the academic laziness and intellectual paucity of that response.

I recognize that I didn't enroll into a particularly rigorous program (no GRE or GMAT was required), a fact that became abundantly clear when a past team member submitted some work that my HS Language Arts teacher wife said would not receive a passing grade in a Freshman (HS) composition class -- that has happened several times in this program, in fact. Early on, it was apparent to me that I was only going to get out of this program what I put into it (and I write that while attempting to place a tremulous hand on my 30-day Articulate free trial).

My point is not the level of intellect that has enrolled in this program (the we in this PLN share) but in asking, how ready are we to embrace the inevitable change that technology will bring to how education is done? Based on my experience and conversations  with other students and other people, most of us are still stuck in a 20th-century paradigm of education (that has a foundation on a 19th-century paradigm, the so-called "factory" method) and are unable to conceive that 21st-century learners will need and demand (based on the technology) a shift in how instruction is delivered.

Please share, educators!

I'm a little frustrated, right now.

My wife forwarded me an announcement for a web presentation through ASTD, titled, "Using gamification and serious games in learning," and I was hoping to watch it. I don't have time to watch it at the moment but I thought that, if I archived it or better yet, embedded the video here, I could watch it at my convenience, when I finally found the time. The added benefit? All of you would get to watch it as well.

Bupkis. No repost on YouTube or anywhere else (if I couldn't embed it, I'd at least link it), no, I have to register at the ASTD site, jump through hoops, agree to allow my spam folder get heavier due to the ASTD "sponsor" getting my email address and then sending me loads of crap, advertisements for doo-dads and programs I have no money for.

Holding information proprietary is decidedly not a 21st-century or Web 2.0 approach (I'm not talking about widget designs, OK?) and the best way to move us forward is to disseminate information in the most efficient, expedient way possible.

Share it!

Banning It Won't Stop It

This week one of our readings is about preparing learners for 21st century skills.  This is a chapter out of a book of compiled writings from various authors. While this entire text discusses secondary education and we are studying adult education, there are still aspects that correlate and give us a better understanding of the use of 21st century skills, including technology, in general.  I thought it was interesting that many schools are still banning various forms of technology in schools despite the increased use of them in learning (Fisher & Frey, 2010).  Instead of embracing what the learners have and know, the learners are being punished for this.  It seems that a large part of this problem is educators look at the individual names of technology (MP3 player) and sites (Twitter) rather than what they do for learning (presenting, collaborating) (Fisher & Frey, 2010).  Educators and institutions need to take a look at their policies regarding technology and revamp these to embrace the utilization in learning while providing learners with ethics and courtesy regarding the use of technology (Fisher & Frey, 2010).  At this point, social media and other forms of virtual collaboration are here to stay and continue to grow.  I wanted to share the following website that illustrates this in real-time, it's just AMAZING how quickly things are growing.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2010). Preparing students for mastery of 21st century skills.  In 21st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Click the image to open the interactive version (via PennyStocks.la).

Web 2.0 for this week

My Learning Team (and PLN cohorts) are charged this week with creating a presentation of Web 2.0 technologies for the ostensible purpose of introducing them to adult learners as well as providing a demonstration or even a brief training for those learners on the use of one of the 3-5 online technologies we choose for our project. I've suggested that we take advantage of 30-day free trials for either Articulate or Captivate for this project; the challenge is to learn either in a short amount of time (before next Monday, as usual) but I am bored, bored, bored with PowerPoint.

In the run up to this assignment, we checked out 50 links or so of so-called Web 2.0 technologies (not all the sites were, strictly speaking, Web 2.0 as it's defined) and, although I knew a few of the sites, the exercise of clicking links was enlightening. Really, I was surprised at how much is out there and how many tools there are to move education well outside of 20th-century conventions.

I'm not going to go into any of those sites with this post (so, you're probably wondering, "What's the point of reading this, then?") but it has occurred to me that I would like to use this space to discuss, one or a few at a time, those sites, reviewing them and journaling my own experience using them. I'm inviting my PLN pals to join in the fun -- at a later date, of course.

Until then, we're apparently on the verge of speeding on to Web 3.0, apparently for the sake of making me feel like a dinosaur. For no good reason, then, I feel compelled to share this as an excuse for why I'm asking my Learning Team to take up the gauntlet of using a presentation application other than PowerPoint:



Collaborative learning, critical questioning and decompression

I have finally finished this week's individual assignment (you can view my work here as well as the lesson plan that accompanied it) and am ready to enjoy the rest of the day with some beer, baseball, and barbecue -- so nothing special about the last part, donchaknow?

