LearningTimes Green Room

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!