The Teaching Box

The tools of Internet technology are all around us. They are in use all the time. I want to harness the power of the tools and the people who understand how to use them.

Lets look at an example:
World of Warcraft is one of the most popular online games ever devised.
Take a look at the Forums and Message boards.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/

The information found on these pages is absolutely amazing. The strategies, tips, and research rivals that of any encyclopedia. If you want to learn how to get your orc to level 50 in a specific dungeon, you will find exactly how to do it here.

The collaborative power of this online community knows no bounds, but remember.

THIS IS A GAME!

What if we could harness this behavior to solve real problems and perform research in the academic realm.

I see the use of these tools as becoming commonplace in the near future. Many are used right now. The key element that they lack in their use is structure and discipline.

A message board can quickly becomes a mass of information that is disorganized and useless. File upload areas become graveyards of obscurely named documents that no one can understand. Online chat becomes informal text strings of “omg, rotfl, and lol“.

I seek to create an online virtual environment where these tools are used in a structured way.

Message boards must be moderated and postings organized. File upload areas must have naming convention rules. Chat must be complete words and sentences.

The beauty of this environment is that it can be populated with students who already know the tools and how to use them. Even if they aren’t familiar with specifics, they can be taught.

1. Tools are defined and students demonstrate how to use them.
2. Rules and discipline are applied to the use of the tools
3. The virtual classroom is built, and problem solving and learning can begin

The tools of internet technology surround us. Now we must put them to use.

-Loren
http://theteachingbox.today.com
http://www.theteachingbox.com

When I was in my Post Secondary program I had a short discussion with my friend Brent at a seminar class. He told me about the awesome multimedia video clip that he made for his class he was helping to teach. The class was a freshman communication class.  He proceeded to tell me how proud he was of his video, and the time that he put into the creation of this WORK OF ART.

He said that when he played it for the class, they watched it, and shrugged their shoulders. Not terribly exciting to them it seemed. Just like watching a cartoon on the Television. Brent said that he wasn’t drummed out of the classroom with a chorus of boos or throwing of vegetables, but they weren’t nearly as excited about it as he was.

As he told me this story I was mortified, because I was planning to do a similar project.

After thinking and discussing it a bit more. Brent said that he seems to get better interaction and response from the students when he teaches Face to Face in a classroom environment.  (i.e. he actually stands in front of the class and teaches).

This is an interesting observation. I belive that in as Online Course Brent’s video clip would probably have been better received by students, but in the f2f (face to face) classroom environment students seem to prefer real people.

I am saving this story for future use (If Brent allows me to tell it, and of course embellish a bit).  It can be filed under technology is an aid to teaching, and not THE Teaching. As an educational professional I need to know that MY PHYSICAL PRESENCE in the classroom is the best teaching tool. Don’t rely on the technology as a crutch in face to face classes.

I think that the students come there to see the professor, not video clips.
What do you think about how to best utilize multimedia in a f2f (traditional) classroom?
How about in an online (virtual) classroom?

-Loren
http://theteachingbox.today.com
http://www.theteachingbox.com

“It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:12)

We are individuals with the different talents. I believe that it is our duty to take these gifts and use them to the best of our ability. Sometimes we know early in life what these gifts are and are able to develop them right away. This was not my case with the gift of teaching that I believe I have been given. The best way to present this topic is to tell my story.

I have always been interested in things mechanical. While growing up I was always taking things apart, and tried my best to reassemble them, not always successfully. I was sure my gift was to be a mechanical engineer. Even though I had this aptitude I was not sure that it was what I wished to do for a living. Upon graduation from high school I proceeded to join the Navy to pursue my career. I was trained as a nuclear mechanical operator and spent the next four years on an aircraft carrier. While in the Navy I honed my practical mechanical skills. I knew for certain that after I got out, I would be going to school for mechanical engineering.

Looking back now I see that even though I had the gift of mechanical aptitude (not one of the gifts mentioned by Paul in Ephesians) another interest began growing within me. One of the assignments I had while on the ship was that of a trainer. When someone reported to the command they were required to undergo a rigorous training program to learn their job and become formally qualified. Two years into my assignment on the carrier, I was fully qualified and considered a senior operator. I was chosen by my division officer to assist in the training program that I had gone through. This was the beginning of my awareness that possibly I was fortunate to have been given another gift in addition to my mechanical aptitude.

Six years in the Navy went by quite quickly and upon leaving I was accepted by the University of Minnesota into the Mechanical Engineering program. I spent the next 5 years as a student, and didn’t think much about teaching. After graduation I started my career as a mechanical engineer. Although I focused on the discipline I had studied in school, I kept seeing areas where people needed to be shown how to do things. Maybe my gift was beginning to awaken.

About a year ago I was speaking with a good friend of mine that is a pastor by training. In our conversation he told me I had “the gift”. Not sure what he meant I asked him to please explain. He proceeded to tell me that in the time we have known each other many of our conversations centered on my giving him help with various issues that arose with his computer. He said that I was very adept at fixing the problems, but while performing the work, I was able to explain to him in terms he understood what I was doing. Thus he said I had the gift of teaching.