Before calling it a day (and an end to Week 3), it occurs to me that I worked to include a collaborative learning element into my individual project and, in meta-fashion, asking my students to include a collaborative element into the PBL I designed for them. Additionally, I included two critical questions (one, the aforementioned collaborative element) for them to answer in response to the assignment.

Trying to walk the talk, here, it occurs to me that I need to ask a critical question for myself: Do I embrace opportunities for collaborative learning when they are assigned?

I have to say that I am enjoying this PLN immensely and, it just so happens, the current members are also on my Learning Team for school. I was fortunate that the instructor for this class accommodated us in honoring our requests for team membership. having said that, I have not always had the best experience with learning teams; indeed, I have griped in the past about being forced to work with people who seemed to have no motivation to learn or produce the best product possible but were only participating because they believed they would eventually acquire a credential but were seemingly uninterested in acquiring knowledge or skills.

Many assumptions are made about the benefits of collaborative learning and, I confess that I am largely a fan of the method. However, my critical question for today is: Is collaborative learning only effective when members are equally motivated to learn or is the potential for disparity inherent in the method, where the more motivated members actually become instructors (to a degree) when compensating for less-motivated group members?

OK, enjoy your Memorial Day Holiday and think about your answer when we're back on task. Have a beer and enjoy the barbecue!

Common Core: Keep calm and…you get it.

Common Core: Keep calm and…you get it.

By Mikki Harper

So much misinformation regarding Common Core is swirling around the Internet that I feel compelled to address it with this post.  I will start by stating I support Common Core. Okay, I have probably lost close 40% of my audience at this point!  I would also like to state that I understand the concerns around the ambiguity surrounding Common Core Standards. Okay, there goes another 40% of my audience! Now for the 20% of you still reading this post I will attempt to explain what Common Core is and what it is not. I will also provide links to other posts that support and oppose Common Core State Standards (CCSS) because I believe it is important to understand opposing viewpoints and not dismiss them out of hand. 

CCSS is/does:

1.      a set of standards adopted by individual states designed to improve education at all levels

2.      address U.S. schools’ low performance in math, writing, and reading

3.      embrace performance-based assessment

4.      CCSS is a framework, which helps states build curriculum that builds foundational skills early in students’ academic careers

CCSS is not/does not:

1.      a Federal mandate designed to destroy states’ rights regarding education

2.      Curriculum; local school districts and boards still control this aspect of education

3.      require states to lower their educational standards

4.      No Child Left Behind

I hope these short lists provide some clarity as to what CCSS is and is not. Now, the supporters of CCSS know that it is not perfect and it will take time, patience, and dedication to implement.  It will require teachers changing how they approach teaching and in many cases changing the resources and methods they use to deliver course content.  Why is this bad, wrong, evil (pick your adjective)?  CCSS shifts learning from a pedagogical lecture form of teaching to a collaborative problem based learning system that requires students to think critically instead of memorizing information from the text in order to pass a test.  In short, CCSS supports authentic learning and assessment of students’ true abilities.

Opposition to CCSS

Opponents of CCSS site No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and its disastrous effect on education.  NCLB had the best of intentions but relied heavily on standardized testing to determine students’ success or failure to master concepts.  Yes, many schools simply lowered their standards or fudged test averages by excluding certain students from testing.  In some cases, teachers simply promoted under performing students possibly out of pressure from school administrators.

Another argument against CCSS is that parents will not be able to help their children with schoolwork because they will not understand CCSS.  How many parents actually help their children with homework now?  How long has it been since many parents studied Algebra, Biology, or read War and Peace?  This is a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.  CCSS has nothing to do with parents helping their children with schoolwork.  The parents’ lack of education or understanding of subject matter attributes to this problem.

There is always fear and opposition to any new idea but let us not throw the baby out with the bath water.  We know the U.S. education system is broken and needs a massive overhaul, let us actually implement CCSS first, and give it a chance to develop.  Let us also listen to the concerns of those who oppose CCSS and address their concerns as a way to make CCSS less ambiguous.

http://beta.fresnounified.org/dept/sss/ccss/Pages/MythsFacts.aspx#.U4IjGijijKc

http://eagnews.org/thorner-chilling-truth-behind-common-core-state-standard

http://www.jimmcquiggin.com/2014/03/in-response-to-dumbed-down-and-out-of.html

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/21/common-core-standards-education-column/9298343/

