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Joy LaJeret

Instructional Goals and Objectives - 1 views

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    I needed to refer to this piece of Evan's Instructional Design advice. The Goals are relatively easy to conceptualize. The module objectives are a bit more difficult.
hyerin suk

How enduring understandings can help - 5 views

shared by hyerin suk on 22 Feb 11 - No Cached
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    Six Facets of Understanding -stage 1 : Identify desired results
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    I think this is true for many endeavors in life - having goals and knowing what you want to achieve.
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    I agree with this. We were told to write our immediate goals and long term goals, when I was in the University. I still do this...hoping I have five years or more in front of me. I have too much to do not to.
Jennifer Dalby

Presentation Zen - 8 views

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    This is my favorite site to learn about powerful presentation techniques.
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    Not only is this a good site to teach more about the art of presentation, but Mogi, the presenter is an amazing man! I was in love with his slides that spoke about the need to keep "the sense of wonder" alive and that "curiosity" is what has brought us to this point. These are the very same words that I always used with my science students in middle school and college! I even had them in my syllabus! I've always held that we all come into this world as scientists because we all share the one common characteristic that all practicing scientists have: CURIOSITY. Kids were pretty amazed that they were already scientists before they even embarked on the great science learning adventure! Rachel Carson, the famous environmental scientist of the '60's wrote a book titled, "The Sense of Wonder" in which she expounded on the idea that every child needs at least one person (adult) to nourish and share his/her innate sense of wonder in order to keep it alive. I resonated with this man and now plan to read/see more of his stuff! Moreover, the new learning module in my ED250 class is a collaborative presentation of a topic using Google Presenter. I think the Presentation Zen site I just looked at may have some implications for that assignment! Thanks once again, Jennifer! I find myself thoroughly enchanted!
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    The concept of maintaining curiosity as the catalyst for true education and joy in life resonates. The challenge for me is the line between enterntainment and education. One of the comments to this article restated the debate is education to train one for a profession or to be educated and think. Why can't it be both?
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    I believe it can be both, Ann! Sometimes the "Experts R Us" and not those folks out there engaging in philosophical debates!
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    Ann and Mary Ann, I think you've touched on one of the challenges we find so frequently in discussing these things. It's not black and white. There isn't necessarily a right or a wrong. It's like potato salad. (Holy cow! I just made that up.) How many recipes are there for potato salad? People will argue about what it "should" have in it, but what really matters is the experience. And the experience isn't just in the taste. There's context around making it. There's a different context around the environment where we eat it, and our emotional state. We're not just training someone for a profession or to be educated and think. And even if those are our goals, where is the agency? What is the student's responsibility for learning? These are all complex issues, and I'm glad to see you all opening your minds and expressing both your gut reactions, and your own values. (Please forgive me for the potato salad. I maybe leaned to far on the entertainment side this time...)
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    The potato salad metaphor is a good one. In reading the post, it got my attention in a way that dry message might not. There is so much information (noise) out there, that it is important, maybe even mandatory, that information has something to catch us. What is a challenge for me as an educator, also with limited time, is the how much effort I put in to this "rising above the noise".
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    Great now I am hungry for potato salad!! Actually, a little humor now and then would be nice! Even songs need a hook and that is what I hear you saying Ann. I argee with that concept. Set up a "hook!"
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    I like the idea proposed by the potato salad metaphor. However, I may not forgive you Jen...LOL! I still want it! I like mine bland, no vinegar!
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    I want it too, and the more you keep saying it, the more I want it! I want mine with bacon and spicy mustard! You may just have to take a diet break, while we develop a collaborative potato salad recipe. P.S. Will you hate me if I post the site I used when I learned to make croissants from scratch?
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    Wonderful! Now I want potato salad and croissants! Okay I am open to recipes. Now I hope this does not get us off our intellectual track of study. Slogging through recipes might side track the ladies in the group: and reduce me to a helpless food addicted, potato salad craving croissant vixen. ::::sigh::::I am suffering from brain overload!
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    My philosophy is that I'm happier when I'm chubby and doing things I want, then (than?) I would be if I were torturing myself and trying to resist temptation. It's a balance thing. Do I beat myself up more for breaking a goal, or for having to haul my bigger clothes out of the basement. (Just did that.) This isn't an intellectual track of study. It's play. People learn by playing. In fact, I'm going to inject some more fun in this course. (If I ever catch up on the grading.)
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    Looks like a good site to go back to for good techniques for our presentations.
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    I think it is than...
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    I'm a little slow on the uptake, but the potato salad discussion was great!! I like bacon and sour cream in mine--but on the serious side--life, education, teaching, learning, ad infinitum, are rarely black and white; you are so correct, Jennifer, in the longer comment you addressed to Ann and me about the challenge centering around these things not having to be one way or the other because there are so many other factors involved.
Joy LaJeret

Understanding Understandings - 16 views

Each day I read more and view more videos outside the class. I am learning quite a bit about Ubd and assessment and will take the next course on my way to the certification. There is nothing, so ...

