LearningTimes Green Room

In this slightly longer than usual episode, Susan and Dan review Daniel H. Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” (2005). Although not written for teachers, per se, both enjoyed the book for its insights and implications for teaching and learning.

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Show Notes:

The “whole” is the central premise of the book. Pink suggests that in the future, people who effectively use both sides of the brain (right and left) will succeed. The book starts with a review of trends that are shaping our world and why we can no longer be as reliant on left brain dominant thinking. Outsourcing highly skilled jobs to Asia, Automation, and Abundance are the trends that have been moving us into the Conceptual Age.

From there, Pink moves into Six Senses, or competencies. These are ways of thinking that will bring together both hemispheres and offer fresh insights. At the end of each chapter, Pink offers activities in a portfolio to help develop these competencies. The senses are:

- Design
- Story
- Symphony
- Empathy
- Play
- Meaning

Susan and Dan examine each sense and offer their interpretation of how that might look in a teaching sense. They then encourage listeners to share their practices that support these senses and new ideas of where educators should focus in the future.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

Susan and Dan are joined by Paul Stacey of BCCampus who describes Dare2BDigital, an innovative online reality game show showcasing online learning across British Columbia, Canada.

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Show Notes:

Susan and Dan are joined by Paul Stacey, Director of Development for BCcampus, a system wide service agency focused on online teaching and learning for the colleges in his Canadian province.

He shares the latest on a very innovative program called Dare2BDigital, a collaborative project among British Columbia’s public post-secondary institutions.

This is an online showcase offered as a reality game show. Teams of students were presented with a weekly challenge, similar to what they might experience in an exemplary online course. And it is not just the students who get involved; audience members have the opportunity to interact, vote, and have a say in what happens through social networking.

Where did they get students? They advertised in student newspapers and invited teams to apply. They started with 6 teams of 4 students each from 5 different colleges. It was a mixed group in terms of whether they’ve taken online courses.

Surprised and delighted describes the view of how the student teams have responded to the challenges. They have been amazingly professional and creative. Some of the topics showcased: deep space science and astronomy, great unsolved Canadian mysteries, energy and alternative energy, universal design.

Sponsors put up $35-40,000 in prizes for teams and the audience! Sandy Hirtz (also from BCcampus ) did a lot of the networking with sponsors.

The faculty who developed the challenges either have online experience or are migrating online.

The biggest surprise? That they got teams, faculty, sponsors and everyone to come together. Also, the quality of student work and the dedication of judges went way beyond expectations.

Sorry to disappoint listeners, but you’ll have to look at the archives because Dare2BDigital has ended. And Paul is investigating the future! (We are all hopeful there will be a second season.)

Listeners, please go check out the site: http://event.dare2bdigital.ca

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this episode Susan and Dan tell a story! The story is how to use “story” for instructional purposes.



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Show Notes:

In this episode Susan and Dan tell a story! The story is how to use “story” for instructional purposes.

Long ago information was transmitted through story. The printed word changed much of that. Susan was reminded of the power of story in reading Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind.”

Annette Simmons writes on the value of story in “The Story Factor.” The story is like a mini documentary of what you’ve seen so others can see it too. It is a tool for sharing a point of view.

Story is one way of contextualizing information. Gaming is about putting people into a story. Your ability to step inside a story helps humanize the learning and may help develop a sense of empathy.

Robert Dickman writes that a story is a fact wrapped in an emotion which then can compel us to take action.

Medical education has a long history of involving story in teaching by way of case studies and scenarios. Those same strategies can be used in other disciplines. Getting students engaged in solving a problem, making a recommendation, or breaking up problem down into simpler components are methods of using story.

One of the key components of the story is a problem. Sometimes we get too caught up on focusing on the solution they need to look at the problem.

Susan likes story upfront as an introduction. Dan suggests that different strategies may promote more multimodal learning. Fire, passion, or energy are easily transmitted through story.

Dan and Susan then share their experience with Learning Scenarios Online, a novel way of offering online learning through a Valencia College. These courses are short online professional development opportunities where the learners follow the characters through a plot and modular activities that promote problem-solving and insight.