Parker Palmer in The Courage To Teach speaks about the heart of a teacher. He says that teaching is more than just technique; it is part of our identity. He speaks of teaching as a true calling in an almost spiritual way. Although Palmer doesn’t share his faith with us, he talks extensively about the spiritual nature of teaching.

Even though my teaching experience is limited, I now fully understand and agree with Palmer when he speaks of finding your true self through teaching.

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This was an excerpt from a paper I wrote last year when I was taking a class in graduate school called “The Teaching Craft”.  I have recycled it here because my friend at  educationation asked the question, What Makes a Good Teacher?  He had an extensive list, and many of the points reminded me of my professor in The Teaching Craft.  She discussed Parker Palmer extensively and how teaching is more than a Job, it is a calling or Vocation.  This short post tells my story.

-Loren
http://theteachingbox.today.com

Students and Online Technologies

I’ll start with a shout out to my friend on Educationation as his recent post covered this topic as well.  Stop by the Educationation Blog for an interesting read.

Introduction -
Found some interesting stuff this weekend. I really need to spend some more time looking at raw data, but these seem to be from reliable sources, so I will throw it out there.  Is what we see here part of the Mindshift of the next generation? Maybe computers are the Mindtools spoken about by Jonassen and Carr (2000).
Note the Jonassen and Carr writing was in 2000. Most of these studies I show are from the last year or so. Have things changed?

Students Actually Use the Internet for Education

Technology Horizons in Education -
Research by NSBA speaks to students using internet for education based purposes. THis study has an interesting component of social networking which is generally prohibited by schools inside the walls of the classroom. I will defer to the Communication Majors as to what “Social Networking” actually is as we would define it today.

Web use may boost student achievement

eSchool News - (registration required)
A couple of interesting Quotes, which really shouldn’t surprise us.
“Learning was enhanced when interface adaptation matched the users’ cognitive style.”
“The internet is the preferred medium for information for this digital generation.”
They speak to the use of visual interfaces for learning such as design of web pages and the like.

Students More Likely Webheads Than TV Addicts

Online Media Daily -
I was part of the TV generation. Is it dying?

Internet Study

Stanford -
Some interesting data on how people spend their time online.
Most of it is not too surprising

In conclusion this data confirms my thoughts that we are on the beginning edge of technology in Academia.
It is worth our time to learn how to use it effectively.  As I have stated before, as educators we need to understand how to use the technology, we don’t necessarily need to become experts.

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References:

Jonassen, D. H., and C. S. Carr. 2000. Mindtools: Affording Multiple Knowledge Representations for Learning. In Computers as Cognitive Tools, Volume Two: No More Walls: Theory Change, Paradigm Shifts, and their influence on the use of computers for instructional purposes, edited by S. P. Lajoie. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Welcome to TheTeachingBox!

This is my first post, so let me introduce myself.  Actually the easiest way is to click on the About Tab located above.

I am a manufacturing engineer by day, and I enjoy my job tremendously.  As an engineer I live for all things technical and strive to understand WHY things work.  My other love is education.  A large part of my job as a manufacturing engineer is to train and educate people.  This is the basis of my writing, and this blog.  A year or so ago I took on the challenge to increase my writing skill.  At the time I was doing a certification class for PostSecondary Teaching at a local University.  A very good professor in this program told me that the best way to get better at writing was to DO IT.  After making this decision a number of pieces fell into place and the challenge to improve my writing skills appeared.

I was at a conference and chatted with a guy manning a booth for a trade magazine.  It turned out that this was a new publication and they were looking for contributors.  After a few minutes of telling him what I do as an engineer he asked me if I would be interested in writing an article. I was taken aback, but nevertheless excited about this prospect.  In the realm of the Education World being published is a big deal, and here was my chance.

The publication is called Micro Manufacturing and in the last year I have had two articles.

• Silicone Moulding in the Biomedical World - The Game Has Changed

• A Manufacturing Engineer’s Perspective on Staying Competitive in Today’s Global Market

This work has been a fantastic experience and my relationship with the editor has been outstanding.  In the process of submitting my work I made the comment that I should keep the editors busy correcting my “Engineering Grammar”.  He responded with a comment that my writing was better than alot of engineer submitted articles.  I took this as a great compliment and it has fueled my efforts.

So in short this is how I have gotten here.  I have since completed the certification and now am officially a Certified Post Secondary Teacher.  In the quest to increase my writing skills I will continue to use this format as my proving ground.   As time passes I will continue to collect my thoughts and post them.  I will focus on education and technology issues as I strive to increase my ability as an Engineer who is a part time Education Professional.  Feel free to comment on any of my posts and provide feedback.  I believe that Education is a process and everything is a work in progress.  As stated in my tagline at the top of the blog, this blog is “An Engineer’s Perspective on Education and Technology”.

We are in this together, so lets get started.