Reflecting on reflection

The art of teaching is just that, an art. Some people come by it naturally, and some have to work at it. To me, the key to becoming a good teacher is connected to how well we can improve upon each teaching experience. I realize that the last thing we want to do when we finish teaching is to evaluate how we did, but that is the best time. So, in that frame of mind, I look back at my experience as the instructor of a “Distance Education Tools” class at USU. I had 12 incredible (I know that sounds like a trite word, but I can’t come up with a better description) students. Some were in the MEd Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences program and had most of their classes taught at a distance, and some were MS students that usually had face-to-face classes. One of my students was even a Nutrition and Food Sciences MS major (he has a great blog with nutritious recipes and tips). Everyone brought a different level of experience and expertise that they were willing to share with all of us.

As part of the course each student was required to develop and present a mini-workshop on a tool that could be used with distance education. The students were required to go completely through the design phase from analysis to evaluation. To me, the most interesting outcomes came from their own reflections on their presentations. Each student was able to find ways to improve their instructional product as well as reflect on some of the unexpected outcomes. As I read through many of the students reflection/evaluation papers it made me wonder how many times as students we design instruction but don’t actually have the opportunity to follow it through to its intented use. So much can be learned about design when we are the ones that are teaching or training with the materials that we create. Practical experience as well as evaluation are mandatory to complete the learning cycle.

So now in reflecting on what I would change about last weeks class, I can think of a couple of things. First, I would start the first day with a more detailed and simplified discussion on Copyright issues. This came up the fourth day of class and so I worked hard to follow up on Friday with solid information, but it would have been better to have it clarified earlier.  I wish we had had a little more time each day for discussion of our topics. I didn’t want to take away from our mini-workshops but I felt that some of the topics could have been discussed during the day while we were waiting for presenters to get set up.  Maybe even a forum style discussion online would have been valuable. I loved reading the students blog postings after every class.  This helped me to know how students were feeling about the class and make adjustments or changes the next day if needed. Some form of formative evaluation is so valuable to an instructor, especially for a newly developed course.

Overall, students were pleased and excited about the things they learned and several expressed the desire to have taken the course earlier in their program. I definitely agree that many of the tools we learned about can make our lives easier. I enjoyed my experience and hope all of my students will join me on my continued journey of learning.

Day 4 of the magic continues!

What a wonderful experience I have had teaching the “Distance Education Tools” class for the Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences program at USU .  The students are fantastic. The content is usable and exciting. The days just fly by. Just when we think we cannot get anymore into our little brains, someone gives another great workshop on a tool that we no longer want to live without. Part of me never wants it to end and the other part is not sure I can handle one more day.  We are all excited about Kirk and Joey cooking lunch for us tomorrow though. They are the greatest. I wish I had 1/10 of their energy. Of course if I did I would probably be out waterskiing instead of here learning with all of them.  I would definitely have missed out.

Yesterday we learned about Google Docs, Flickr, Skype and Wimba.  All great tools and even better presentations. Today was no different with presentations on Moodle, Powerpoint, Jing and Camtasia. What more can I say than it has just been magical.

Lake Powell Sunset

Lake Powell Sunset

Originally uploaded by dawn.parker73

Talking in class today with Kirk and Joey about Lake Powell got me so excited. So we learned about Flickr today and we learned how to add Flickr pictures directly to our blog. I am trying it out and thinking this is sooo cool. Found some beautiful pictures of Lake Powell. Wondering how this will all look when I post it to my blog. I really love this stuff!

Nothing more interesting than a classroom full of excited learners!

The second day of  my “Distance Education Tools” class was full of so much energy you could just feel it in the air. We had mini-workshops on Twitter from John Vasas, Wiki’s from Tina Smith, and Podcasting from Joey Mittelman. I love listening to the questions and watching everyone get excited about seeing something for the first time that they had just heard about before.  I have tried really hard to create a reason for the students to continue to use the tools throughout the week so that they can solidify some of their skills.  I think that too often in a class like this you just see it done, but then you can’t remember how to use it later, so you never do. The continued use will hopefully allow them to ask questions while the experts are still there.  I love to hear how the students are already planning how to use some of the tools in their own teaching and job applications.

When you really think about it, a class like this can be very transformative.  We are now giving our students skills and tools to use, that will change the way they use their acquired knowledge. We (and I include myself in this since I am learning as much as anyone) are gaining power.  Power to make changes for others that will enrich lives.  Very exciting! Can’t wait for tomorrow.  I am sure it will be just as good.

Teaching or learning. It’s a toss-up which one I like best.

What a great day in our Distance Education Tools class.  The students are fun and excited about what we are learning and fantastic to help each other and add to the knowledge base. There is just some kind of synergy that happens when everyone is collectively teaching and learning at the same time.  Every single person has something to bring to the table. We learned about my favorite social bookmarking tool, Delicious,this afternoon from John Sanchez.  He did a great job, especially since we were dealing with some unknown technical issues.  It goes to show you that being flexible and staying calm can get you through most things. I have been bookmarking things for the last month that I thought this class might be interested in and giving them a Delicious tag of INST6105.  We have quite a collection going on now.  Hopefully we can continue to add to a great start.

If any of you would like to see some of the things we are doing you are welcome to visit our class website. From there you can link to our class blogs. Currently it is a work in progress and will eventually house links to all of our class mini-tool-workshops.  These workshops will be stand alone modules that can be reused by anyone to teach about one of these tools.

Preparing for a class can be tougher than taking it. ; )

You know how many times you have heard people say that they learned much more preparing for a class than the students.  Well, I am feeling that way right now.  I have been preparing to teach a Distance Education Tools class at USU for 6 months now.   It has been quite a ride and I have learned an awful lot.  I am sure I will learn even more from my students. Today one of my students, Stephanie Hamblin, is teaching us about blogging.  I will be asking my students to blog each day of the class and review and evaluate the day.  This is a great reflection tool and will help me in evaluating what is going on and make changes during the day.

Now I am supposed to learn to swim in this Tsunami!

If you want to see more ways to use online educational resources check out Scott Leslie’s presentation at TTIX (Technology with Technology Idea Exchange. Scott talked about how he has learned to swim in this Tsunami of information we have available to us. I watched him swim too, and I was amazed at how many tools he uses to remix content into this engaging and interactive presentation.

The Grand Poobah of Social Networking at TTIX

One of my favorite parts of TTIX was the constant Twitter feed going on.  Check it out at #TTIX. Sitting through Scott’s presentation with my laptop open and monitoring the feed via Twitterfall was a completely different experience than anything I know of.  I wasn’t even Tweeting but I was more engaged just watching than I would otherwise have been. Before this week I only had a limited vision of the power of Twitter.  Now I know it can be used to win great prizes, like my friend Tom who won an iPod Touch and became this years Grand Poobah of social networking for TTIX. I really dig that hat!

I have to say, I am glad that I haven’t created my course schedule yet for the “Distance Education Tools” workshop I am teaching this summer.  So many things to show them.  Next year I should just email them all and have them meet me at the TTIX conference. Especially since it is FREE.