Becoming Digital (Part 4)

Literacy is not just something we teach learners; it is something we need to practice, especially if the learner is at a distance, or logging in from the dorm room the night before or after lecture. You are the subject-matter-expert, your learner is flipping through pages of a textbook or clicking around in the course; there is little difference between the two. 

Students need their course to be built using a schematic organizational structure, that will aid in their learning, not leave them confused, lost, and frustrated by you and the subject. Need a relevant example? All textbooks begin with a Table of Contents. The textbook employs that structure throughout to keep the learner organized. You do this for yourself on your workstation! You create folders to organize the notes and files you use in the physical classroom, so, take a few minutes and organize your course files, i.e., materials, for your students. Label each learning-object so the learner, at a glance, knows what it is; then add a small description or note to explain the relevance of the learning-object to the learner. Textbooks use a short paragraph to provide a quick introduction to a topic and summarize the chapters, sections, and subsections, do this for your students in your course.

Becoming Digital (Part 3)

Learning itself is a sequence of events that begin with being exposed to basic concepts. We build on those concepts using a framework that assists the learner in internalizing those concepts so that they can apply them while problem solving. For me there is the logical place to begin when using an LMS effectively. The initial focus should be on placing our content online. This can't be done without forethought, because our digital learner needs us, the content matter expert, to organize, label, and describe the content [files and links] for them. 

We can't stop there; we need to "clearly" explain the relevance of each piece of content added to a course. This is where the power of using a learning management system, first surfaces. For example, does your course menu make it clear to them where you placed content? Is that label, a generic word, e.g., "content", of have you taken a few minutes to create a label that mirrors the language of the syllabus; e.g., Units, Modules, Labs, Lectures, Topics, Weeks, etc.? In the 30-seconds it takes to create a menu item that is relevant to the learner, you can lessen and perhaps eliminate frustration and confusion for the learner. Recall it is our role to "guide" the learner as they progress from novice to expert in a particular discipline.

Becoming Digital (Part 2)

Let's move the ball a little forward and reopen the discussion in terms of the venerable learning management system (LMS). Learning online has changed little since university professors began creating HTML pages for classes back in the early nineties. You may not agree with this reference, but it's a fact-of-life. The tools are more sophisticated, e.g., WebEx vs. green screen chat rooms, but if you're willing to take the 60,000-foot view, a tool is still a tool, with a fresher interface, slicker code, but the underlying concept remains little changed.

The LMS remains an enigma, a black box that confuses the clear majority of teaching faculty. Yes, learning management systems are in use everywhere, not just in the schools, but also in industry, government, the military, etc. The "digital learner" has used some form of a learning management system since early childhood. They were called computer games back in the day, think Reader Rabbit, but these learners have had their hands-on computer-based learning, since birth. Recognizing this reality, can, if we're willing to think sequentially, provide us with a roadmap, to not just using the LMS, but using it effectively.

The LMS is overwhelming to those that use it to teach for several reasons: fear, complexity, and the time required to learn the software, etc. However, over the years, I have come to realize that what is often "overlooked" is a simple fact that we were taught one-way, i.e., the lecture, which for us becomes our blueprint for how we teach, technology be damned. Do you see where I'm going with this? I'll bet you do! We learned by sitting in a classroom listening to the teacher. So, now there is a generation of, let's call them instructional designers and technologists that are attempting to take THAT model and FIT it into the technology. This is, let's record the instructor and fit it into the learning management system, which for me is a huge mistake! In education, it seems that every 15-years or so, we revamp curriculum's to fit the latest craze; does this ring a bell? Rather than going down a rabbit-hole of foolishness, what if we approach the use of the learning management system differently?

Teaching with a learning management system is within the reach of anyone that needs to teach any subject. Yes, it is software that we need to learn to use. Yes, it takes time to learn how to navigate the menus. Yes, there are numerous tools that don't, at first glance, seem appropriate to our discipline. But, if we're willing to approach its use systematically, it is within our reach. Competency in using the tool requires us to take the time to think about a concept that we need to teach, seek advice on which tool would help in teaching that concept, and practicing with the tool, before implementing it in a course. That is, become competent in a tool or tools; not all the tools, just the tool needed to do the job.

