Hybrid Course

A hybrid course is a mix of a “traditional” face to face course and an on-line course.

Here are examples of hybrid classes that start Spring 2011 at Berkley City College. Scroll about half way down the page to see the hybrids.

Virtual classes

Virtual classes are those without the trappings of physical brick and mortar location. When I think of virtual classes, the University of Phoenix, for better or worse, pops in my mind.

Academic Distributed Learning

An example of academic distributed learning is Texarkana Community College. This institution, which I attended, now now offers on-line coursework in addition to maintaining a “brick and mortar” facility.

Corporate Distributed Learning

An example of corporate distributed learning is the site Public School Works. Our districts uses this site for health training purposes. This site “manages” the training “status” of employees and assigns courses accordingly. While I realize a school isn’t a corporation, according to our text “....training is managed by learning management systems (LMSs), which track who has taken what course at what time, and which individual objectives have or have not been met.”. I believe Public School Works falls into this category.

For-Profit Distributed Learning

Our textbook defines distributed learning as “...any educational or training experience that uses a variety of means, including technology to enable learning.”. If that is the case, then I feel that Electronic Campus qualifies. Electronic Campus provides a database of electronic coursework beginning with high school course and continuing into higher ed. It appears that Electronic Campus itself is NOT the educator; the institution merely assists students in location needed courses. Since Electronic Campus does facilitate the enabling of learning, I think it could qualify for For-Profit Distributed Learning.

The Long and Winding Road of ID

Picture from http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/23/beatles.jpg

There were many good points made by both Merrill and Wilson about the future of ID.

I agree with Merrill on these points:

• If, as he states in his “argument”, companies are moving toward designers-by-assignment due to funding, it makes sense to modify the way a Masters student is trained. Instead of pure “design, it seems that one with a Masters in ID should be prepared not to design instruction but to mentor and guide the designers-by-design.
• Science is a portion of the “base” knowledge for ID students. Students are required to study and observe good teaching practices and discern from these observations what works and what doesn’t.

One drawback to the straight and narrow is rigidity. Looking at the chart 32.1, several terms leap out at me, including established and validate. The text referred to a limitation of the straight and narrow as “hardening of the arteries”, which I thought was an appropriate term.

I agree with Wilson on these points:

• Those in ID are working toward openness and sharing as well as following established goals for the field.
• In a “free market” of ideas, worthy concepts will be nurtured and flourish while those without merit will die on the vine.
• Chart 32.1-Under Methods of Sharing--Strait-Emphasis on established refereed outlets; Broad-Established refereed outlets PLUS Web-style self publishing and sharing, conference style forums on-line and face to face and water cooler conferences and communities of practice. I identify with methods of sharing through the broad and inclusive road. Why should sharing be limited to “established refereed outlets” as proposed by the straight and narrow? Many times, informal learning situations, such as those mentioned on the “broad” side of this issue, yield more practical information.

One drawback to the broad and narrow is what I term the “loosey goosey” factor---without a “core” set of stated values, it would be easy for this camp to implode.

Having said all this, it would be my wish to be able to travel the “hybrid” road. Adhering specifically to either The Strait and Narrow Road or The Broad and Inclusive Road is just too restricting to me....and I think, a little dangerous.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...in Learning

Picture from http://remixatlanta.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/242Reuse00.jpg

According to the text, there are five components one should consider when deciding if instruction is reusable: content, context, pedagogy, structure and presentation.

Thinking of a one specific class, these are some ideas for “restructuring” so the class would possess reusability.

Content

Our text states “.......information contained in a resource that is intended to affect a change in cognitive state.” I can honestly say that the content presented in the class in question did not cause a change in my “cognitive state”. Perhaps chunking the information instead of throwing it out a one whack would have been more effective. You wouldn’t throw a young child a steak to eat, you’d cut it up from them, right? Same thing for presenting new content to learners. Bite sized pieces of information are easier to digest and easier to tie to prior learning.

Context

As state in our text, one way to more content more reusable is to provide alternative sections for needed background knowledge, thus keeping the “meat” of the lesson general enough for reusability. I wish the instructor in my class had provided needed background knowledge that would have aided with general understanding about the class. Simply providing a website IS NOT appropriate! Websites can be vast, especially ones such as LOC. When one references a website, maybe it would be a good idea to create a Jing or QuickTime video and show the student the specific part of the site that corresponds to concept in question.

