I am finding this very challenging to get started. I feel very vulnerable posting my thoughts in such a worldwide forum. I haven’t viewed many blogs, but the ones that I have read are very interesting and inspirational. It is a lot to live up to!
For now, I am mostly going to use this blog to write about the Designing Constructivist Learning Environments class that I am taking. I have wanted to begin to blog so this is a perfect opportunity to do so.
Today I needed to observe classroom training. Within the first half hour, the trainer had the class watch a 5-minute video on the web about concept mapping. I didn’t feel or observe that the learners were able to understand the point of watching the video. At the end, the trainer expressed how cool she thought the video was and then quickly stated that she hoped it helped them with how they would be expected to take notes during the class. This scenario made me immediately think about what Dr. Ackerman had expressed in class. Class was speaking about the icebreaker activity that Dr. Ackerman had designed. We were all talking it through and about the necessity to debrief all classroom exercises so the learners are able to really understand the activity, make a connection and to further impact learning. I am not a trainer, and I don’t have the experience writing instructor lead training so this is a learning experience for me. However, I was able to see very clearly the importance of debriefing the activity. I think that using a constructivist approach would be really helpful in this case. The next time that this video is used I believe that the trainer should set-up exercises, create a more learner centered experience and always debrief.
One of the really valuable things that I have gotten out of Penn State is collaborating with my colleagues on projects. I have been able to keep more up-to-date in terms of technology. It has also been great to share classes with K-12 teachers. They are using technology that is light speed ahead of the corporate environment. We are all connected. Each year the K-12 teachers pass on their students to higher learning institutions and to the corporate world. We need to be prepared and ready for the expectations and ways in which these students have been learning. Here is a link to a video by Michael Wesch, Digital Ethnographer from U of Kansas. He also created the Machine is Us/ing us. This may give us an idea as to what these learners may very well be thinking when entering the corporate environment.