What makes a good story? Dan says a good story includes a point of view that is different from his own. Susan needs a character she can relate to or needs to know enough about the character. Dan looks for a story to take him to a new place, a different resolution.

Obviously, depending on how you are teaching with story, you might not always want to give the story and ending. Students need to find the ending! Dan reminds us that while there should be multiple paths, these cannot be too obvious or too obscured.

Dan further explains Learning Scenarios Online. We encourage listeners to look into that at http://www.learningscenariosonline.com.

Listeners, let us hear your stories about using story in teaching and learning! Or share resources!

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this episode, Susan and Dan explore the topic of assessment. The show continues the dialogue that was kicked off by a recent episode on “learner feedback”.



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Show Notes:

To begin, Dan does not differentiate assessment from evaluation. The idea of assessment as formative and evaluation of summative doesn’t work for him. Susan’s definition of assessment is the process of measuring and documenting what the student learned. And Dan adds to that in a way that is understandable to the learner. Students should learn something from a process of assessment.

Both agree that assessment should start with the instructional objectives.

In the online classroom, teachers often assess learning through self expression by way of contributions in discussion forums, journaling, and reflections. Projects, papers and portfolios are also pieces of assessment.

CATs have been modified for the online environment as feedback for teachers. Susan points out that teachers get feedback through student work all the time! For example, read this.

The biggest concern in online learning is security; how do you know that the student is really who they say they are? Papers can be plagiarized, and someone else can take the test. Susan and Dan discuss methods teachers can use it to personalize work and possibly prevent some cheating. They also discussed the use of proctored sites for testing.

And what should we assess? Susan says we should assess what we said we were going to in the instructional objectives! Dan has a neat website to share to help instructors align assessment with the domains that they want to measure.

The assessment tool should match what you’re trying to achieve in terms of the outcome, the domain, or the kind of learning that you’re trying to see evidence of.

Susan and Dan then switch to a conversation with Les Lewchuk, co-author with Ruth Stiehl of The Assessment Primer. The target audience is generally college faculty and uses the metaphor of a river and documenting the flow of evidence. Learn more about the book.

Susan’s overview article that she refers to often: Assessing Learners Online

Dan invites the audience to contribute their ideas as well.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this show, Susan and Dan are joined by “Grammar Girl” for a look behind the scenes of her award-winning educational podcast. Hosted by Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl not only provides “quick and dirty tips for better writing”, it also serves as a great example of engaging and portable learning.



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Show Notes:

In this episode, Susan and Dan meet Mignon Fogarty, host of Grammar Girl, and talk with her about her award-winning and very popular podcast. Mignon is going to be one of the keynote speakers for the Illinois Online Conference in February, and this conference is produced in part by LearningTimes. Therefore, Jonathan Finkelstein, executive producer of LearningTimes, also joins the group.

Mignon begins to explain how she started podcasting as a science writer. Combining her love of interviewing and writing with her curiosity about podcasting and new audio technology, Mignon found podcasting was a mechanism by which she could write what she wanted and publish without editors and time-consuming review. Her first podcast was called Absolute Science, and she produced this for about six months.

Looking for another show to produce, one that would be shorter and less time-consuming, Mignon fell on the idea of grammar as she was editing documents. It is ironic that Grammar Girl has become more than a full-time job for Mignon.

Jonathan reminds us that Grammar Girl is one of several podcasts in the “Quick and Dirty Tips” series produced by Mignon.

Within a month or two, Grammar Girl was one of the highest rated podcast in iTunes. Mignon recognized this as an opportunity to launch a bigger business by adding other topics.

Self-described as a tech junkie, Mignon decided that learning audio technology was more interesting than just blogging her message.

Dan asks about the research. Mignon learned very quickly that given the demographics of her listeners and the number of listeners, she needed to be sure she referenced her work and provided resources and footnotes. She does her own research.

Dan wants to learn where the idiomatic expression “off the cuff” comes from.

Mignon gets her show ideas from listeners and e-mail. She also loves to use current events as a springboard for new topics.