#EDUC251

Jennifer Dalby

Advice about the Use of Learning Styles: A Major Myth in Education - 4 views

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    "The authors' goal in this paper is to initiate a dialogue among educators who continue to make assertions about the usefulness of identifying students' learning styles with little or no research support. They discuss the status of learning style instruction and the unsubstantiated claims made by authors of learning style instruments and by instructors. They explore a number of key questions: (1) Are learning style instruments valid and reliable?; (2) Do students benefit when the type of instruction matches their preferred learning style?; and (3) More specifically, is there evidence that understanding one's learning style improves concentration, memory, self-confidence, and reduces anxiety, and leads to better grades? They conclude that learning style instruments have not been shown to be valid and reliable, there is no benefit to matching instruction to preferred learning style, and there is no evidence that understanding one's learning style improves learning and its related outcomes. They urge instructors to reconsider their instructional practices, especially the advice they give students about learning styles, and base their practices on sound research."
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    This was a well written article with a definite point--the answering of the authors' questions about the efficacy of using learning styles as an indicator of increased learning and performance. I agree with their assertion that research does not support continued concentration on LS as teachers design their instructional tasks. What I do know from my own experience, though, is that the teacher needs to invest a major portion of his/her time in learning how their particular students learn best, employing strategies that get at the meat of the subject for each student. I have a very simplistic motto that I use in my life and in my work: "It works best when it works". On the surface, these words mean absolutely nothing, but with a deeper probe, they are pretty profound. A highly capable high school student and graduate of Cal Tech that I worked with many years ago, coined this phrase. It was perfect then and still applies today.
Jennifer Dalby

