Where The Teachers Are

INTRO

I spent Saturday October 24 with a roomful of ELA (English Language Art) teachers at the Arizona K12 Center. We learned about educational technology tools, including how to leverage them to support teaching to Arizona’s college and career ready standards. Disclosure: I’m not a teacher. I do instructional design.

IMPROVISATIONAL PD: FAILING TO GET IT RIGHT

Me not being a teacher is a good thing. I don’t know enough to keep quiet when something was introduced during the workshop. It’s all new to me. Except that it’s not. I learn a lot about K-12 strategies and educational technology at the EdCamps I participate in. Through some applied improvisation later on I figure out how to apply it with the adult learners I support.

I get asked sometimes why participate in so many EdCamps? I think I’m up to 30 so far: EdCamps in Texas, Arizona, California and Washington, DC. It’s because I like the improv. Hearing about something cool I want to try it right away, or as soon as possible, before it gets stale. I view doing something that I just learned from teachers as improv because I’m flying without a net. I don’t know what the cues are. Not being a teacher means I’m not sure about context. So I give it a try and add or drop stuff as seems to make sense.

OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKING INSIDE OF A BREAKOUT EDU BOX

I hear now and then how we instructional designers need to be more innovative and creative. A lot of times the ideas that come back from “How?” involve advanced educational technology. Since EdCamp I prefer simpler more natural and humanistic approaches.

At CUEROCKSTAR Las VegasI learned about this Breakout EDU thing. The way it works is you get a box. But not just an ordinary box. Noooo. You get one with a sturdy hasp. About that hasp, it’s an electricians lockout hasp. There can be as many as six locks on this hasp.

The teacher, or in my case instructional designer, crafts an engaging story. This is what teacher and author Dave Burgess calls “A Hook”. My name for it, after watching Jack Black in Goosebumps, is “The Twist.” Anyway, the learner or learners, once engaged, work to solve puzzles. The puzzles and their solutions are grounded in what the learner is being taught or trained on.

EVENT WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK IT WORKS OUT

At AZTEA’s P3: Problems, Projects, and Possibilities conference I presented a session on designing interactive presentations. One of the things I demonstrated was the Breakout EDU box. There were “technical difficulties”, however, and I had to do some improvisation to get over the bump.

Here’s how it was supposed to go. First there was the trailer. Then the backstory. Lastly was the vital clue. Anyway, given technical difficulties I had to play all the parts live. I got to feel the learning. It was pretty cool. I have a whole new perspective on how to do it next time. I’ll definitely have some backup stuff, too.

SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR THE ZOMBIE (LEARNER) APOCALYPSE

One thing I need to work on, what teacher Chris Long calls Self-Development is the BOOS (Butts-Out-Of-Seats).

I think, and some research studies suggests, learning efficacy can be deepened when learners are actively engaged and moving around doing learning activities.

THATS WHERE THE TEACHERS ARE

To review, why do I get most of my PD (Professional Development) from EdCamp & CUE? Because that’s where the teachers are.

 

Play Time PD

INTRO

EdCamp Tucson is tomorrow, Saturday September 12, 2015. Unlike many unconferences that I participate in this one’s practically in my backyard, only 90 minutes away. Usually I travel hundreds of miles to EdCamps. I reflect on what I might learn on the way there. On the trip home I reflect on how I might apply learnings to my instructional design practice.

PLAY TIME PD: A LEARNING ACTIVITY BEST EXPERIENCED WITH OTHERS

A few PD (Professional Development) conferences ago, it might have been CUEROCKSTAR, I heard someone describe PD as play time. I’ve been thinking a lot about viewing PD as a fun enjoyable thing to do.

When I was a child I loved when Papa would take me to the park. His experience and mine while at the park were, I believe, a lot different. Sometimes he’d bring the newspaper to read. Other times he’d watch me for a while then kind of zone out and relax. He worked in a Kaiser steel mill feeding coke into a blast furnace. I can imagine what relaxing in the shade of a tree in a quiet place meant to him.

How I experienced park play time depended on who was there, too. Sometimes there were friends I would run around with. Other times, probably more often than not, there were kids I didn’t know that I could get to know, play with, and learn from. Once in a while Papa and I would have the park to ourselves. I think he liked the quiet: me, not so much.

Fast forward to the present day: EdCamp Tucson. There will be lots of people there. It’s going to be held at CITY Center for Collaborative Learning. It’s someplace I haven’t been to before. Their website says it’s an “umbrella organization” but what does that mean? As it kicks-off we’ll post what we’d like to learn there. We’ll post topics we can facilitate conversations on. All this is standard stuff at an EdCamp; they have no preset agenda. Anticipating what will happen reminds me of my park experience. The best times, the ones that come back most vividly, are filled with memories of lots of kids interacting with each other in varied ways.