Sunday morning Skype session

It's past noon and our group is Skyping (as I type this), to determine which direction our PLN will take... we're feeling very 21st century! In addition, the group (Karla and Mikki) are watching my screen as I demonstrate some of the functions, gadgets and widgets available in Blogger -- pretty much participating in the activities that define a PLN (Professional Learning Network). At the end of our Skype session (the first sentence of this post was typed while providing an example of how to use Blogger, labels for posts in this case), we agreed that we were grateful to have been given this assignment since this is a tool each of us can use beyond this assignment, this class and even this program (Adult Education and Training), a place where we can share new knowledge, ask questions, share our experience with the technologies we're using, air our frustrations... isn't that what a PLN is about?

Without putting too fine a point on this (and avoiding the temptation to turn this post into a paper on Connectivism or shared VLEs), I just want to say that, with the exception that this blog arose from an assignment to this learning team (the existing PLN on this blog), everything has evolved organically, through mutual agreement, one of the defining characteristics of a PLN.

Having said that, I want to point to a massive resource that will add to my understanding of what a PLN is and can be (mostly because I haven't had the time to really work on my Diigo presence):
PLN blogs on Edutopia.

That should do it, for now. In the meantime, I'm hoping to see this PLN's blogroll grow... and, while that happens, having this place attract the attention of other professionals like us who would like to participate!

Saturday Morning Thought: Everyone knows something already!

It can be easy for those "in charge", whether as an educator or supervisor, to forget that the adults they are leading and developing have....BRAINS!  Unless someone has been living in a cave his or her entire life, there are plenty of skills, knowledge, and experience to tap for sharing and learning.  And really that person who has been living in cave has skills that most people probably don't have that could easily be transferred to other areas of life.  So what made me think of this first thing on Saturday morning?  Well, Facebook of course!  A good friend of mine posted a recent experience from her class and I wanted to share it.  Even though her educator was skeptical (and even laughed at her), I like that he "accepted her challenge" and allowed her to demonstrate how an unrelated skill could transfer into what was being learned.  What personally touches me about this, is the fact my friend is in a male dominated field and of course, the class is the same way.  The skill she brought could be seen as a "female" skill and again, the fact that her instructor allowed her to show this even with some ridicule, speaks volumes for him as an adult educator and my friend as an adult learner.

 

Friday night Happy Hour

... a long tradition with teachers and so, it should be no different here.

I stumbled across this bit of fun a few months back while I was searching videos for PBOs and it came up on the right side of the YouTube page where the "recommends" are located, at the top.

I'm still not sure what it has to do with Bloom's Taxonomy, frankly, but it's a fun way to kill a few minutes on a Friday night (with a cold one in hand, of course).

Cheers!



PLCs' relationship with PBL and Authentic Assessment

We've had a significant amount of discussion on problem-based learning in several classes.  This class also brought professional learning communities and authentic assessment into the mix.  On the surface it can be seen how these three interact but I took a little time to review their definitions and see how they really relate to one another.  This can be seen in my Venn diagram which was a suggested activity for class.

I have found the information about professional learning communities to be intriguing because I feel the training department I used to work with was its own little PLC.  All contact center and claims trainers and QA reported to the same manager and there was lots of collaboration between departments on sharing not only information but also processes that have worked in training classes.  We also had best practices set forth to use in all training classes, like advising of objectives up front and on the back end ~ tell them what you'll teach, teach it to them, tell them what was taught.  While this is supposed to be an adult learning technique it seemed to annoy more learners than not, but that's another topic and post...  The various learning departments within the company - agency, corporate, and customer service operations (the dept referred to above) meet quarterly for a learning forum where collaboration and sharing occurs among areas of the organization.  This sharing of information and knowledge not only helps trainers learn skills and tips from other trainers but also provides more background to support PBL and assessments in training classes.  Working in claims, we can advise how certain things are done in relation to our daily position but understanding the other areas of the company as well, specifically agency and underwriting, can aid in helping to develop new employees develop conclusions for handling claims.

Presenting the unpresented

In my last class (Facilitating Instruction for Diverse Adult Learners), my learning team was charged with creating a training for new hires as well as a diversity presentation for the new hire orientation at an imaginary company ("USA Corporation"). I was project manager for the assignment and, being the Type A personality that I am, took on more than I needed to - mainly, putting a shizz-ton of work into a PowerPoint presentation that didn't need to be done.

My objection with having to do PowerPoint presentations for class is that we never really present them; they just reside in whatever archive the university keeps or, at best, on a portfolio site.

