Reflections on My Personal Learning Network

Hi classmates,

I apologize for not participating for the last couple of weeks. I am having some medical problems involving pain and pain medications that interfered with my being able to get much done other than lie in bed in pain or lie in bed asleep. But I hope I am back enough now to keep up with the rest of you.

As I read through the discussion posts in class, I wondered about how detailed we were supposed to be. For example, I keep a "Favorites" list with numerous categories. It is a dynamic list, one I update every time I am on the web. It is also one I use every time I need to be on the web.  Each of your blog websites is in that list. Each of the more valuable web sites we told each other about during week 2 is also in that list. Other web sites I found since then have been added to that list.  So My Favorites List from IE should be a prominent feature of my mind map.

There are also the people I know or am introduced to, either in person or via the phone or Internet. These people can be a wealth of informative learning experiences for me. For instance, I was trying to find a friend of mine and her husband who moved to San Francisco a couple of years ago for some social networking jobs. I found that she was going to be in town at a free conference CENPHOCAMP - Central Phoenix Camp. The purpose of the "camp" was to provide central Phoenix business owners, workers, and residents a chance to get together and either develop more of a sense of community, or to discuss ways to do so.  Social networking was scheduled to be facilitated by my old friend Kathy. Since I wanted to reconnect with her and find out about how social networking helped build communities and business opportunities, I signed up. (It was free, thank goodness.) I met and networked with several people from downtown Phoenix, students at ASU, one of the anchors/reporters for ABC 15 who is really into Twitter, Facebook, etc. Most of the reporters and anchors on their morning news show all have iPads that they are using throughout the broadcast. Amazing! I now get about 6 tweets a day from him, with interesting and relevant news items for me to know about.

Which brings me to an article I read about a teacher using Twitter to keep her students and their parents informed on a daily basis about what is going on in the class, what the homework is for that night, and easy access to her for either a student or a parent, etc? I never thought of using Twitter to create a community and quick communication for a class. It reminded me of a parent who told me in front of her son and the class to call her as her work number (as she handed it to me) if I had any problems with her son's behavior in my class. He was only a problem once after that -- after all, he was a teenager and HAD to test the boundary. But Tweeting a parent is much more immediate - the class and you are not waiting for someone to answer the phone; the whole class is not listening to your conversation with someone else's parents, etc. It reminds me of when I was growing up in a small town. If I did something an adult disapproved of, my mom knew about it before I arrived home. The "small town grapevine" had ensured she was apprised of the situation. These days, she would have received several tweets instead of phone calls. We have another part of the Personal Learning Network - Twitter.

You may have noticed a blog posting for Dr. Judith Willis' webinar on "Strategies for Maximizing Students' Memory". It was a great learning experience which reinforced some things we have already learned via this class, as well as new information that connected well with this "prior knowledge". The slides she used for this webinar are now posted on her web site if you are interested (http://bit.ly/aBZPBS . Her web site is available here: http://www.radteach.com/  RAD stands for

• Reach (Reticular Activating System,)
• Attitude (Amygdala )
• Develop (Dopamine)

I really encourage you to check that site out. I fits right in with our brain-based learning unit.

So far, I have

• information made available in my class,
• information and thoughts from my classmates and instructor (class materials, emails, blogs, and discussion groups),
• face-2-face seminars,
• online webinars,
• iTunes U,
• all the various websites on the internet worldwide,
• information from friends via phone, texts, tweets, and personal conversations,
• My Favorites list on Internet Explorer,
• Google Reader's list of blogs I am following updates on,
• Twitter updates pointing me to where to get breaking news,
• emails from more sources than I have the ambition to count right now,
• Television with numerous channels with actual, real learning to be obtained (Discovery, History, BBC for America, the Learning Channel, PBS, etc.),
• books - both printed and eBooks,
• Libraries - both online and brick-and-mortar local versions,
• bookstores (again, both online and brick-and-mortar),
• past colleagues and friends I connect with via
• Facebook.com,
• Classmates.com,
• Alumni.com,
• LinkedIn.com,
• MyLife.com.

