Words association (individual classroom activity - day 1)
TRAINING practical skills; own interest; work; work place
TEACHING assessment of existing skills; following curriculum; methods of delivery; presentation skills
EDUCATION on-going process; life long; institutions; formal and informal
KNOWLEDGE asset; evaluation; enquiring; usefulness;
LEARNING environment; process, everything related to education; skills; styles
Suddenly I realized how all those words are related

 

THEMES:  What we bring to MADL 2001 (classroom activity - day 1)
training teaching experience enthusiasm energy
humor creativity curiosity communication
human/learner focus motivation open to possibilities/change willingness to learn from others
diversity      
I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity in backgrounds, knowledge and experience of my colleagues

 

LEARNING ASSESSMENT
Learning Skills:
1 What do I tell myself about my learning abilities? 1 I am remarkably capable if highly motivated.
2 What personal "rules" do I have about my own learning? (To explore this one, start with the statement, When I think about my learning, I know I need...) How do these rules help/hinder your learning? 2 When I think about my learning, I know I need to believe in the relevance of the learning task. I am a selective learner. Only what I believe is important, I am ready to learn and able to learn well. I realize that this is not an attitude I would like to see in any of my students. Therefore, I understand I am not an easy student myself to guide
3 What personal learning "myths" do I hold? (To explore this one, start with the statement, When I think about learning new things, I know I can (can't)... or I like (don't like...) How do these myths help/hinder my learning? 3 I am not sure if I hold any personal learning "myths". Would my belief in the importance of motivation and relevance of the learning task be considered similar to one of the "myths" Brookfield mentioned - that "good educational practice always meets the needs articulated by learners themselves"?
When I think about learning new things, I know I resent learning anything that I presume irrelevant, unimportant, or of no practical use, and I simply decide I cannot and will not learn it.
4 Am I flexible in my approach to learning? Have I developed specific strategies to use in situations that may not be ideal learning situations for me? 4 If the learning task is relevant, I am able to adapt to difficult situations. One of my favorite specific strategies is to let go whatever doesn't work and keep trying new ways to tackle a problem.
5 Do I talk with others about how they approach various learning tasks? 5 Definitely.  Mostly with my students.
6 Do I ask others for help when learning something new? 6 I do.  Perhaps not without hesitations.
Reflective Beginner Skills (adapted from Vail, 1996)
1 How do I handle white water? Can I maintain a sense of self and remain centered amidst white water? 1 I accept the turbulence of environments as part of life. I always maintain a sense of self and remain centered amidst white water, even on the verge of being drowned.
2 Can I ask for help without embarrassment or apology?

 

 2 Depending on the kind of people I need help from. That's why I am specially sensitive to students who need but are hesitant to ask for help, and I always try to make myself available and approachable.
3 Can I separate my overall feeling of self-worth from personal deficiencies on a particular learning project?

 

 3 When I am on any learning project, I try different ways to complete the task. I might get frustrated in the process, but I wouldn't link frustrations with my self-worth. Rather, I would wonder if it is worth spending more of my time on the project and then make decision to get on or quit. 
4 Can I see the learning process as continual experimentation rather than a system that only has one chance to "get it right"? 4 I enjoy "creative" and "expressive" learning by Vail's definition. Yes, I can see the learning process as continual experimentation.
5 Can I maintain a sense of humor about my own sometimes lamentable state of beginnerhood? 5 Definitely -  I would say it's what I'm learning that's a lamentable state of confusing complexity, rather than  me being a lamentable state of beginnerhood.
6 Can I recognize the temptations and dangers of looking for and demanding the cookbook, 5 easy steps, magic bullet, etc.? 6 I don't understand this question. 
7 Have I internalized the profound truth of "one day at a time" when approaching a new learning task? 7 To me, that's simple truth, a common practice, nothing profound about it - in computer technology, it's one nano-second at a time.

 

Journal
Week-1
Day 0
Sun  08/12/2001		 I met two fellow students: one from Nova Scotia and one from Ontario. I took pictures of us all  and posted them on the Internet for our families to see. The location of Royal Roads University is beautiful.
Day 1
Mon
08/13/2001		 I met the faculty members with positive impressions. All they were trying to do was to create a comfortable, appealing, motivating learning environment, and I think they were successful.
I have to agree (from discussion) that learning theories might be very useful, some of them exclusive so in specific learning environments. "Effective learning strategies" is a key.

I learned that the balance has to be struck between content and process of learning.

I confirmed that I can learn a lot from others.

 

 

Day 2
Tues
08/14/2001

 Today I learned a new instructional trick to catch the class attention: the instructor will suddenly raise his/her hand while the class is in the middle of some activities  All the students are to stop their activities to raise their hands and, at the same time, stop talking. Of course, the instructor will have to explain the whole idea to the class first.

Great "clapping" activity and evaluation referred to Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb).  

