Last week, in preparation for my digital project, which is due this week (Eeek!) I figured I had better start researching. Not only my topic, which actually appears to be the easier part, but also the software necessary to create the project.
It's been a long time since I worked in the office, so many of my office skills have gone by the wayside. My first step was to watch some instructional strategies on presentations and I found this great YouTube video. A TED talk (I have enjoyed watching many of these talks in this course) by David J Phillips called "How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint."
(Attribution: Source: YouTube also found at: www.TED.com, Creative Commons NonCommercial No Derivs 3.0)
The most important points that stuck out for me were:
1. Only one message per slide
2. People cannot read and listen at the same time. I completely agree with this and I have noticed this problem with digital presentations that I've tried to watch. If I am reading the speaker's slide, I can't also focus on what the speaker is saying. Therefore, no sentences.
3. We can draw attention to the key points by using contrast. Objects that we want to draw the eye to should be larger, as well as text.
4. Slides should be somewhat simple, no more than six objects per slide and no more than six words per slide.
I find these tips to be very helpful! Also, from my own experiences, I find them to be very good advice. Many presentations I have turned off half way through because I was bored or because it was too much energy to try and decipher the message on the slides while attempting to also listen to the speaker.
Also, a couple other key points that I have learned are:
- Never turn your back on your audience
- Your visual aid (when speaking in front of an audience) should HELP your presentation, not BE your presentation.
Monday 28 September 2015
Friday 25 September 2015
Passion
When attempting to bring energy to the forum that I'm facilitating on digital storytelling, I discovered the main thing I was missing was passion. Why was I missing it? Because I couldn't concretely see how it was relevant to myself or the other students. I knew that the info on digital creation was very helpful for all of us working on our current project, but is this project a form of storytelling? It could be, but it may not be. Could I apply this teaching strategy to my own future practice as an instructor?
Yes, I can.
I watched several YouTube videos on digital storytelling and I was greatly affected by two specific videos. The first was of a history teacher who used digital storytelling as an assignment for her students, they each picked a topic to be covered, created a fun and engaging digital story and presented to the class. This really struck me because I had a very hard time with History, never really wanted to know what all those people did way back then. However, if this project had been an option when I was in highschool, I believe I would have actually been engaged.
Second, a TED talk about a teacher, Emily Bailin, who asked her students where they were from, asked them to go deeper, where are you from? The students would end up creating a story of who they were, in great detail and prepare a digital story. The teacher had one as well. What an excellent way to start creating a cohesiveness within the group. She has also done this project with Instructors. What a great way to encourage instructors to get to know themselves, to become comfortable with their own stories.
I have provided links to both video's at the bottom of this post.
I contemplated how I can utilize this powerful tool in my own future teaching of Health Care Assistant's.
I can have the students create digital projects on parts of the pre-established curriculum. Saves time in the classroom, makes the topics fun and engaging and helps with retention and full understanding of the information.
And more on the emotional side of things.....
I can have the students create their own stories on why they want to be a care aid, what a great tool that they will have forever to remind themselves why they chose that occupation. In many occupations one can start to become unfocused or disengaged as challenges unfold, where their heart is no longer in it. What if they could have something that came from their heart, to remind them of the "Why?" of their decision? How powerful could that be?
Also, my passion for teaching HCA's stems from a desire to incorporate compassion and empathy into the curriculum. Creating a digital story from a patient's perspective, drawing on emotions, can be a wonderful way to remind the students that these are people that have fears, hopes, physical challenges, struggles, triumphs; people that are somebody's mother, father, sister, brother, child. People who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity whether or not you, as a health care worker. are tired, stressed, or frustrated.
I hope that we all have some aspect that we are passionate about in our future teaching, something that drove us to take this step from working in the field to wanting to instruct. Digital Storytelling is a powerful way to get that message out.
History Teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufVnMDVskLo
Yes, I can.
I watched several YouTube videos on digital storytelling and I was greatly affected by two specific videos. The first was of a history teacher who used digital storytelling as an assignment for her students, they each picked a topic to be covered, created a fun and engaging digital story and presented to the class. This really struck me because I had a very hard time with History, never really wanted to know what all those people did way back then. However, if this project had been an option when I was in highschool, I believe I would have actually been engaged.
Second, a TED talk about a teacher, Emily Bailin, who asked her students where they were from, asked them to go deeper, where are you from? The students would end up creating a story of who they were, in great detail and prepare a digital story. The teacher had one as well. What an excellent way to start creating a cohesiveness within the group. She has also done this project with Instructors. What a great way to encourage instructors to get to know themselves, to become comfortable with their own stories.
I have provided links to both video's at the bottom of this post.
I contemplated how I can utilize this powerful tool in my own future teaching of Health Care Assistant's.
I can have the students create digital projects on parts of the pre-established curriculum. Saves time in the classroom, makes the topics fun and engaging and helps with retention and full understanding of the information.
And more on the emotional side of things.....
I can have the students create their own stories on why they want to be a care aid, what a great tool that they will have forever to remind themselves why they chose that occupation. In many occupations one can start to become unfocused or disengaged as challenges unfold, where their heart is no longer in it. What if they could have something that came from their heart, to remind them of the "Why?" of their decision? How powerful could that be?