So, how does the teacher become both "digital" and "competent" when instructing a learner that is erroneously perceived to be "digital" and "competent" using an LMS? Effective use of a learning management system is within reach. There is a sequence to teaching digitally using the LMS and it’s a simple sequence. That sequence goes something like this: storage, collaboration, interpretation, engagement, access, and evaluation.

More To Come . . . . . 

Becoming Digital

Today we hear a constant drumbeat about the digital world and our need to become "digitally literate". Obviously, the rapid advance in digitization makes it convenient to communicate with one another, 24/7. It also brings the classroom and the library to us, no matter where we happen to be. We can enroll into a class or look up facts from our devices without the need to travel to a location as our parents did. Do I need to say that this changes everything? This change is impacting how we learn and how we teach. But, who are these “digital learners” and what does it mean to be a digital learner?

These learners have cut their teeth on video gaming, that’s for sure. These learners are the first generation of learners that will have access to computer technology from birth-to-grave. They’re social, they live on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, in fact, it’s their preferred form of communication. Telephones are something their parents and grandparents use, and "mobile" devices are required to check-in hourly. Immediate access to information, factual or otherwise, is a given.

What separates these learners from previous generations of learners is their willingness to share everything about themselves. They live and learn on their devices and indirectly in “the cloud.” That being the case, as educators, what is to be done to engage these learners; where they reside? For me, becoming digital cannot happen outside the sphere of: literacy, competency, citizenship, obsolescence, and open educational resources (OER).

Every learner can text his or her friends, parents, and grandparents. But that doesn't make them digital. Texting is a tool and while a student may be an expert in using "a tool" or type of technology, i.e., messaging, that is a far cry from being digital. Being digital requires a learner to be competent in using a technology, as well as, competent in separating facts from fiction. Look no further than our recent election when debating the need to separate fact from fiction.

As I see it, the problem that we have as educators is that we choose not to engage our students using their preferred forms of communication and learning. So, while our students are literate and competent in engaging one another with technology, we for whatever reason choose not to meet them, at the very least, halfway. To reach these learners we need to become both literate, i.e., discover what tools our learners use to communicate with one another and become competent in the use of these tools or at least fluent in the underlying technology that they use to learn and socialize.

More To Come . . . . . 

We Don’t Need No Education

Looks like Roger Waters’ plot to destroy education around the globe is succeeding. You only need to look to the past elections in America or the British Isles for proof. Young people, who should care, stayed home. Old-timers, who should have stayed-home, voted. That’s my opinion and like it or not, I’m permitted to express it, right here, thanks to Thomas Paine. If you haven’t read his work, “The Rights of Man” you should. In fact, why isn’t this required reading by every student, everywhere? Come to think of it, Roger Waters had a religious fervor when it came to “walls”; didn’t he? Hee, hee, hee or as Jimmy from South Park might express it, TaDa!

So why am I back after such a long absence? Not sure, but I’m back! Maybe it’s the living under a dictator that I find upsetting and need an outlet?

Me and the LMS are two-sides of the same coin. Whether I like it or not, it’s who I am and 20+ years of total devotion to one area of study gives me the right to vent about that technology that is such a part of my DNA.

20+ years later and we’re still navigating menus? The LMS is no smarter than it was 20+ years ago and let’s be honest here: A Good Teacher is just that “A Good Teacher” and Good Teachers are irreplaceable. We know that! We’ve always known that and instead of focusing on how to make what we know works; we kept making excuses for what the LMS didn’t do. It was always the next update that would get us to that educational promised-land. If you’re still waiting, you’re in good company. Come to think of it, there’s a company, funded by the Department of Education, that’s allowed to take your students, with the approval of the taxpayers! Once again, why are people permitted to vote, if they continue to remain uninformed?

Here’s my game-plan to “revolutionize” education. That’s a “buzz-word” that seems to be everywhere today, so, I’ll use it here. Back to the game plan:

1.     Find the “great teachers” at your institution. They’re out there, you know who they are, you work with them frequently.

2.     Locate the “content experts” who may or may not be that same teacher.

3.     Invite them in to discuss the areas they speak to in their teaching; these are:

a.     student management,

b.     communication,

c.     content collection,

d.     content distribution,

e.     learner engagement,

f.      learner assessment, and

g.     feedback [formative and summative].