Here is what Mignon knows about her listeners. Nearly 70% come from the US, there is an even mix of male and female listeners, and the majority are between the ages of 25 and 50. She was surprised that her listeners were not younger, students who might be assigned to listen to her work as part of class. And as you might imagine, her listeners are well educated.

Mignon then explains how she became a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show. She has also been the web pick of the day on the Wall Street Journal.

Jonathan points out how powerful the Grammar Girl podcasts have been in helping faculty see that you can take a subject that people might steer away from and make it fun. She also makes it look easy!

Again, Mignon will be one of the keynote speakers for the Illinois Online Conference in February. If you are interested in learning more about the conference, visit http://www.ilonlineconf.org.

Susan and Dan encourage their listeners to switch over to the Grammar Girl for the week and post their grammar questions to Mignon at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

In this show, Susan and Dan jump into the LT GreenRoom to discuss the feedback we provide to our learners. How often do we give them feedback? What form does it take? How well does it serve them? Listen in, and then share some feedback of your own!



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Show Notes:

Susan and Dan talk about feedback in this episode. That is, feedback as it relates to learning, not specific to online or any age group.

Dan defines feedback as intentional challenge or encouragement from the teacher.

Susan’s definition is useful information that tells a learner whether they are on-track.

When should feedback be given? Depends on task. Think about something that might relate to safety…act quickly! Sooner rather than later seems to be a safe model to follow.

One type of feedback is encouragement (example: encouraging participation).

Challenge: being pushed a little beyond where you are. It could mean being corrected or getting a bad grade.

Formative (keep going and “grow” comments) versus summative (final points and grade) feedback. Summative is usually tied to assessment. Dan thinks formative feedback is more difficult to give because it relates to a learner’s motivation. Susan hates grading, loves formative work.

Teachers need to ask students what’s useful in feedback. Susan gets that sense through the weekly student reflections.

What are ways teachers give feedback? Nonverbals if you’re face to face. Susan is currently using Dragon Naturally Speaking to talk her way through grading papers. It’s saving her time.

She also uses audio feedback, recording with Audacity and sending as email. The best known source on this practice is Jeff Sommers’ site.

Does Susan have a standardized way of giving feedback online? She generally communicates with each learner personally at the end of a unit. She sends back the rubric with specific comments written in – more detailed early in the term and less so as each learner figures out what’s expected.

Dan discusses the importance of giving examples in feedback.

Feel-good grades (A++ Excellent!) don’t really help students learn. However, good feedback about what’s good can be powerful motivators.

Dan and Susan would like to hear from other teachers: how do you give feedback to your students and how do you solicit feedback from them? What’s working?

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this unusual episode, Dan interviews Susan about a recent online synchronous training seminar she conducted. He asks her to walk him through her planning process, the decisions she made, the activities during the seminar, and what she hoped to achieve.

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Show Notes:

The recent online synchronous training seminar that Susan conducted was presented to a group of doctoral students at Western Illinois University who are examining the idea of integrating technology into the K12 setting. There was also a corollary group in China, and those students were awake in the middle of the night to participate! What Susan knew of the group was that most were principals or superintendents.

Susan’s topic focused on adding digital audio and possibly multimedia to today’s classroom.

Susan started to focus on case studies, but later organized the program according to specific tools. She asked to learners to clarify which tools would be of most interest.

The activities she planned in order to keep learners engaged included polling and demonstration. She knew exactly where she would ask for input. Because the participants had been using this presentation tool earlier in the day, she did not have to train them on what buttons to push.

A question Susan had not anticipated was about funding sources. All the tools she uses are either free or very low cost, but she and Dan discussed the possibility of referring people to publications that list grants, such as eSchool News, or seeking private funding through local businesses and partnerships.

Susan ran out of time because she had too much content! Showing the examples took more time than she anticipated. She also would have been a little more culturally sensitive in the images that she showed if she had known that there was going to be an international audience. She uses the example of Laurel and Hardy and how she needed to put them in a context in case the learners did not know who these figures were.

