NTC » Adult Learning Principles

The Networked Student

Sharon Dennis — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:09:22 +0000

What does it mean to be a “networked student” in today’s learning environment? How can students use technology to connect with others? Watch this fun video (5 minutes 10 seconds) to follow along with a student as he builds his knowledge base through tools like Google Scholar, social bookmarking, blog posts, RSS readers, podcasts, and video conferencing with experts around the world. Along the way he must evaluate the information he finds and then share his “virtual textbook” with others.

(Thanks to Jessi Van Der Volgen for pointing out this video).

Is it Real or is it Memorex?

Rebecca Brown — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:05:31 +0000

A 2007 Stanford University study asked: “Do you learn more if you interact with a live person, or if you interact with a computer?” The conclusion was that people do better when they believe that they are interacting with a person. But what if that person is really an avatar? And what are the implications for eLearning?

Read a short discussion at Learning Solutions Magazine:
http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1021/research-for-practitioners-social-interaction-belief-and-learning

The Stanford Study:
http://aaalab.stanford.edu/papers/cogsci07_okita_id_7451.pdf

Know your audience and their brains

Rebecca Brown — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:01:24 +0000

Auditory learners, visual learners, kinesthetic learners. Now that we know, what should we do? Once we know what to do, are we achieving the right balance? Read a blog post by Karla Gutierrez of the SH!FT: Disruptive Learning blog.

http://info.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/243094/Back-to-Basics-The-Essential-Elements-of-Effective-eLearning

Let’s Play!

Rebecca Brown — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:00:05 +0000

I attended a $25 Bob Pike webinar recently called Games and Contests. Games are not appropriate for all classroom settings, but when they are, games can aid retention and reinforce learning by engaging the learner.

Follow this link to read an article on the subject from Educause: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3004.pdf

How to Make 160,000 People Happy

Rebecca Brown — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:25:34 +0000

Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google, gave a TED talk about redefining education when he and a colleague offered a freely available online class to the world. 160,000 people signed up and 20,000 completed the class (That’s actually a pretty good completion rate for this type of offering). However, his re-definition actually created “a classroom much more like a traditional class”. Watch the 6 minute video at: http://youtu.be/tYclUdcsdeo

eLearing, Learning Activities and Intensity

Rebecca Brown — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:38:41 +0000

Elliott Masie leads conferences and writes about workforce learning, business collaboration and emerging technologies. While his emphasis is on the business world, there are pieces that we as trainers can take advantage of. Read his blog post about choosing the right level of intensity and engagement in learning activities to achieve a goal.
http://www.learning2012.com/item/intensity-learning.html

Who is Elliott Masie? http://masie.com/MASIE-Information/who-is-elliott-masie.html

Teacher Disposition

Sharon Brown — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:14:03 +0000

In a recent presentation I attended there was a discussion was about about two groups of students, one undergraduate, the other graduate, who were asked to name the 10 most important qualities of behavior of the teacher during an online course. The top two qualities named they named?

Number one: Communication (that we understand)
Number two: Instructor disposition (we might need help with that)

Teacher disposition can be defined as having empathy, positive view of self, positive view of others, honesty, genuineness, meaningful purpose and vision.

Teacher disposition may lead to better student success with increased learning outcomes.

How do we make sure we are demonstrating the desired disposition during an online course?

Some key qualities:
• Be very present from the start.
• Personalize to each student.
• When a question is asked respond as quickly as possible, if possible immediately.
• Use the person’s name when communicating and if possible write a personal note.
• Provide positive feedback.
• Your tone can and will be detected. Present with positive, high-energy.

Fall Session of Online Class “Teaching with Technology” Available for Registration

Sharon Dennis — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:56:26 +0000

Join us for an online class taught from October 8 – November 9, 2012: “Teaching with Technology: Tips, Techniques and Tools”!

In this class, you will learn about using technology tools for teaching distance learning courses. We will discuss options and best practices for asynchronous and synchronous distance classes, as well as “blended” classes that offer both in-person and online options. Adult learning principles will be reviewed. We will examine and discuss examples of software and website tools in teaching.

The class is taught “asynchronously” using the Moodle course management system, so you can complete the classwork at a time convenient for you. Allow approximately 2 hours per week for independent classwork. There are 4 weeks of assignments, readings, and discussions, with the 5th week saved for a “catch-up” week. Upon completion of the class you will receive 8 MLA CE credits.

The class is free and open to residents of the U.S. Class enrollment is limited, so we do ask that you check your schedule to be sure you have time to complete the class.

To register: http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html

Social Media – How we Learn – Two “hot” graphics links

Sharon Brown — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:05:55 +0000

In order to take a look at an intriguing graphic – Bloom’s Taxonomy for IPads – paste into your browser the following URL: http://tinyurl.com/8evrnld

Once you close that graphic window you will be on a page with more links for Bloom Taxonomy (print out the Action Verbs chart if you don’t already have one by your work area). This page is available via Worldlanguagestech. You will have an opportunity to join their wiki entitled 21st Century Tools to Teach, Learn, Collaborate and Advocate for Learning.

The second link to look at: Gary’s Social Media Counts:
http://lockerz.com/d/5696915

Focus on Absorb

Rebecca Brown — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:11:13 +0000

I recently attending a conference called SIDLIT: Summer Institute of Distance Learning & Instructional Technology.

One of the sessions I attended focused on choosing online activities that support learning objectives. The session talked about integrating the absorb, do, and connect approach; an idea put forth by William Horton, an eLearning guru.

Absorb activities impart facts. A learner may read an article, listen to an audio explanation, or watch a short video, etc. to access and acquire the information. This is sometimes seen as a passive learning activity, but our brain is most likely not in a passive mode as we process the new information and try to make it fit into our existing knowledge framework.

One way to make a seemingly passive learning activity more active is to augment the activity. The University of Arizona Library uses a system called Guide on the Side to augment their library instruction. Watch their tutorial about how to find articles using JSTOR. http://www.library.arizona.edu/applications/quickHelp/tutorial/searching-jstor