I never read Donald Schon’s Educating the Reflective Practitioner but I just read a review of it. I was especially struck by “you as the master must make your thinking transparent to the learner.”
This reminded me of when I took a mandatory course for parents when I enrolled my son in driver’s education. I was not impressed with the instructor initially, primarily because of his response to my question about how to best teach someone to drive a car with manual transmission. He told me that everyone has automatic transmission and I should too. When I said that he hadn’t answered my question, he restated his views on manual transmissions and my need for a new car. This did not make me highly receptive to his instruction, but I took notice when he said that the best thing to do henceforth when your budding driver is in the car is to voice your thoughts: How are the weather conditions affecting you, why are you slowing down, your concerns about the erratic driving of the car ahead of you, etc.
His point was that these generally unvoiced thoughts help the inexperienced driver, focused on basics, to taste the insights of years of experience. Transparent thinking. While Schon’s book is not recent, making an expert’s thinking transparent is not explicitly done in most courses, online or otherwise.
What We’re Thinking About: Transparent Thinking
“Inhabit the Confusion” to Develop Online Courses
Having developed many online courses, I know what my thought processes are. But I rarely hear how others approach course design. There is a 3 minute video describing the Human Systems Explorer that I recommend; one of the best lines is from Dr. Michael Parker, Harvard Medical School, about how inhabiting the confusion can lead to good insights about how to explain complex material.
What We’re Reading: Managing Social Media Risks
Quick: when you think downside to social media use, what comes to mind? For me, the first is time and the constant struggle I have with the illusive return on investment. The second – this is as an educator – is how much do I really want to know about my students? In general I love getting to know them as people, but I still remember the discomfort I felt at learning more personal information than I really wanted about a student who became my Facebook friend.
Managing Social Media Risks, by Bridget McCrea in T.H.E. Journal, covers another downside associated with the growing use of social media in educational settings: reputation damage. The article makes the excellent point that “many organizations and institutions prefer to ignore the problem” but that they should be active and diligent instead. Guidelines are mentioned, but they need to be created in a way that doesn’t stifle the exact point of social media, and, of course, they need to be enforced.
I especially liked the comment following the article from David M. Adler, Esq.:
Many of our clients are asking for guidance on how to go about implementing social media as part of their online marketing strategy. First, we counsel clients to understand that employees are going to use social media with or without them. For companies seeking to leverage the social media frenzy the question is not “How do I control these relationships but, rather, “How do I leverage the value of all these relationships?” Second, we counsel clients to understand that they are building a social reputation, so it shouldn’t be frivolous or uninteresting. Lastly, we counsel clients to focus on strategies that empower employees to become brand ambassadors, increase knowledge, share ideas and information and promote collaboration.
The rest of his comment is also insightful, and relevant to any organization, educational or otherwise. NIOSH is one of many organizations working through exactly these issues. But while organizations are dealing with social media risks, much of it still comes back to individuals. In the case of NIOSH, it’s one person who tweets and hopes to continue doing so without too many restrictions imposed. And in my case, I’ll return to my initial point: the biggest risk, I believe, is time management.
The Mixed Blessings of Technology
A chemistry teacher at St. Mark’s School, a private secondary school, jubilantly told parents today that he gave online quizzes to students in the evenings because it freed up time in the classroom for teaching. The system he used (which he didn’t specify) allowed him to control when a quiz started and ended so that all students took it simultaneously. This, he said, prevented the discussions that might occur if they were taking it at different times outside of the classroom. He furthermore said that he never handed out assignments now because they were all online. He could even tell how long a student spent on them.
What struck me about this was the mixed blessings this technology affords depending on perspective.
For the teacher, there are start-up costs: the effort of learning a new system and converting materials. Since other teachers didn’t discuss this, he might be a rogue. Then, there are the benefits that accrue from freeing up class time and also not having to prepare homework handouts, not to mention that less paper is used (unless students print everything themselves). His assignments arrive online and he may have tools to assist with grading. Finally, at the end of a class, he presumably can save everything easily and without boxes and folders.
Not so many mixed blessings, then, but lots positive especially if there isn’t a steep learning or conversion curve.
For the students, who are now taking quizzes as part of their study time, the attitude might not be as positive. The security aspect of this seems questionable because the fact that they take it at the same time doesn’t insure much besides – well, that they take it at the same time. The online assignments seem valuable because there is less paper to carry or lose and because it is presumably easier to go back to see past ones. I don’t know what students have at the end – and how easy it is for them to save all their work unless they print it. Often students lose access at the end of a class or when they leave a school.
For students then, there seem to be more mixed blessings, not solely advantages.
Finally, there are administrators who may be seeking solutions that reduce paper, increase security, or increase the amount of material covered in the classroom.
All technologies introduce trade-offs but they really only become apparent when different perspectives are considered. Generally decisions to introduce and use technologies are not made by students or even by teachers.
Listen to Allison Rossett
Allison Rossett made some e-learning podcasts that may be on interest to our readers. I haven’t listened to them yet, so I’d like to hear your reactions. I interviewed Allison in eLearn Magazine and the funniest example she gave, in response to my question about what she finds exciting in e-learning, was in describing performance support:
The best way to appreciate performance support is to look at examples showing how it solves problems and elevates practice. I can remember twiddling my thumbs while waiting to do laundry in my dorm at college. When I wanted to do the wash, the washers and dryers were almost always busy, causing frustration late into the night. When I did get to it, the room-with scattered piles of laundry, wet and dry-disgusted me. This was the result of aggressive launderers, who chucked wash on the table if you weren’t there to claim it. Enter e-Suds. The laundry process is civilized by introducing information and technology. USA Technologies installed Internet-based laundry systems on several university campuses. The system tracks the use of washers and dryers and then alerts students on the status of their laundry and the washers and dryers in close proximity via email, cell phone, or PDA . Imagine the benefits of knowing the “wash cycle is complete” on your load, or that a washer and dryer is available in Chavez Dormitory, floor 3, north end.