With classes starting on Monday and the immediate need for a faster processor for accessing Foundations of Distance Education (IDT 846 which uses Polycom’s PVX software), I bought a new desktop computer on Wednesday. This one has an AMD 64-bit dual core processor, runs Vista (which I’m not sure I like yet), and has 320 GB of hard drive space (of which I can only locate 288 GB). But even a new machine was not without its own nightmares. Windows Media Player 11 is part of Vista and could not be uninstalled and the version of PVX I had purchased required Media Player 9. I was unable to load a second version of the player to the computer and then found that PVX 8.0.2 did not run on Vista at all. Fortunately, Polycom was answering the phones after midnight on Wednesday and Renee gave me a service request number for the next day. On Thursday morning, Ben gave me a link to a later version supported by Vista (and not readily available to the public, as of yet) and I was all set–or so I thought.

I loaded the new version of the software and found that there were still a few issues. After trying to test my PVX system for class all week, I feel that I am now on a first name basis with several of the people at Master Control at ODU. I have talked with some of them extensively while trying to work the kinks out of the system. Today we finally got it working–after configuring my router, sending information on the updated software I was using to one of the technicians, and working through the settings one more time after he updated to the 8.0.4 system. On Monday morning, we will do a final check for audio and video. Hopefully, that will finally get me ready for Dr. Gary Morrison’s class at 4:20 P.M.

So, here’s a big thank you to Renee and Ben at Polycom for their timely assistance and to Susan, Duane, Craig, Christa, and Rodney at ODU’s Master Control for helping me circumvent the problems I encountered with Polycom’s PVX videoconferencing software. After this drawn out and harrowing experience, I can only hope that the IDT 846 class ends up being easier than the time spent so far in getting ready for it. (Now that I have a working computer, I can also get to the backlog of information I have wanted to post on this blog.)

Update: Despite the successful test on Monday afternoon, I was unable to log in for the first day of class. I guess this will continue to an experience. I only hope that logging in will become easier and I can get through this class.  : )

How to Get Students to Use New-Found Skills

An Interview with George Lucas and Daniel Goleman about the ways that social and emotional learning enhance the education process. It also includes a small section on project-based learning as well.

A subscription to the magazine is free and the current issue is at November 2007 issue.

By checking out my categories section, you can find the various things that I have written–either annotations, reading journal entries, teaching tips and random thoughts. I’ll keep adding to this list as I find additional things of interest. I hope you’ll check back, too.

My reading journal consisted of chapters and excerpts from several books (including the class textbook), some journal articles, and a book review on motivation. Most of the information is included in annotations and posts on this blog. The actual journal of what I read is attached as a PDF at the top of this post.

I found that my knowledge of adult education was increased as a result of reading this additional material. The book Making Sense of Adult Learning by MacKeracher added to the information presented in the class textbook, but had nothing to do with the class for which it was actually purchased (see post on College Textbooks). Several of her chapters added a new perspective to not only the class readings, but my personal situation as well. I found most interesting the chapter on “Emotions and Motives in Learning.” I found excellent information in here on stress and anxiety and the effects of these factors on not only education, but communication as well.

The book review on increasing intrinsic motivation gave new ideas for ways to increase students’ motivation in the classroom by making learning fun and interesting. Too often, it seems that adult education classes are not interesting when all of the focus is on making progress to meet the new state benchmarks. I’ll be telling our Regional Adult Education Director about this book, as it may help her teachers add a new twist to their classes, while actually making the students want to succeed even more.

The journal articles were chosen based on their interesting (to me, anyway) subject matter. Who would have thought that two years would make such a difference in how young ladies felt about themselves from the feminist perspective? This study brought forth some interesting food for thought in how we push girls into traditional roles while they are in high school, even though there are many successful role models of women who have taken on non-traditional roles.

The recognition and validation of experiential learning article also gave me something to think about. Recognizing and giving value to someone’s skills and knowledge earned while in the school of hard knocks is very relevant for adult learners. They bring much knowledge and skills with them to the classroom. However, there are downfalls even to that point of view. Even in education, we offer teaching certificates to people who have skills to offer, but we often don’t take into account their needs in other areas. How many career switchers have been lost in the system after a year or two because of the laissez faire way in which they are introduced to teaching? I know that Sarah Martin is always saying that few of the switchers she has worked with are ready for the classroom and the ones that are most successful bring prior knowledge of teenagers and, in some cases, training management situations with them.

The article on the need and funding for lifelong education is of definite value. Too often we expect to pick up a grant here to teach adults and then another there to help them further in my school division. As was shown in my activity for Learning Activity 6, the responsibility for the adult education program falls with the division and their contribution is often in-kind (a place for teachers and students to meet for the most part). All other funding comes from state and federal monies (grants–both flat and competitive) or from the work of the director to attract additonal funds through grants in other areas. Where is the local school division with additional monies to meet their obligations? In a regional program, it seems that someone would step up to the plate and provide additional funding, since the education of the parents and community members will lead to a better focus on education by the children in the community.

Several of the text chapters I read focused on using narratives in the classroom as a way for students to learn and to belong. The journal article on learning through storytelling provided examples of personal stories that connected prior learning to the content being taught. Bring together experiences and the curriculum is always a win-win situation. Detailed examples of concept focused autobiographical writing provided insight into one particular method that is being used in adult education classrooms.

One fact that I discovered while putting together this blog and doing my readings is that the averge age of the typical adult learner (even at the college/university level) is older than you would expect. The article on recognizing the expectations of mature age students, the value they add to the learning situation, and how to keep them in school was very interesting. With the baggage that adults bring to the classroom (with families, jobs, health issues, etc.), it is important that we begin to examine ways to keep them in school and then put those ideas into action. It was found that the most difficult part for the adult students was bridging the communication gap (both personally and, in some cases, technologically as well). But when this is done, the adults feel more connected to the learning experience and begin to take a leading role in the courses in which they take. What a fascinating topic and one that is definitely current.

