Blog Archives

The EdTech Dojo After Hours

3/30/2012

While it is true that EdTech Dojo podcast episodes are widely regarded as the epitome of propriety and professionalism, the recording sessions are not without their moments of hilarity.

Here is an excerpt of a session that was suddenly fraught with outside interruptions:

The actual episode that resulted from this session, entitled The Future of PDF as a Platform for Educational Products (featuring special guest George Joeckel), will be available Tuesday, April 3rd.

Four Strategies for Working with SMB’s (Subject Matter Bigmouths)

3/29/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

As instructional designers, we often have the opportunity to work with SME’s (subject matter experts) when developing instruction. This is most often an informative and rewarding experience. But every once in a while it becomes necessary to work with someone whose manner is, well, less than appealing. I have affectionately labeled these folks SMB’s (Subject Matter Bigmouths).

Most of us will have to deal with this type of person at some point or another in our careers. And it can be a very difficult experience. Fortunately, there are those that have gone down that road before us—specifically, my friend Toby,* who for years had to work very closely with one of the most difficult SMB’s it has ever been my fortune to know. And Toby constantly surprised everyone in the office with how patient and positive he was with the poor SMB.

I recently spoke with Toby about the experience, and he gave me four strategies for having the most positive experience possible working with a less-than-congenial co-worker.

1) Get to Know the SMB

Toby says he would make a point of getting to know this SMB and asking him about his interests, even though he was very hard to get along with. “Knowing what people enjoy is one of the keys to any relationship,” he explains. “Asking questions and understanding what someone likes is a recipe for a successful relationship that is bound to blossom and grow.”

2) Play the Student

The SMB Toby worked with had years of business experience, and was very willing to share what he called “golden nuggets” of information. “Sometimes I valued these nuggets, but oftentimes the wisdom felt disingenuous and without a point,” says Toby. “I felt that he wanted to pontificate knowledge to somehow increase his own stature, not necessarily to help me.”

We can all relate to Toby’s situation. It can be very tempting to try and go head-to-head and compete with this type of personality. But for the sake of peace, Toby decided to take the high road. “I quickly found that it was much easier to smile and attempt to glean any useful information than to offer any resistance or, heaven forbid, share an experience I had,” he recalls. It wasn’t particularly easy for him, but it was more wise than wasting energy clambering for recognition the SMB wasn’t likely to give.

3) Learn the Gentle Art of Steering

To explain this strategy, Toby recalls a scene from the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when a mother explains to her daughter that while her husband will ostensibly be the “head” of the household, she will be the “neck” that can guide the head in any direction. “My experience with my manager was much the same way,” Toby explains. “Rarely was an idea or proposal that I brought forward ever taken forward on its own. However, most of my ideas were brought to fruition if I guided my manager toward the goal carefully, allowing him to be a part of the process.”

4) Have Perspective and Patience

“I feel strongly that you can learn and glean something from almost anyone,” says Toby. “Be patient if you have to work with a difficult person. Think of yourself as a student and try to find anything you can learn from him or her. And remember, you are not going to work with this person for the rest of your life.”

It has now been several years since Toby has worked with this difficult manager. “The funny thing is, I really respect the guy,” Toby admits. “I have called him for advice on several occasions and have even had a chance to go and visit him. Do I want to work for him again? No thanks. But I can truly say that I am a better person and a better professional because of the things I learned when working with him.”

*Name has been changed to protect the innocent

Three Ways to Make Your Instructional Goals as Worthless as Possible

3/27/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

If you are truly dedicated to having your students fritter away their time in your classroom learning as little as possible, it is absolutely imperative that you carefully create flimsy, worthless instructional goals.

The only way you can even more readily ensure that your students will come to the end of your course carrying away only a few scattered facts and abstract principles that they will have no hope of applying to a single real situation in their lives is to not bother making instructional goals at all.

But if you must make instructional goals, and want the time you spend teaching to be frustrating, aimless, and unfulfilling, follow these simple steps to ensure that your instructional goals are ineffectual in every way:

1) Go Vague or Go Home

Nothing makes an instructional goal so deliciously deficient as rambling, vague language that does little to connect the student with the material. "Learn about planets," "research the Civil War," and "study poetry," - these goals have that poetic ring of abstract uncertainly that successfully delivers a third-rate learning experience.

Avoid specific, learner-focused goals like "identify the eight planets and their order in the solar system," or "describe the events that lead up to the Civil War." This sort of cringe-worthy careful planning leads to internalization and application of the course material.