There are also useless information sources that don't really have anything to do with this class. For instance, I just found the link to the wondrous Microsoft WorldWide Telescope that is circling around Mars right now and I can see what they are finding on the ground with those little robot rovers. Or I can find very useful information not really connected to this class: I can use my cell phone to navigate me intersection-by-intersection to where ever I need to go. (I used to get lost and/or take double the usual time to get anywhere.) I can also use that same cell phone to find information on the internet if necessary.

To be honest with you, there are so many directions information is coming and going, that I sometimes feel like I am overwhelmed with information. I remember back when cuddling up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate was the highlight of my day. Now I read my books online, go to school online, shop online, email instead of snail mail, check the weather online, etc.

So, what does my mind map look like when drawn? It looks like a spider web with no overall, symmetrical design. Have I told you how much I can't handle asymmetry?

Ten Tips for New Trainers/Teachers

Ever since week 1 in this class, when we found interesting blogs that contribute to our knowledge and skills in Instructional Design, I find blogs that are just too good to not share. I found this one chaining links from Inspire2Learn. I ended up at "Creating Passionate Users" which had the Top Ten Tips for New Trainers/Teachers. The author(s) wrote 2 lists, actually: "Eleven Things to Know", and "Ten Tips for New Trainers". Each point made is relevant and needs to be applied to designing online classes as much as to face to face learning situations.

Take the time to read through it and see what I mean. Those of you who have taught in the classroom, think back to whether or not you knew any of these things, or if you received any coaching matching these items. Let me know what you think after you read through the article, please.
Eleven Things to Know, and Ten Tips for New Trainers

Kate Eskesen

Free Webinar: Ask Dr. Judy Webinar:Strategies for Maximinzing Student Memory

PODCAMP AZ 2010

It’s that time of year again – PodCamp AZ is coming to the University of Advancing Technology November 20th and 21st! PodCampAZ is a FREE networking media unconference, dedicated to blogging, video blogging, podcasting, social networking, and all other relevant media. At the heart of the unconference is the opportunity to have a conversation at large with those innovators which have created a successful blend of relevant media and put it to work for them. Speakers will address emerging trends and best practices on everything from print and radio to mobile, interactive web, and in real life information exchange. During PodCamp sessions, attendees are free to drop in, listen and learn about what is relevant to their needs, and if they choose to, move on to other sessions. You can also become an interactive part of the experience by sharing your knowledge as a speaker or stimulating ideas and asking questions as an active attendee.
If you are an established or aspiring blogger, podcaster, video blogger, or social media advocate and want to meet hundreds of people with the same interests, head over to podcampaz.org to get more information about this exciting event. And above all else, register to attend PodCamp AZ!

Resources Available on the Web for Learning Theories and Instruction

     One of my favorite authors in Brain-Based Teaching is Eric Jensen. I read his book Teaching with the Brain in Mind (1998) several years ago and was inspired. So I checked for any newer publications. As it happens, he published an updated, second edition of the book in 2005. You can access Eric Jensen’s book via the Walden Library (http://site.ebrary.com/lib/waldenu/docDetail.action?docID=10089220).  The book starts off with an overview of the brain and how it works, as known in 2005.  Its chapters range from Meeting Your Amazing Brain and Preparing the Brain, through to Emotional Stress, Motivation and Engagement, Critical Thinking Skills, Memory and Recall, and Brain-Based Teaching. I found it extremely interesting and enlightening when I read the first edition and am looking forward to reading the second edition.  Additionally, Eric Jensen has published a few articles on the subject of understanding how the brain learns and how to modify teaching to take advantage of those facts.  He is a member of the Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD), whose web site is http://www.ascd.org/. You can join ASCD Edge for free and participate in any of the numerous groups, as well as follow any of the member’s blogs, including Eric Jensen’s.