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - 5 views

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    This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award. For more information on Sir Ken's work visit: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com
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    Spot on! I have a MS; but have never had a job using my academic skills. In fact, the workplace has penalized me and on several jobs told me I have no skills to obtain other jobs or be advanced. In fact, I have been told NOT to put my academic degrees in a resume. So, I am a honor student with 9 solid years of academic education, and a work force retard. What do you suppose is going on here? Unfortunately, there a several varibles at work in my case. The "glass ceiling," discrimination, ignorance of what education means and is (or maybe a better grasp); no knowledge of what tranferrable skills are and as we brain storm the list goes on, especially as I get older.
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    I hear you. I turn 40 this year and I can't help but wonder if I'd be better able to support my family if I had a marketable skill, instead of knowledge about knowledge :) I fantasize about raising goats and alpaca and selling soap and sweaters. :)
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    Joy and Jennifer--EVERYTHING you shared hits home with me. I find myself in both of your places (as expressed in your comments) so I am now trying to enhance my resume and become more marketable as I age!--I'm already "too old and too expensive" to fit into the traditional classroom in either private or public schools so. . . thanks for being there for me and helping me learn new skills that are so needed in the domain of 21st century education.
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    I recently submitted my resume for an education software training contract and this was the response. "I read through your resume and realized that most probably our position would bore the heck out of you." I replied that I enjoy working with people and it's always a challenge and not boring. He responded with the other issue; salary. I told him that was very low for this area. His response was, "Most probably I'll be finding someone younger (less experience) or someone older (semi retired)."
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    Ouch that is discrimination! The "semi retired: comment was even worse!!! In the first case he stated you were over qualified; and in the second paying lower wages to "semi retired" people is even more discriminatory! His verbal behavior disgusts me!
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    One resource to join the movement against age discrimination is typing into a search engine...Gray or Grey coalition. http://www.graymatterscoalition.com/
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    AMEN, Sisters! I'm totally appalled at what happened to you, Jen--the whole thing was discrimination!! Thanks for the link, Joy--I'm looking into it!
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    WOW! The RSA Animate visualized version of Robinson's talk is terrific for a variety of reasons - I'm just trying to unpack it all! First the presentation provides an instant visualization of Robinson's talk - a shorthand for thinking and remembering his ideas. The animation is engaging, entertaining and memorable. Since it's on YouTube, you can go back and watch it all, or portions of it. The perspective moves from close up to big picture, and changes on the fly. What's especially powerful, however is the central idea that Robinson is talking about - a real elephant in the room. He says our educational system, which was created for a different time and economic era, is outdated. It's a factory system, arising originally from the Industrial Revolution, that to many students seems irrelevant to their own futures and careers in the 21st Century. It divides students into two camps - academic professionals (ie. "smart people"), and vocationals (blue collar, "not-so smart people"). In one memorable section, he distinguishes between "aesthetic" experiences - which enliven and engage human attention, and "anesthetic" experiences which deaden curiosity and passion. He associates these "anesthetic" experiences with our current educational process. The fact that he delivers these heavy hitting criticisms with such a light hearted, though well articulated sense of humor, is especially powerful.
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    Three points come to mind. 1. Presentation. The way the information was presented was totally engaging had me wanting to believe the message without question. I would have appreciated having the sources of his information indicated. As we've commented on in other posts as well, the verasity of information is always an issue. I tried finding the prescription distribution used in the tape, but could not find specific information to support the claim (although I'm sure it is somewhere on the internet.) 2. Education Model. Although his model definitely resonated with me, I think of education or I should say the educational system as having two goals - to train us to be academics (as he describes) and to prepare us for jobs. Some jobs do require specifc answer knowledge. 3. On-line learning. One of his earlier points about the educational system is that there was a paradigm shift when free, state-sponsored education became a reality. His description of education prior to that seemed to fit what we often see in "internet" learning - more individual driven learning.
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    Jennifer - I am so glad you included Sir Ken Robinson in your syllabus. I love his unique perspectives, especially about our educational systems. His talk about the importance of educators fostering creativity in the culture of the classroom is very powerful. I also finished reading Downes article about the role of the educator and I see his points regarding how technology has redefined/redesigned our roles. I find it very exciting. Regarding the value of"divergent thinking." As a teacher, I always encourage and appreciate this capacity in my students. However, I also ask they reflect upon this process of divergent thinking. "What led you to think this might be a possibility?" I often find asking students to be reflective and to articulate about meta-cognition frustrates them. In our overstimulating and quick answer/fix culture, is it wrong to ask how their ideas came about? "Could you follow your train of thought?" Also, (and not directly related) did anyone click on the game Downes referenced called "Evoke." What an amazing on-line game - a "designed, learning community" posing serious, real-life problem solving about starvation in Africa. Wow! I can see how a learning tool such as this would make a course very exciting, but I can also see where some basic geography, social studies and other content should be woven into the syllabus.
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    Ann, it is completely engaging. I recognize your concerns about sources. When they create the RSA Animates, they do take the talk out of the original context, and also add creative interpretation. It's interesting to see how those things can be mixed together for such a powerful effect. I've never taken the time to dig too deeply into them to find the original context and determine whether there's a publication with sources.
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    Helen, I like Sir Ken Robinson's stuff, but I do take it with a grain of salt as well. Like Gladwell, he's a good storyteller and can inspire, but everything's got to be taken in context. I love that you ask your students to follow their train of thought. I do that with my kids, and find I often have to explain my own train of thought to others. I like the way you are in tune with the benefits and risks of reflective practice. It can get messy, and it isn't always the best thing for every student. It sounds like you take extra steps to make sure they understand the value of it.
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    Helen, thanks for underlining the Evoke game. I did find it - www.urgentevoke.com - and was impressed by what a great representative of eLearning this was. Organized, engaging, lots of information - but what I liked most was that it led to action - i.e., the gaming playing is not just on the computer - but actions you take or are encouraged to take to make a difference.
Joy LaJeret