Pedagogy

As with context, it seems that “chunking” information is the key to reusability. “Chunking” different activities into separate “packets” of instruction is a strategy mentioned within our reading. In my opinion, chunking is easier for everyone. Short bursts of learning are easily created by the instructor and more easily understood by the learner. It’s been my experience when too many concepts are mixed within a single learning vehicle, the vehicle becomes like a toxic learning soup---doesn’t look good, doesn’t go down easily and it isn’t very filling.

Structure

I liked the example given in the book---makes perfect sense to me with the dread forward and backward buttons. Ugh! A solution? Podcasts, which can be broken into chapters. Teachers could specify which chapters within a podcast need to be viewed for particular concepts. Adding chapters to a podcast, which is easy enough to do, would give such a resource high reusability.

Presentation

From the reading, it seems that being able to use resources in a variety of formats makes said resource more reusable. Knowing that, it would make sense to use programs that allow for versatility when sharing materials. A possible source which could help to make learning documents more reusable would be the use of Google docs. With so many platforms around, using a web-based (and FREE!) source for creating and sharing documents would provide not only continuity and reusability.

Nanotechnology

Wouldn't it be great if nanotechnology could enable us to have a implant that would allow a librarian to simply walk through the library and take a complete inventory? Anyone who can accomplish this feat will be worth his/her weight in gold, at least to the library community.

Another job that I wish I had some type of nanotech for is accessing the library catalog. I'm envisioning a device, voice activated, that would tell me if a title is owned by my library, if said title is available and, if not available, when the volume is anticipated to be back in the library. Think Star Trek TNG:

Librarian: "Computer, do we currently own the title "Dead and Gone"?"

Computer: "That title is owned by the AMS library."

Librarian: "Is it available for checkout?"

Computer: "Yes."

Librarian: "Computer, please give synopsis of book."

Computer: "This book is book two of what is known as the "moon" trilogy by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The book details the lives of a family....".........you get the picture.

Wouldn't that be neat? If Warwick can use nanotech to chill his wine, we should be able to harness that power to make our lives in the library just a littler easier!

Rich Media

I think BrainPop is a great example of rich media covering a wide variety of topics.

BrainPop combines still drawings with animation (surface features). The intended message (functional feature) is conveyed through the use of simplistic language, and recurring characters which promote high interest.

Although our text states that there is no difference between line drawings that simulate movement as opposed to videos (as far as learning is concerned), I have to differ. Topics explained via video are captivating to a child. Still drawings with implied movement are not nearly as engaging.

Self Assessment and Jobs

I completed the survey at Career One Stop

Seems I am unqualified for the following positions:

Librarian-lack Masters Degree

Instructional Coordinator-lack Masters Degree

Computer Software Engineers, Applications-Lack technical knowledge of hardware

Gem and Diamond Worker-lack “postsecondary vocational award”

On a positive note, I am qualified for the following positions:

Audio-Visual Collections Specialists

Funeral Director

Court Clerk

Here's what I learned from my exploration at Career One Stop:

Although I possess the skills necessary for some of the jobs I want, I do not have the appropriate degree...yet. Without the degree, even the possession of the skills, or aptitude to learn the skills in question, would exclude mefrom said jobs. I would assume a degree would be the first thing a prospective employer would seek for either inclusion or exclusion of a job candidate.

PT Competencies

Help clients make informed decisions by providing supportable intervention options with objective data, consequences and recommendations.

As a PT, you are charged with knowing more than the client about what is available to accomplish a specific goal. A PT should not push his/her own agenda but rather be unbiased (as best one can) with recommendations.

Deal with fellow practitioners ethically, honestly and with integrity.

This is applicable to any profession. By taking the moral high road, those around you may not always agree with you but will respect you.

Give and get support and professional aid from colleagues.

This is another adage appropriate to any profession. Giving and asking for aid promotes relationship building and collegiality and helps to solidify a “team”.

Be systematic in the the evaluation of the process and results.

Edmund Burke, British statesman and philosopher (1729-1797) states,“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting." The same can be said of PT. Reflecting upon the processes and results allows one to correct shortcomings, if any, while building and improving upon successes.