     I found that Judith Willis also posts some very insightful blogs in the area of brain-based learning and teaching on this web site. For instance, Dr. Willis is hosting a Webinar on Thursday, October 14, 2010, 3:00 p.m. ET, entitled “Ask Dr. Judy Webinar: Strategies for Maximizing Student Memory”. This is just one of several free Webinars available. The description of this webinar refers to reducing student resistance and “how you can use the newest research about neuroplasticity, the dopamine-reward system, and active student participation (including making mistakes) to increase long-term memory.”  This web site’s list of groups is extensive. In the interests of this class, I joined the following groups: “Brain Compatible Learning”, “How the Brain Learns”, and “Social Networking”. I also added both Dr. Judith Willis and Eric Jensen to my Blog RSS list. There are also videos, audios and lesson plans posted to this web site as well as a list of publications you might find interesting.  I was able to link to a chapter in Dr. Willis’ book Learning to Love Math (2010), http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108073.aspx . I found many of my own attitudes about what is wrong with how math is taught in the United States reflected in Chapter 1: Reversing Math Negativity with an Attitude Makeover. The fact that most students’ parents admit to their children they were not good at math, and they don’t see the need for it in their lives, causes a negative attitude as well as a low expectation of performance by their children in the subject. Dr. Willis points out that “71 percent [of parents] could not calculate miles per gallon on a trip, and 58 percent were unable to calculate a 10 percent tip for a lunch bill.” (Willis, 2010) As a math teacher, I have been faced with many of these people during parent-teacher conferences. They still say they don’t see any use of math in their everyday lives. (Willis, 2010) She makes several suggestions on how to relate math to our students’ lives. Ideas like demonstrating the importance of remainders in life being simulated with index cards and toothpicks substituting for people and pizza pieces give powerful examples of how to link math skills to things the child values.

     Other subjects were eye openers for me. For instance, Dr. Willis pointed out that since stress interferes with learning by blocking the “flow of information through the amygdale in the brain’s limbic system … to the PFC [prefrontal cortex], and it diverts sensory input into the automatic, reflexive parts of the lower brain.” (Willis, 2010) She goes on to explain this as unconscious and primitive responses akin to the “fight, flight, or freeze.” One way she suggests de-stressing test situations is to allow students to retake tests they do poorly on. This gives them a chance to “regain some sense of control” over their learning and the test itself. (Willis, 2010) I did this with all my classes and many students who previously had ‘test-phobia’ were able to relax when taking tests by the end of the semester.  Another I had not heard of before was allowing students to grade her on a report card. The students and she selected areas to grade her in, such as “kindness, organization, fairness, friendliness, knows material, funny, listens, and explains material well.” (Willis, 2010) She used the results to improve her performance and rapport with her students. While I am unable to read the entire book online at this web site, the chapters available online are interesting and prompt me to purchase the book for my own library.

References

Jensen, Eric. 2005. Teaching with the brain in mind (2^nd ed). Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development  http://site.ebrary.com/lib/waldenu/docDetail.action?docID=10089220

Jensen, E. (2008). A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(6), 408-417. Available from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/ktoc.htm

Willis, Judith. (2010). Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies that Change Student Attitudes and Get Results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Viewed online at http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108073.aspx

Kate's Favorite ID Blogs

After spending 5 days browsing and reading more blog posts than I could count, here are my favorite blog sites.  There are so many to choose from, but I found something different about each of these that complimented each other. Let me know what you think. - Kate

Word Press: Blogs about: Instructional Design


http://en.wordpress.com/tag/instructional-design/

This is a wealth of helpful links to blogs and articles, as well as “How To” web pages new Instructional Designers will find useful. You may recognize Shelley A. Gable, since I have seen several of her ‘How To” instructional videos already. However, this blog has numerous contributors. I see that some of my fellow classmates have chosen Word Press blogging service for their blogs. I liked that the site has a place for “Related Tags” and is easy to subscribe to. One of the posts is “Ten-Plus-One Must-Read Books for Instructional Designers”. You should recognize a book or two in the list. In addition to a link to read comments for each post, they’ve added a section for “Recent Comments” and the Archives are easy to reach. And since we are studying learning theories, you should find the post “How To Learn Better: Space Out and Get Tested, Early and Often” especially interesting. All in all, I found this blog site very easy to use with more than enough useful and interesting information to keep me busy far beyond the time span for this course.