Final Portfoilo #10 Blog Post Relecting on Learning - 16 views

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    Joy, Your posts are quite sobering, regarding your own experiences working towards completing your university education. I strongly agree with the following quote in your post: "In sum, it is time for educators to make college and higher learning relevant to their students. It is not about us, it is about them. We are the facilitators of their learning. We must prepare them for the world they will find themselves in when they leave the protected walls of our colleges and universities" I found the recent events in Cairo to be fascinating, where large numbers of people suddenly rose up against an authoritarian and out-of-touch government. This largely peaceful uprising was fueled by the same Web2.0 technologies that are underpinning this class. It's possible that many traditional schools will soon find themselves in a similar situation to the Egyptian government, where students pass them by in favor of lower cost and more relevant educational experiences - many of them available online. Bill Gates recently came under fire for making the statement that valid online college degrees may soon be available for $2000. He may have said this to exaggerate a point, but the evidence of a growing number of online low cost educational resources can't be ignored. One of them is the Khan Academy - run by an MIT graduate who has created a large free archive of mathematics courses that are used by students all over the world - many who claim they are better than their university courses. Colleges and universities ignore this development at their own peril. It's not clear yet how we'll make this transition to relevancy for students, but the next decade will be very interesting...
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    Hi Joy (and fellow classmates) - we were out-of-town for a week. Internet was available, but for a price $.75 per minute. I had planned on using some of our vacation time to work on this course without the hassle of juggling work commitments. At a price per minute, this idea didn't pan out. To get caught up, I checked out our Diigo communications and visited your blog. I like the way you insert YouTube videos to add dimension to your ideas! The two I looked at addressed the LMS system - Canvas. I was particularly fascinated with the young techy who ended his presentation, asking his audience about how they might define the role for SOCIAL MEDIA in both course structure and as a learning tool. Interesting how our course materials (and we) have also been pondering this same issue! Thanks for finding and sharing a very relevant presentation. I also enjoyed your thoughts as well.
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    Today our senior population is aging at a rapid rate. Is it possible we, as a society, are sending them to an early end of life dead line because of our attitudes and out moded beliefs regarding aging in America? Can we not help keep their minds alive and well by changing some of our society's institutions...of higher education?
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    Joy, I just finished reading your blog posts and viewing the videos. I agree with Bruce. . . they are quite sobering. I am angered that there is so much age discrimination out there, excited that Japan has such a unique way of addressing the needs of its aging population, and frustrated that a college degree does not necessarily translate into a job. My own daughter is in that position--she has a teaching degree earned two years ago and no prospects of a job anytime soon. Her income is earned through subbing in the Sultan School District and managing a horse stable. All of this translates into 7 days of work per week, a very minimal income and burnout. She is 37 years old (not quite a senior, but in line with the unemployed GWU grads shown in the video you posted). Your passion definitely comes through in all of the blog postings, Joy. What you say about assessment aligns with my beliefs as well. I have never been a proponent of grades--to me, they are just part of a hoop that must be jumped through in order to achieve a goal. With that in mind, I was overJOYed when authentic assessment came onto the education scene as it offered a way to monitor and guide students in their learning, not just give them a letter or number that was supposed to signify that they had "learned" the course content. In my experience, most students who memorize course content for tests within a given course, will not retain it once the tests have been taken. There is simply too much competition for good grades at all levels of education and not enough desire for a true understanding of ideas and concepts.
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    Thanks you for your comments Mary Ann...the bottom line reads, we may be killing off our aged population by sentencing them to give up and give in to old out-moded concepts!
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    Joy: I've been following your blog postings for some time now and have been meaning to let you know I always learn and find your postings valuable. Keep the information coming our way.
Bruce Wolcott

Module 7 - Course Activity based on learning objective - 3 views

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    This link is to my development of a learning activity that maps to a course learning objective for Module 7. The activity I've chosen to work on for this project is in response to one of the learning objectives for a class called Visual Storytelling (CMST 115) that I'm teaching for Bellevue College. The learning objective (or understanding) I'm addressing is a final project that has students demonstrate their ability to put into practice a selection of visual storytelling skills that were taught during the quarter. This activity was designed to make use of authentic learning principles, derived from the ideas of Marilyn Lombardi - which are available in complete form in her article, Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: an Overview.
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    Very impressive, Bruce! This assessment piece is definitely in line with Lombardi's ideas AND is a perfect showcase for student understanding of the objective you set forth. I imagine your students jumped at the challenge you presented them, producing outstanding work! You continue to inspire me with your thinking and creativity!
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    Thanks for your comments, Mary Ann. One of the big take aways I've gotten from our EDUC 251 class so far, is the idea of relinquishing progressive amounts of control throughout the quarter - so that students at the end are teaching part of the class and demonstrating their acquired skills in some kind of collaborative, hands-on project. I've been exploring this idea over the past few years as I've become more comfortable with my teaching - and both the Boettcher reading and Jennifer's course structure validate this approach. One of the more interesting recommendations for "authentic learning" is having ill-defined goals - meaning that students have to fill in gaps with their own solutions - derived from general or even vague instructions. This enhances creativity, innovative pathways, and problem solving. Cool idea!
Joy LaJeret

Five Tips for Wrapping Up a Course - 4 views

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    Joy, Thanks for posting these wrap up suggestions. Shooting a closing video like the last link you posted is nice way to have students leave with a sense of closure, and feeling that they've just completed a worthy goal.
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    Love these suggestions! Thanks for sharing this.
Jennifer Dalby

The 10 Best Things about EDUC 251 without link (#portfolio10) - 8 views

Wow! You've got some very useful feedback in here. I appreciate the time you've taken to pull this together. It's been a lot of fun, and I've certainly learned a lot from all of you!

#EDUC251

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