I was in Little Rock, Arkansas last week meeting with a development team. On my drive there and back, 2600 miles round trip, I stopped often to take pictures of interesting stuff. One of these times was near the village of Honobia, Oklahoma. It seems that every October there’s this Bigfoot Conference hosted by Christ’s 40 Acres.

Anyway, a little before Honobia was this big Bigfoot T-Shirt sign. I thought: “Kodak Moment”, so I stopped to take a selfie. Being alone it took a few minutes to balance my iPhone on the hood of my Pilot, set the timer so I’d have enough time to press the shutter release then run back up to the sign. I was huffing-n-puffing running back and forth trying to get the timing and my positioning right. Honobia is up in the mountains, high up. I was sweaty and breathing hard by the time I finally got it. Admiring the photo I took while I caught my breath reminded me of going to the park again: good times.

OUTRO

Why do I go to so many EdCamps and PD conferences? Is it for the keynotes? Is it for the pre-conference workshops? Is it for the concurrent sessions? Not really. EdCamps don’t have any of those things. The ATD conferences I’ve been to, the eLearning Guild’s DevLearn and mLearnCon have them and they’re informative and valuable PD resources. But where I really learn is when I interact with others. Talking about what their experience was like and then contrasting it with mine has the most value. How about you? Why do you participate in PD conferences?

 

Hiddenest Selfs

PROLOGUE

"Our own truths can be the hiddenest of all." -- Me

HIDDENEST

Day 11, AprilBlogaDay: It dawned on me a moment ago that it's a challenge. We're being dared to keep at it ever day, all month long. That's 30 days of month days.

Today's suggested topic: What are you reading professionally or personally, and why? My holistic take is everything I read has application in my craft and is fun to one degree or another.

I am always on the prowl for instructional strategies. The other day my gaze fell upon this gem: Simpson's Grammar.

I tend to read during quiet times. It's been a while since I read with other readers nearby for more than a few minutes.

SELFS

I start lots of books. Mostly they're on my iPad's Kindle app. I like science fiction. Some cool ideas have come from the genre.

Many books come recommended by people I know from EdCamps or Twitter chats. The thing they have in common include making the learning visible, doing what it takes to engage curiosity, and setting high and achievable expectations.

A couple-three years ago my professional self noticed many learners were disenchanted by what and how they were learning. I'm mostly talking about the training we get through our employers.

The people I interviewed gave a lot of reasons why it turned them off. It all got down to b-o-r-I-n-g. But not in the dull mind-numbing sense that probably popped into your mind first. The learning experiences they were being subjected to were superficial: Designers didn't develop learning that grabbed attention, that drilled down into what people wanted and needed to really learn and apply to improve their job performance.

EPILOGUE

Maybe we do a better job going our own way, seeking out learning that clicks for us. Or not. One thing I learned a while back that really touched me deeply: When Mrs needs help I should jump. She needs help putting the new leaf blower together. What makes you jump?

 

Cache Shoes

PROLOGUE

I spend a lot of time in the country. Silos dot this landscape. Though I have no direct knowledge of their operation, the sort of hard-won experience earned through sweat and toil, I'm pretty sure they're used to store stuff like grain and whatnot. When I thought about what to blog on AprilBlogADay Day 5 silos immediately popped into my head.

CACHE

Silos are full of stuff. What stuff? No idea. That is to say, you have to be in the silo to know what's inside.

 

When I think about ways to move education forwards the first constraint I come up with is silos. I do instructional design. I've produced learning experiences for learners in academia, in the corporate realm (financial services and high technology manufacturing), K-12, and government. I've been able to glimpse inside some of the silos, K-12s mostly; however my deepest dive has been in the corporate realm. There's some cool stuff in there. It makes me wonder what caches of know-how are in the silos of other educators.

Through my participation in EdCamp unconferences and events put on by CUE and TCEA I've been able to skim the surface of K-12 teaching and learning strategies. There's some awesome stuff there, by the way. I like the learning and reflecting and, sometimes, figuring out ways of applying it to my craft.

 

SHOES

 

One of the major topics of discussion in corporate L&D (Learning and Development) centers on engagement. How do we, as designers, create training that engages learners so that the messages we try to impart stick more easily. But, and this is sure to upset some, the strategies and tools available to us haven't changed all that much over the years. I dread the NEXT (screen) button in elearing for example. Ditto with compliance courses that require learners to sit in front of a computer for a specific amount of time to be able to get credit.

