Eclectic Technology

If you are designing an eLearning course for adults are there aspects to consider that are important to the adult learner? This post from SH!FT would say yes. To create courses for adult learners, we must understand how adults learn, their traits and their learning styles.

What is important?

* Hook them Early (and Often)

* Make Use of Their Experiences

* Persuade Adult Learners of the Desirability of Learning Something

* Give Adult Learners the Freedom to Choose

Learn four ways to help hook the adult learner. Find four suggestions on ways to give adult learners more freedom to choose. Click through to the post to learn more.

Is your district considering mobile learning? If so this guide and infographic may be helpful as you begin the planning. Both are available free of charge. The guide provides best practices, resources and outlines. The infographic is split into three sections.

* Planning

* Implementing

* Continually Improving

Within each section you will find:

* A Common  Mistake

* What to Do

* Pitfalls

You may find that the infographic provides sufficient information or you may want the detail included in the guide. Links to both are found in the post.

What is an active learner? This video provides one look at what a learner might look like today. In additon to the video there is also a SlideShare that would allow you to show the "video" at a pace that allows discussion, and a number of visual images that also explore the active learner. The visuals include Engaging an Active Learner that shares ways students learn (and do not learn), Open Your Laptop to Page 3, Learning Goes Digital: Electronic Education Moves to Head of the Class and many others.

These materials were created by an Agency working for Blackboard (a content management system). Using either the video or a number of the visuals would provide a opportunity for teachers, parents, or other small groups to discuss why education is undergoing a seismic change in many areas.

Jackie Gerstein continues to explore the shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 , taking it "one step further" by looking at Pedagogy (related to children's learning), Andragogy (related to adults learning) and Heutagogy (related to self-directed learning). The graphic above shows how she defines these three areas in more detail. 

She notes that this shift is moving us from a teacher directed classroom which education driven by essentialism or instructivism (Education 1.0) to a constructivist approach, "where the principles of active, experiential, authentic, relevant, socially-networked learning experiences are built into the class or course structure" (Education 2.0) to a more heutalogical approach (Education 3.0).

The discussion then looks at how to choose a teaching orientation (and it need not always be the same) and then applies these concepts to mobile learning. 

Many resources are included in this post such as a table describing Education 1.0, Education 2.0 and Education 3.0; a Google Drive Presentation on PBL in a High School Science Class that uses mobile technologies; a SlideShare that looks at Education 3.0 and the Pedagogy of Mobile Learning (presenting the concepts discussed in the post); and many links to additional resources.

Early in this post Gerstein states:
"Often, though, in schools the following tends to occur surrounding executive functions:

     1. There is an assumption that students possess these skills and 

         abilities.

     2. Students are punished if they fail to practice and use the skills.

As teachers when we think of executive thinking we may think of learners on IEPs or 504s, yet the tools that work well with students on IEPs and 504s also provide great support to our "regular ed students."

So the question of how we can help our learners who struggle with expectations that they may not have learned, such as "be organized" or "stay in your seat" or "raise your hand to speak" may not be understood.

In most schools the teaching of executive functioning skills is not the priority. Yet we do support technology and today technology provides a wide variety of support that is not expensive. This post goes on to share a presentation made by Karen Janowski, a teacher whom works with students with disabilities and knows her "stuff." (You may also be interested in exploring her website UDL Tech Toolkit at http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/).

As always Gerstein has included additional resources which include a link to the Newton Public Schools Assistive Tech website (and at this site they have a presentation designed for parents on the same subject) as well as a detailed list of tools to assist learners with to do lists/task management, time management, productivity and note taking, organizing, and more. Read through the post and find some tools to suggest to parents and learners that may help the learner be more successful in school this year.

A look at how "21st century learning vernacular" has created some oxymorons such as:

* Scripted Curriculum Maps

* Student-Centered Classroom

* Partial Understanding

Each of the oxymorons has a short description. What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe that these are oxymorons? Can you think of  other 21st century vernacular that describe education that are oxymorons?

What do you think the principles of mobile learning are? This post provide the following 12. Each of the principles (below) are discussed in the post.Do you agree with them or are there ones you would add (or delete)? Share your thoughts here (or on TeachThought). 

The list:

* Access'

* Metrics

* Cloud

* Transparent

* Play

* Asynchronous

* Self-Actuated

* Diverse

* Curation

* Blending

* Always-On

* Authentic