2) Abhor Application

Another way to make sure that your learners never take course content out of the classroom is to leave any type of critical thinking and application out of your instructional goals. The second you get your students thinking about the content in a way that applies to their own world is the second you are in danger of having them actually learn something. Keep your instructional goals focused on facts and abstract ideas, not on the learners.

3) Set 'em and Forget 'em

If you truly want your instructional goals to be pathetic and fruitless, set them and and forget them. Don't let them guide the design of your curriculum. Don't go back and fine-tune them throughout the process. And whatever you do, don't tell your students what the instructional goals are. Can you imagine what would happen if they knew what they were supposed to be learning? When learners have clear, well-communicated direction, they have a better chance at internalizing content in a meaningful way.

The next time you are designing a lesson and need to craft some truly pointless, inadequate instructional goals, I hope you will remember these three principles. If you make your goals vague, avoid any form of application in them, and forget they exist as soon as they are made, you will be well on your way to designing a forgettable curriculum that is a waste of everyone's time.

The Six Essentials to an Impressive Presentation

3/22/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

I recently gave this workshop at Eastern Idaho Technical College, and thought I would post it here as well. It is more basic advice than what we covered in our podcast episode and blog post we did on how to make a good presentation great. These six essentials will help you get to that good point -- then you can work on making it great. ;)

What are your thoughts? What do you feel is essential to an impressive presentation?

The ADDIE Model Part 5 of 5: Evaluation

3/15/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

This is the last video in my series on the ADDIE instructional design model.

It’s a basic introduction to the Evaluation phase. There are two parts to this phase: formative evaluation and summative evaluation.

There are two parts to the Evaluation phase: Formative Evaluation and Summative Evaluation.

What do you think? Have these videos been helpful?

The Khan Academy's Educational Revolution

3/10/2012

by Dr. Joel Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

I thought it would be worth sharing this TED talk video of Salman Khan. He has been doing some interesting things with instructional videos and interactive testing. It is definitely worth watching!

The real power behind this approach is the way it leverages technology in two key ways:

First, it allow students to progress at their own pace. This is crucial because the current school structure assumes that everyone progresses at mostly the same pace, which is just not true. This thinking is a product of the industrial age, a time of mass production of products and learning. We now live in the knowledge age, and individualized instruction becomes more and more vital.

Second, it enables teachers to assist students at achieving at their own pace. Since teachers are freed from actually presenting material, they have much more time to move from student to student and provide them with needed feedback and guidance. This enables the students to move forward more efficiently in a more personal manner.

While this system is not perfect, I find it’s potential very compelling. What is your reaction? Is it an effective approach? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Is this approach scalable? We would love to read your thoughts and ideas.

The ADDIE Model Part 4 of 5: Implementation

3/7/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

Here is the fourth video in my series on the ADDIE instructional design model – a basic introduction to the Implementation phase.

There three parts to the Implementation phase: training the instructor, preparing the learners, and arranging the learning space.

What other tips or comments do you have about the Implementation phase?

Vintage Instructional Film Review: Fred and Food-borne Illness

3/3/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

I have an affinity for vintage educational films, and this one is a treasure. Recorded in “filmstrip” style, this was probably originally presented with a slide projector and tape recorder (complete with the “beep” sound to prompt you to change slides) and then converted to video.

In this short film produced by the FDA, the disembodied voice of the narrator keeps telling a father what he’s doing wrong while he prepares food for his family.

I find this film to be a surprisingly effective teaching tool. It seems to embrace the inevitable campiness of the filmstrip medium and present its content in a clear and entertaining way. Employing Fred as a somewhat buffoonish foil that keeps getting things wrong was a smart move—we are able to learn from his mistakes, and perhaps recognize some bad habits we may have developed ourselves. It would be much less memorable if Fred stood at his counter and, in his all-knowing wisdom, rattled off the ways one avoids food-borne illness.

The review at the end was helpful, and they used the same language to iterate the points, which helps with retention. I even learned one or two things I could improve on. I’m just glad I learned them this way, and not by having an uninvited disembodied voice criticize my food preparation skills.

The ADDIE Model Part 3 of 5: Development

3/1/2012

by J. Clark Gardner, EdTech Dojo co-curator

Today I am posting a basic introduction to the third phase in the ADDIE instructional design model, the Development phase.

During the development phase, curriculum developers create a sample, develop the actual course materials, and conduct a run-through.

What do you think? Are there other ADDIE resources you use? How do you go about explaining ADDIE to others?