 

EdCamp has taught me that there are things we can do to get adult learners moving and making. But to make real progress we, educators of all stripes, have to open up our silos to other educators. How's that expression go: Walk a mile in my shoes or something like that.

 

EPILOGUE

 

Sometimes when I suggest a learning strategy to a customer that's a little out there, teaching like a pirate for example, I get raised eyebrows. I immediately say that they need to suspend their disbelief for a moment. Sometimes a leap of faith is required to make real progress. I know the stuff in your silo is the result of years of sweat and toil. All I'm saying is engage educators serving learners other than yours and share what you know.

 

 

 

 

Acronyms

Backstory

I have mixed feelings about acronyms. Two acronyms have special meaning for me: TLAP (Teach Like A Pirate) and FAIL (First Attempt In Learning). TLAP is about passion. If you aren't feeling it don't do it. FAIL: If you're not failing once in a while maybe you aren't learning anything new.

Constructive Responses

I presented a session during the eLearning Guild's DevLearn Conference last month. The evaluation results came in last night. How'd I do?

DevLearn presenter evaluation results

DevLearn presenter evaluation results

I have constructive feedback I can use to improve.

Practice

How to practice for next time? I'm thinking YouTube.

Close

It's Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Thank you EdCamp. Thank you SDCUE. Thank you everyone whose names begin with @. Thank you God and Mrs: the first for each new breath, the latter for taking each away. 23 years married and still going strong.

 

 

Pandora's Snicker Doodle

PROLOGUE

I like going off on tangents. I love it when the tangent brings me back to where I started. This has the feel of a great circle: something about navigation learned whilst in the Navy. It happened this morning in one of those never-ending meetings a stray thought crossed my awareness. Its sudden appearance startled me. That it had nothing to do with the meeting caused my mind to snatch it out of the ether for a closer look.

PANDORA

Apologies if this next part comes off a little skewed. I'm drawing on knowledge from when I was 12, a 7th grader I think. Pandora was the first woman the gods made, per Greek Mythology. They gave her all manner of positive attributes. Some time later, Pandora happens upon a jar. Curious about its contents she opens it. Much to her surprise and humankind's lament all of life's evils were released from their cache to inflict pain and suffering on us all.

HOPE

I'm an instructional designer. I've practiced my craft, using equal parts of science and art, for 16 years or so. The stray thought I'd had was this: Pandora unleashed uncertainty, fear, and doubt. These are the very things that keep many of us from embracing change and enjoying success beyond our wildest dreams. Ok. That last sentence is in here for dramatic effect. Writing without benefit of an editor means sometimes a little incoherence makes it into the final piece. Anyway, the myth goes on to say that Pandora was drawn back to the jar by a small noise coming from within it. She opens the jar again and out pops hope.

In my world hope means training. Something changes and a gap in performance results. Most times we see change coming from a mile away. Other times it surprises us. Either way training gives us a way to cope and do better.

SNICKER

With the US holiday season almost upon us Mrs felt the need to make sugar cookies. So we mixed up a batch of cinnamon sugar cookies. It was an easy recipe. She did the mixing and rolled the dough balls. It was my job to roll them in the cinnamon sugar and place them on the cookie sheets. She snickered now and then at my clumsy attempts to keep the dough in ball form. Now and then she guided me so there were more balls at the end than pancakes. Fom the start she had a clear idea of what the result would be. For me that realization came only at the end. In training we call this performance support.

 

It is an efficient way to impart skill and know-how. More often than not there are instructions, checklists, and pictures to help produce a successful outcome.

DOODLE

While I produce amazing learning experiences (according to the Level 1-4 evaluations) my preferred way to learn something involves play (and a ton of trial and error).

At the end of my typical learning process I generally have a positive outcome. A few times I fail. What I also come away with are a plethora of possible things to try next time. The last time this happened was Saturday.

At The SDCUE tech fair in Carlsbad, CA last Saturday I was wowed by Daqri4D, an augmented reality (AR) app. Lacking the funds for a license, I wasn't really sure I needed the app--I just wanted to play with it, I started thinking how an app-smashing approach might yield a similar wow.

 

I did some poking around with Aurasma, another AR app, the past couple of days. The results are kind of rough. Even so, I can see how I might be able to use the techniques I learned during my design and protyping phase to produce a wow learning experience.

EPILOGUE

Going forwards I'll continue playing around with AR. I think some green screen work, larger models, and better lighting will kick the prototypes up another notch. Stay tuned.