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Traditionalists are often described as loyal, hardworking, conservative, and faithful to their employers. Many have worked faithfully for 30 years and have a very strong work ethic

Baby Boomers are known to crave recognition, value respect, see education as a birthright, and favor personable communication to build rapport with peers and co-workers

Xers tend to be skeptical, independent workers who highly value a balance between their work and their social life. They desire their time off more than extra pay or promotions and have little fear of changing jobs. In turn, they do not expect employer loyalty. This generation is shaped by a culture of instant results. They are comfortable with multitasking, are motivated to get the job done, value efficiency and directness, expect immediate responses, and look at education as a means to an end

Regardless of the tool or set of tools that you use, be sure your communication plan is clear to your students. Online communication does have rules, just like face-to-face communication. Set guidelines as well as expectations, and use only those tools that you’ve evaluated and which clearly enhance your teaching and student learning.

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Creative Commons: no

Despite this, (and this is my personal view, not the view of the 'anti-Learning Styles lobby'), many teachers and educators continue to find value and benefit by using Learning Styles theory in one way or another, and as often applies in such situations, there is likely to be usage which is appropriate, and other usage which is not.

Education is big business. Much is at stake commercially and reputationally, and so it is not surprising that debate can become quite fierce as to which methods work and which don't. So try to temper what you read with what you know and feel and experience. Personal local situations can be quite different to highly generalised averages, or national 'statistics'. Often your own experiences are likely to be more useful to you than much of the remote 'research' that you encounter through life. You must be careful how you use systems and methods with others, and be careful how you assess research and what it actually means to you for your own purposes.

A note about Learning Styles in young people's education: Towards the end of the first decade of the 2000s a lobby seems to have grown among certain educationalists and educational researchers, which I summarise very briefly as follows: that in terms of substantial large-scale scientific research into young people's education, 'Learning Styles' theories, models, instruments, etc., remain largely unproven methodologies. Moreover Learning Styles objectors and opponents assert that heavy relience upon Learning Styles theory in developing and conducting young people's education, is of questionable benefit, and may in some cases be counter-productive. Despite this, (and this is my personal view, not the view of the 'anti-Learning Styles lobby'), many teachers and educators continue to find value and benefit by using Learning Styles theory in one way or another, and as often applies in such situations, there is likely to be usage which is appropriate, and other usage which is not.

Invest early and often

Use index funds when possible

Never try to time the market

I have observed at least three major phases that many teachers go through, or far too often, fail to go through. Phase I might be described by Harry Wong as "Doing what you have been doing, and getting what you have been getting". In other words, Phase I is simply the pre-reform effort phase. Of course, we as educators hope to move teachers to a new vision and this can result in Phase II.

    In Phase II, teachers are presented with a new teaching strategy, usually in the context of an afternoon or one day workshop. So armed with this new skill, but little else, they venture back to their classroom to try implementation or worse, write off the whole experience and tell colleagues seated near them that they already do that. What is immediately noticeable for those who at least think about possible implementation, is how these teachers internalize this new strategy and attempt to move it into practice.

Phase III is where teachers reflect on 1. what they were doing that worked, and 2. how they might integrate these new ideas into their pre-workshop repertoire of teaching tools.

This action research study explored the change in face-to-face teaching practices as a result of faculty professional development for online teaching. Faculty’s initial teaching model is typically born from that of their own teachers, and they teach as they were taught. However, few have any online experience as a student or a teacher. Learning to teach online may be a catalyst for faculty to reflect on and evaluate their current teaching practices.

The results of the study indicated that learning to teach online has the potential to transform faculty’s assumptions and beliefs about teaching, changing their face-to-face teaching practices.