I learned that competency assessments have to be set up very carefully. The criteria can be counter productive and kill spontaneous reaction and enthusiasm.  It can also create anxiety in the learner. 

I learned about Grow's web site:  http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/SSDLIndex.html
Instructional approaches depend on the tasks instructors have and the stage the learners are in.  "Good teaching matches the learner's stage of self-direction and helps the learner advance toward greater self-direction. Specific methods are proposed for teaching students at each stage, although many different teaching styles are good when appropriately applied."

We formed our first learning community,  followed by another activity: "puzzle".

I was reluctant to get involved as I had never put any jig-saw puzzles together in my life. I just wanted to remain an observer. To my surprise, other members in our group were very enthusiastic about completing that trivial task. 

Then Leslie handed me me a few pieces.  I forced myself to try and managed to put couples of pieces together. Then again I remained an observer. 

Our group had almost completed the task. To my embarrassment, Leslie handed me the last piece of the puzzle for the finishing touch. 

In the end,  my embarrassment was surmounted by the positive feeling of being acknowledged by my group. I must have been an important part of it.  Thanks to Leslie.  

The follow-up class discussion was also very interesting. Trivial tasks, after all,  are not necessary meaningless.

We named our group "The Driscolls", and set up the following values:
  • We advocate the safe,  respectful learning environment
  • We foster the sharing of knowledge
  • We promote an enthusiastic learning community
  • We strive for quality and productivity
Our vision:

The vision of the MADL 2001 cohort is to coalesce as a learning community where its members are encouraged and supported as they explore and
influence the field of DL.

This cohort will be known for its willingness to embrace diversity and change within the foundational context of best research and practice.

I have to brush up on learning theories.

 

Day 3
Wed.
08/15/2001

 Today we had Distance Learning Workshop.

I was disappointed hearing so many students voicing their concerns against technology and its use in educational institutions.

Our Dean told us a story of his first DL experience in 1977. The course designed then consisted of 35 audio tapes.

The mentioning of audio tapes reminded me of a request I made to one of my professors when I spent two hours commuting for each three-hour session for my BA in Adult Education program.

I asked the professor to produce a cassette tape of the wonderful stories he had been reading to us.  And then I was blessed with an idea, a vision of an  International DL University

Instead of struggling with technology, let's embrace it. Let's use all possible media of it, without excluding the old one. Let's prepare courses which offer the learner a variety of media to choose from, with the same material duplicated on audio tapes, CD's, video tapes, and posted on the Internet.

The learner can request printed copies of condensed versions of books and articles to be sent to him by snail mail. All learners will have access to searchable, indexed libraries on the net,  take part in video conferencing, and, perhaps, even get connected to university satellite television stations.

The key is to prepare learning material in a variety of formats, which will accommodate traditional, modern, slow and fast learners.

Another key is to convince university professors to start preparing condensed learning materials such as transcripts from some 1000-page books, which our increasingly busy lives do not allow us to complete.

So, let's use all available forms of technology, giving the learner as many choices as possible. Then perhaps  gradually he will feel more comfortable and willing to deviate from his/her established learning habits to experiment with new technologies.

Of course this kind of approach would be costly, but huge international enrollments could bring in big profits..

Keep it in mind though, that technology is becoming more and more affordable and accessible.

What do you think? 
Day 4 Today we enjoyed a lecture on Reflective Learning. Sort of like my journal. I should get a book: Transformative Learning by Mezirow (1999). We also got Feedback 101, Intro to WebCT, and one-on-one meeting with Program Adviser.

Everything becomes clearer, reducing that terrible anxiety we all experienced at the beginning.

Day 5 We had our group activity regarding reflective learning, or what I would call group therapy meeting. I have to admit that it is a good way to get to know other group members.

It is weekend and I am looking forward to seeing my family.

  Coming back on Monday to RRU, I got an idea for the designing a new multimedia program, a program combining traditional and on-line learning. It is an idea unfolding and developing in me since I started at RRU. Now, I know that this program will work for me. The influence of learning community or environment is unquestionable.

I'll have to concentrate on my final paper and design my new program. From now on, my journal entries will be limited to just key, intriguing issues, or just points.

Speakers: Andrew Thomas (Glasgow), Helen Lentell (Commonwealth of Learning), Ralph Helder (Alberta), Rob Pearson (Industry)

Application Service Provide - ASP mode.

"empower people to do things for themselves"

Objective, learning strategy, assessment - all 3 have to be relevant to activities.

THE END PRODUCT SHOULD BE SUCCESS OF THE STUDENT.

culture effects; effects on society
Group dynamic exercise:
We were given the task of solving a specific problem within given scenario. It was interesting to see how my usual task oriented attitude change towards concentrating on process of achieving it.
In fact the whole group dismissed the problem as irrelevant and concentrated on evaluation of the process and group dynamics. It was great.

Another interesting thing was to see other groups' presentations on the same topic, performed in totally different manners.
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