By the way, Susan talked about her use of:

• Podcasting and audio
• Site Pal (or talking avatars)
• Digital Storytelling
• Voicethreads
• “Tubes” and video
• Skype

She referenced her links in del.icio.us and you too can follow her links
at: http://del.icio.us/smanning/WIU-program.

Listeners, go interview a colleague at the next time he or she presents a seminar and find out what they were thinking! Be surprised what you learned.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this episode, Dan and Susan share their holiday wish lists. They might have some surprises under the tree!



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Show Notes:

Dan and Susan share their holiday wish lists. They might have some surprises under the tree!

Dan wishes for something that would help unmotivated learners get motivated real quickly. Likewise Susan wishes that students were adequately advised before they signed up for online courses.

Susan wishes for an easy solution to helping learners manage their expectations. When you read the course catalog, does the description fit the course? What expectations due learners bring to the virtual classroom, and how can instructors clarify what is expected of learners?

Susan needs (wants) a new laptop. A ruby red one, please.

Susan would like an open-source web-conferencing tool that combines graphics, whiteboard, interactivity and audio.

Dan would like a replacement for multiple-choice quizzes. What he really wants is a tool that creates multiple-choice quizzes that foster critical thinking. Check out http://www.willatworklearning.com/.

Susan is really dreaming when she asks for an answer to the security question related to assessment. How I know that the person in my online class is really who she says she is?

For the K-12 teachers and of the world, Susan wishes for fewer filters so that they can access some of the cool collaborative tools that are available online.

Dan wants a tool to tell him which tools he needs to learn.

Susan needs a digital cleaning service that will clear her hard drive of old files that are probably now clutter more than resources.

Dan needs a service to tag all his digital photos.

Dan wants a simple solution for audio e-mail. Susan wants free transcription for podcasts.

Dan and Susan leave their listeners with well wishes for happy holidays and would like to hear what’s on their lists.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

On this Thanksgiving week in the United States, Dan and I would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to our loyal listeners. Your comments and engagement in the LearningTimes community keep us going. We’ve enjoyed getting to know you and thinking out loud with you. Some of you may be traveling this week, and so if you have not caught all of our episodes, consider downloading and listening to us on your journey. We love to travel! And for those listeners who are not celebrating with us in the United States, we are equally thankful for your international presence. Finally, we want to thank John and Jonathan from LearningTimes for their constant support and encouragement in the production of this podcast. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Susan and Dan are joined by Stacy Behmer who shares her experience with digital storytelling (DST) in elementary and middle school classrooms.



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Show notes:

Stacy Behmer joins Susan and Dan to talk about her experience with digital storytelling (DST) in elementary and middle school classrooms. Stacy researched DST as a graduate student at Iowa State University and has made her resources available at http://ctlt.iastate.edu/~ds/Behmer/. Throughout this interview, Stacy references Jane Schmidt, a middle school English teacher in Maquoketa, Iowa, as well as her major professor Dr. Denise Schmidt. Both women were instrumental in advising Stacy through her research.

Defining DST: combining story + music, audio, video, photos and other media.

Stacy’s research was with 7th grade language arts students. She walks through how she became acquainted with DST and how she saw the connections to teaching/learning and standards.

The end product of her research were stories created by groups of 3-4 students on the theme “Everyone has a story to tell and we’re going to help you to tell it.” These stories came from interviews of community members; the project extended over a four week period. Stacy shares all the details of how she implemented this.

A couple insights/questions to listen for:

• What happens when a group doesn’t follow the prescribed steps?
• The importance of flexibility
• How kids latch on the technology
• Mac/PC alternatives iMovie versus MovieMaker versus PhotoStory3
• Connecting your project to standards (think language arts)

What would she change? Building in assessment measures throughout the project.

Can this transfer to higher education classrooms where faculty do not have students every day for large chunks of time? Stacy tells about pre-service teachers and their DSTs.

Stacy’s biggest surprise was the level of engagement.

Again, go look at Stacy’s website at http://ctlt.iastate.edu/~ds/Behmer/ and see the stories!

Listeners, Susan and Dan want to hear your stories about DST projects you’ve tried and how they’re working!

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!