The Rapid E-Learning Blog:

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/

I found this blog extremely helpful. It is written by an experienced online course developer who aims his blogs at various levels of experience and skill. There are additional resources on the site for when you need to slide off in those other pertinent directions, such as “Designing the Right Course” or “Managing E-Learning Projects”. Also, he usually includes videos demonstrating how to do what he is suggesting as well as templates to download. However, I believe that Articulate and Rapid E-Learning are learning management systems you can purchase, but in spite of the commercial aspect of that, the insights in each blog are worthwhile for instructional designers at all levels.



Inspire2Learn Blog:

http://richardwatson64.wordpress.com/

This is different looking blog with a different slant on the kind of information and links provided. His blog is mostly black and white with red titles. However, on September 10, 2010 he talked about how different colors mean different things in different cultures. Good to know if your classes are going global. The author covers a wide range of topics that seem different from the other Instructional Design bloggers. As in my other favorite picks, there are plenty of links for downloads you will find helpful. One of them I especially liked was “Basic Competencies for Instructional Designers.” He lists six and then asks for comments for additional ideas. My favorite post so far on his site is “Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010”. He lists his top 10 from last year, provides a link to the compilation of 100 tools, as well as his top 10 so far this year. Each of his new additions to the list is a hyperlink for you to follow to the appropriate website. One of these newer ones is http://www.evernote.com/. This one looks like something worth trying. (I’ve been using Barnes & Noble Nook Study, but I think I will switch and try this out.) This author also does a good job of eliciting responses from his readers. I am finding that the discussion in comments makes the blogs extremely worthwhile or worthless, depending on the readers of each blog. Most of the comments on his posts are worth reading. Additionally, his blog includes Twitter comments as well as those posted directly to the site.



Elearning instructional design ideas - Making Change Blog Site:

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/

According to this blog’s author Cathy Moore, “In this blog, you'll find practical ideas that will help you create lively, powerful e-learning for adults in the business world.” Ms. Moore adds interesting and quite useful posts that contain a variety of non-text attention grabbers: hyperlinks, pictures, diagrams, videos, and comics, to name a few. She has numerous categories to help you find the posts you are most interested in such as Instructional Design, Project Management, Elearning examples, Tools, Writing Tips, etc. Her latest posting discusses “Do we really need narration?” In it she refers to current studies that show narration slows down the learning to one speed and that “New studies suggest that learner control + text works better.” That is just the kind of up-to-date information I am looking for as an up-to-date instructional designer. She included links to two recent studies, a book, and another blogger’s post, as well as two of her previous blogs touching on the same subject from other perspectives. She also uses Twitter, showing how many people have tweeted about the post, as well as providing a link for you to ‘retweet’ it. Of course, each post allows you to comment, and has a hyperlink to view the comments for each post. The blog is laid out easy to use for all, even beginners. If you use Twitter, another post offers to share an instructional design idea each day with you. I was impressed with her post on “Why you need to set limits.” While this post did not include hyperlinks to support her statement, her argument stands on its own merit and is more common sense than anything else. You finish reading it and immediately have that information as part of your knowledge-base. I am not sure if she has to or if it is just her, but there are several links to excellent texts provided, with embedded links to Amazon.com to buy them. (Amazon.com even provides a “Get Widget” button for you to do the same thing on your web site.) In short, I look forward to seeing her new posts in my RSS reader, as well as browsing back through her previous posts.

Hello World! My First Post

Hi there. Kate Eskesen here learning about and doing my first post on my first blog. I never considered blogging as more than either telling too much about oneself to the world, or a modern-day soapbox for spouting off some fanatic's most recent rant.

However, I am now learning there are some fun uses of blogs in an educational setting. So I'm off on my "Blog Journey". It should be interesting to see where it takes me.

Kate Eskesen