The class textbook was, with the exception of the chapter that put me to sleep, very easy to read and to understand. I enjoyed reading the chapters and found that my annotations became longer as time passed due to the amount of interesting information that I was learning. All but one of the chapters added to my knowledge of adult education and gave me more ideas for things to consider when teaching adults. Even after teaching adults for most of my 23 years in the classroom, I still found new information to make the job of teaching and learning easier for both the students and the teacher, simply by considering the factors underlying education of adults.

In all, I feel that the reading journal was an excellent activity. It gave me new perspectives on many of the topics presented in class as well as different cultural perspectives that I might not have considered. As America continues to allow people from other countries through her borders, educators at all levels must consider the cultural aspects of the students they teach. I plan to continue my readings even after the semester ends and hopefully will be able to post interesting information on my blog for others to see and consider.

According to Dr. Laurie Rozakis (2007) in the third chapter of her book EveryDay Writing, a blog is “an online diary, a personal record of your ideas that you publish as a web page” (p. 71). However, for many people writing a blog (or blogging) has become much more than that. It is also a way to inform people of things that are happening around the United States and the world from a personal perspective (i.e., the blogs by soldiers in Iraq and the ones during Virginia Tech’s tragedy last fall). In political blogs (known as plogs), the posts or entries can often create heated arguments as commenters debate issues, candidates and policies. And then there are blogs such as this one, which try to present verifiable information from reliable sources while also serving up the occasional philosophical idea or opinion.

Blogs are usually updated on a daily basis with the expectation that someone (even a family member) will read it. Blogging is a way to share (or publish) your writing and ideas with a large number of people and to become involved with other writers. Reasons for considering blogging include:

to spark your creativity, . . .

to write more easily, . . .

to polish your writing skills, . . .

to establish a platform, . . . and

to influence public opinion . . . (Rozakis, 2007, p. 74-76).

I find that the more I write on my blogs, the easier it is for me to write and the more I am able to compose and even edit new posts in my head. This is not my first blog, although it is the one of which I am most proud. I also do political blogging, using online researching techniques for facts to support or reject primary or general election candidates as well as to express my opinions on local matters of interest (yes to schools, no to landfills!). The most important point I need to make is that you could be held responsible for what you write and the best way to do that is to include links to original sources, not second-hand information or gossip. There is at least one case of a blogger in Virginia that was sued for defamation of character, although some protections exist (for political speech anyway) under the FEC rulings. There is not yet an official code of ethics for bloggers, although CyberJournalist.com has posted a tentative one here with comments included and some Virginia bloggers are already using suggested ethics codes for their own sites.

Dr. Rozakis (2007) also has some guidelines for being a responsible blogger, because once your writing appears on the Internet, it’s there for anyone to read:

Don’t post unverified information.

Don’t inflate yourself and your accomplishments.

Be careful about venting and ranting.

Don’t slur anyone, least of all your employer.

Don’t assume you can hide behind a fake name (p. 76-77).

If you decide to begin a blog, there are several different sites that will host your site usually at no cost. Dr. Rozakis (2007) recommends Googling “blog hosting software” or “blog software” to find specific information on different services available (p. 80). My first two blogs were on Blogger, but I chose WordPress for this blog. The reasons include recommendations from long-time blogger acquaintances at my first statewide bloggers’ conference last year and the chance to learn something new (as all sites are different in what they will allow you to tweak on their sites and in their templates). With this blog, I have had the opportunity to work with HTML code more than on Blogger. Believe me, learning to do blockquotes correctly on WordPress and make bulleted lists took more time than I expected. Even copying tables from Microsoft Word 2007 was not as easy as on Blogger (Note to self and others: paste tables into the Visual window, not into the code window!).

Blogs can be on any topic of your choice. Some people choose to use it as a diary and include things such as quotes, news stories, everyday life events, their own creative writing stories or poetry, opinions on a variety of topics, or pictures that they have taken. But, no matter what you choose to write about, always remember to:

Give your blog a title (and perhaps a subtitle) that will help your audience identify what it is about.

Make your blog attractive using templates and images.

Watch for changes in font size and spacing, as it will make some posts harder to read. (Thanks, Mickey!)

Post often or people will stop visiting your site.

Make your posts (and your paragraphs) short and interesting to read, even if you end up splitting a post somewhere to include a “Continue Reading” link for people who want to know more about what you are writing.

Link to other sites in the posts and in your sidebar, even if you don’t refer to them in a post anywhere.

Edit your writing for grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling and HTML code errors.

Be passionate about your topic and it will show.

And, most importantly, have fun!

It would be interesting to have an educational blog for students and I have read several articles on the process. Many schools systems have blocked blogs along with chatrooms and instant messaging programs. However, I discussed the idea of blogging with the regional director of our Adult Education Program. She said that the state was interested in adult education programs using more technology (including blogs) in their classes. So, who knows, she may even start a blog for her program where students can publish their own writing and opinions.

References:

Merriam-Webster Online. (November 2004). Merriam-Webster announces the 2004 words of the year. Retrieved November 17, 2007, from http://www.m-w.com/info/pr/2004-words-of-year.htm.

Rozakis, L. (2007). EveryDay writing (for fun, for profit, for your heart’s content). New York: Madison Park Press.

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include a card to the following address:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

If you also approve of the idea, please pass it on to those on your e-mail list.

For all of us old-timers out there (or should that be experienced adult learners?):

I couldn’t resist adding something that wasn’t educational. Enjoy!

(P.S. Please don’t try watching this on a dial-up connection!)