4.     Next, demonstrate how the LMS is designed to help them achieve the above.

5.     Finally, offer to help them, little-by-little, beginning with student management to empower them to do what they know how to do best; which is TEACH!

It’s not rocket-science, though it could be if the faculty member your helping is teaching something relevant to rocket-science? You know: Physics, Combustion, Metallurgy, Math, whatever.

We have made this too complicated for too long. We’ve made excuses for the lack of sophistication of the tools, instead of making the best of what’s available. In case you may have forgotten; you began learning about Art, by cutting-out and pasting colored paper together! The concept of how you teach art to children, goes a long-way in teaching effective use of the LMS.

Lecturing vs. Video Lectures

We have gone so far down the technology rabbit-hole that what was outdated and pushed aside is now in vogue. Yep, the "video lecture" is what will save education and teachers from themselves, raise test scores, reduce dropout rates, your buzz phrase goes here . . .

Really!!!!!

So we're back to the passive vessel, again! Roger Waters would be so proud of the progress that we've made by employing technology in the classroom. On the other hand, maybe we need to reach back further in time, to John Dewey's views on education, see Wikipedia reference; John Dewey's views on education.

"Throughout these writings, several recurrent themes ring true; Dewey continually argues that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place. In addition, he believed that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, and all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning."

Teachers, way back in the past, stood at the front of the classroom, lecturing to their class and this obviously was not the right approach! A better idea would be to "record" them lecturing at the front of their classroom, place it somewhere online, and let them watch it whenever they feel like learning. That has to work, why, because all the "smart" Wall Street money is telling us it works!

I have a question for you, how's that working out for you at your institution? Have you gone down this path? Are students internalizing the material, passing their tests with flying colors, retaining the information longer? Learning so much that they can assume the role of the "content expert" and begin teaching their classmates.

I got fired up about this topic after reading a Salon article: "The plot to destroy education: Why technology could ruin American classrooms - by trying to fix them." In my humble opinion, the author pretty much nails it (i.e., the outsourcing of "education" to Wall Street). Maybe it's just me, but Wall Street seems to have a track record of squeezing every last cent out everything they touch and then sticking the taxpayers with the bill to clean-up and/or fix the mess they leave behind. Am I cynical, heck no! I'm a realist that looks at facts, to arrive at an informed decision.

Learning + Mobile + Apps + Games = Bewilderment

Bewilderment is a strange way to begin this discussion, but you have to put yourself back into the classroom and suspend all you think you know about teaching & learning for a few minutes.

Today’s students are more “Tec Savvy” than the previous generation; at least that’s what I see in print. They have access to more gadgets, gizmos, and games than any generation in history. They use this technology to communicate with one another and to learn, however this is where I have issue with the technology.

The literature seems to imply that if you just give students hours of multimedia, videos, and games that this is how to “reach” today’s learners. Want them to be successful, just give them what they want, i.e., multimedia rich content and learning will take place. Really? I disagree and can’t say this strongly enough! To me this just is a modern day version of the “funnel” theory, i.e., just pour the content in and magically learning will occur. Do you see the irony here? Now we pour in multimedia rather than words from a lecture, i.e., unless the lecture is prerecorded in which case we just “pour in” the prerecorded multimedia lecture.

To be successful a learner, whether the 2012 or the 1912 variety, learn by doing; yeah I said it. They need to get their hands dirty to learn. Whether they are doing longhand arithmetic or using a calculator to solve an equation, they need to do, not watch. They need to test a hypothesis as they move up the learning hierarchy as they learn how to internalize the material. I may be wrong here, but for me the goal of education is to teach learners to think and that happens by experimenting with and testing theories, assumptions, researching facts, and comparing ideas.

Am I ruling out the idea of online learning? Absolutely not! Learning takes place though the exchange of ideas and discussion boards satisfy this condition. So do blogs, journals, and wikis, as long as they can be read, commented on, ideas shared, tested, formed, and reformed. Can a short video clip, e.g., the bridge collapse in Seattle that demonstrates resonance, can be used to stimulate discussion, but that discussion has to be active and facilitated. The facilitator, i.e., the content system expert, can manage the discussion.

So I’m back to what I stated in a previous post, a good teacher’s a good teacher, and good teachers know how to “manage” a classroom and keep students engaged and learning. Multimedia and games, while nice to look at and play, just don’t cut it with me!