Also, my passion for teaching HCA's stems from a desire to incorporate compassion and empathy into the curriculum. Creating a digital story from a patient's perspective, drawing on emotions, can be a wonderful way to remind the students that these are people that have fears, hopes, physical challenges, struggles, triumphs; people that are somebody's mother, father, sister, brother, child. People who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity whether or not you, as a health care worker. are tired, stressed, or frustrated.
I hope that we all have some aspect that we are passionate about in our future teaching, something that drove us to take this step from working in the field to wanting to instruct. Digital Storytelling is a powerful way to get that message out.
History Teacher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufVnMDVskLo
Saturday 19 September 2015
2nd Week of PIDP 3250 cont'd
So a topic that stands out for me from the forum discussions is that studies show that learning styles are a myth. We've all heard of visual, tactile and auditory learners with the assumption that we learn best using the one that resonates more with us.
Well, apparently, all that is a myth. We do not learn better with any particular method. The good news with this discovery is that, as instructor's, we no longer have to worry about our students' preferred learning style.
However, I will continue to use visual techniques when I am trying to retain a topic that I don't necessarily enjoy learning about; because I know that for me, it helps.
Well, apparently, all that is a myth. We do not learn better with any particular method. The good news with this discovery is that, as instructor's, we no longer have to worry about our students' preferred learning style.
However, I will continue to use visual techniques when I am trying to retain a topic that I don't necessarily enjoy learning about; because I know that for me, it helps.
Friday 18 September 2015
2nd week of PIDP 3250
Well I have found this week to be very challenging with regards to time management. We were advised not to read every post in the forums, which I find challenging. I have to keep reminding myself to stop reading. This challenge stems from me having a hard time believing that I can be an effective participant if I don't know what has already been said or what is currently being talked about. Also, I enjoy the information that my fellow classmates post. :)
With regards to time, however, I can't really spare 3-4 hours a day reading posts, links attached to posts and watching videos. Then finishing off with formulating responses, which seems to take me a long time to do, as I have an annoying tendency to read and re-read all posts as if it would be absolutely catastrophic if it didn't perfectly represent what I am trying to say.
The realization that in 2 days I will be starting my own forum, and need to participate in the other ongoing forums is, to say the least, quite overwhelming.
So, in order to fulfill the rest of my obligations in this course, such as the assignments due on Sunday and my family obligations, I must become more disciplined in time spent on the forums.
With regards to time, however, I can't really spare 3-4 hours a day reading posts, links attached to posts and watching videos. Then finishing off with formulating responses, which seems to take me a long time to do, as I have an annoying tendency to read and re-read all posts as if it would be absolutely catastrophic if it didn't perfectly represent what I am trying to say.
The realization that in 2 days I will be starting my own forum, and need to participate in the other ongoing forums is, to say the least, quite overwhelming.
So, in order to fulfill the rest of my obligations in this course, such as the assignments due on Sunday and my family obligations, I must become more disciplined in time spent on the forums.
Monday 14 September 2015
1st week of PIDP 3250
In this first week of PIDP 3250 - Instructional Strategies, I have struggled through the definition of Heutagogy. I personally believe that education is in a pendulum swing, going from being completely teacher based (pedagogy) to completely learner based (heutagogy). In the middle lies Andragogy, where the content is still derived from the teacher, however, most of the 'how' of the learning is driven by the learner. If this is in fact a pendulum swing, perhaps it will swing back to Andragogy? Perhaps not. I'm not completely sold that heutagogy is the best way to go. I don't understand how that can even work in the extreme. I think a lot of content could be missed, and then how would a person really be prepared to do a job in that profession? I could see some parts being heutagogy, but not the complete course.
Andragogy on the other hand really resonates with me. I completely agree with Knowles assumptions about adult learners. In fact, I think more and more people are starting to believe that these assumptions apply to children as well. My son just started Kindergarten, and this year the school is starting to implement a new method of teaching which blends children's interest with content that they are required to learn. For example, they may have the children build a couch in order to learn about angles. This is stepping towards child led teaching, using their interests to guide the method in which they learn about topics, as opposed to just lecturing and giving out pieces of paper with problems on it. I found this to be very interesting.
In addition, even in parenting, many professionals will encourage parents to allow their children to learn more from their experiences on their own, as opposed to just being told what the parent feels they need to know.
This is all very interesting.
Andragogy on the other hand really resonates with me. I completely agree with Knowles assumptions about adult learners. In fact, I think more and more people are starting to believe that these assumptions apply to children as well. My son just started Kindergarten, and this year the school is starting to implement a new method of teaching which blends children's interest with content that they are required to learn. For example, they may have the children build a couch in order to learn about angles. This is stepping towards child led teaching, using their interests to guide the method in which they learn about topics, as opposed to just lecturing and giving out pieces of paper with problems on it. I found this to be very interesting.
In addition, even in parenting, many professionals will encourage parents to allow their children to learn more from their experiences on their own, as opposed to just being told what the parent feels they need to know.
This is all very interesting.
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