So here it is to present - Ta-Da! - the slickest PowerPoint presentation I've ever made (integrating videos I made using MS Photo Story). If you click the above link, it will download the presentation.

Anyway, if you're not motivated to view the PowerPoint (I can understand that), I'll show off the two Photo Story videos. As I said, they were made for a new hire orientation at an imaginary corporation and for the videos, I invented a history and direction (based on the diversity policy the team developed) for the company. So this first video is about the company's history:



The second is about the company's path forward with its diversity policy:



At last! Presented!

My PBL rant for this week

I'll admit that I was immediately intrigued by the potential for encouraging problem-solving strategies in learners when I approached my first instructional design project, intuitively thinking that the approach led to more depth and breadth in learners. After all, in my own experience with problem solving, learning was deeper when I was required to identify the problem, think of a solution, test my solution (and then make revisions when my idea was less than satisfactory) and then present my results. It just made sense to me that, when challenged with having to look closely at a problem and then creatively and deductively develop a solution.

Indeed, in enumerating the ten key elements of PBL, John Barell provides a succinct rationale for why problem-solving strategies create more depth and breadth in learning objectives. Barell said those elements are real-world problems, choices about content, objectives reflecting the highest of intellectual challenges, experiences in small-group collaborations, feedback (from cohorts and instructors), revisions, modifications and elaboration on findings, engagement in planning, obtaining pre-, formative and summative assessment information, "clear and easy-to-follow curricular structure centered on authentic problems and inquiry," and shared control of decision making as well as instruction and learning. With those elements, it's evident how problem solving goes well beyond a teacher merely lecturing and explaining.

PBL is not without its critics, however, and Colliver (2000), in a review of research conducted between 1992 and 1998 on the effectiveness of PBL on outcomes, concluded that the evidence did not support the idea that PBL methods were more advantageous than traditional teaching methods. However, in a later review of the literature, Hmelo-silver (2004) reached a different conclusion regarding the research but cautioned, "[M]uch of the research has been restricted to higher education, predominantly in medical schools."

Although PBL may be a "flavor of the month" (which is all too common in education), it is apparent to me that it will continue to find support from both educators and students. In fact, the idea of the effectiveness of PBL has been around since at least Dewey who, by his own admission, recognized its effectiveness in the tradition of apprenticeship.

As far as my own prejudice regarding the effectiveness of problem-solving strategies, I believe it not just demands critical thinking skills but is complex (RE Barells elements) in a way that standard, flat pedagogy is not.

Learning from Mistakes is Learning!

Ted Talks is a website that has been frequented by management in my previous position as a trainer to provide us with some learning.  I enjoy exploring the various topics available so I knew I would find something regarding the topics in class.  I searched for project based learning and came across this short (10 minutes) talk.  While the focus is on secondary education, which seems to be the trend when it comes to this topic, I think providing this type of education at that time is important to prepare individuals for learning in adulthood.  Diana provides several great examples of project and problem based learning, though she never uses those terms.  I also like how she discusses learning from mistakes which happens our entire lives in school and career.

Cheap and easy infographic

The assignment this week was to create a graphic organizer or infographic -- I opted for the latter, doing so because I had recently discovered Piktochart and fell in love with what it allowed me to do.

Piktochart is an online program for creating spiffy looking infographics, with a free and paid versions of the application (the free version has a very limited selection of templates and capability). Before addressing the plusses and deltas of the program, I'll share what it allowed me to do for last week's project:

 

 

From this perspective, you see that they slap their logo on to the end of the infographic, as easy fix with any graphics manipulation program (just slice it off). That's not really a delta, just a minor annoyance. Some deltas are that (at least in the free version) the image library is awfully slim, some of the graphic elements are difficult to manipulate (I gave up trying to use the line tool) and there is no "flip" function for graphics or text. The final delta is that the paid version is really pricey for what you get, especially considering that one could achieve the same results with Illustrator or Photoshop.



 

The plusses are that the templates are obviously designed by professional graphics designers and, if you own Illustrator or Photoshop (or subscribe to the equally-as-pricey Adobe Creative Cloud), good luck getting the same results, you're more creative than me. And while I find the paid version a bit overpriced, subscription is monthly so there's no being locked into something that will only be used a few times. Finally, while the workspace could definitely use some tweaking (there are other issues than the ones I mentioned above), it is intuitive, with a relatively flat learning curve.

 

Having said that, it's worth a shot if you're stuck trying to put together a decent graphic organizer.