Final reflection

As the class comes to a close, I realize a paradigm shift. Online learning is not as easy as assumed. You must be a methodical, diligent and efficient task manager. At all times, the Internet should be accessible and your computer system(s) should be working in tandem. Moreover, online facilitation as well as learning is time intensive. I wonder if the output (homework) for online learning takes more time than face-to-face interaction. The best analogy I can think of is running for a marathon. You can run to win it or run to finish. Each outcome depends on how you train, your ability and your preparation.

An interesting research project would be developing a learning style inventory that would indicate whether a student is more suitable for online learning versus traditional lecture method. Variables to measure would be locus of control, self-regulation, timeliness, and motivators to name a few. A lot of people don’t have patience for schoolwork and think that online education is the answer. Some people are not good with detail and independently organizing information. Having a measurement tool for readiness is good but measuring capacity or ability is a different matter all together.

Believe it or not, I think the way this class played out with the different online interactions was a good experience for our class. We got to see the “good, bad and ugly” of online facilitation. I thought it was quite funny that the other groups felt like they did not get enough experience or exposure. I felt my experience really showed me how it can be done as well as the components that make up good online facilitation.

As I develop my BlackBoard courses, I think of the countless hours of videotaping and developing resources. Since I am camera-shy, I am looking at developing scripts and videos my niece can do in my place. I think students will take well to a young cute little girl talking to them about better choices. She would be non-threatening to my student population. I need to channel eight-year-old drama queen’s energy into something productive.

I hope that future FIT assignments could be developing resources for online courses. In order to “share” the wealth of experiences between groups, perhaps viewing screenshots of each course on Bb would showcase strengths and weaknesses of courses offered on line. We completed a few exercises in the beginning of the course. I think a few more case studies throughout the semester would be appreciated and bridge the gap between groups that don’t get that much exposure in their FIT groups. Similarly, simulations would also enhance experience.

Should Parents Do Homework?

I recently read an article in the New York Times about an English teacher who required parents to respond their children’s homework assignments in a blog the teacher started online. If the parents do not do their part of the homework, the students’ grade could be at risk. This innovative approach keeps the parents involved in their children’s work as well as helps introduce some family time. This approach is one of many ways to keep parents/family members abreast of what is going on in school and in the lives of children.

While this approach is novel, I wonder if this type of interaction is commonplace? Email and voicemail have outpaced traditional letter writing ten fold. I am not versed in the literature on this, but informal conversations with my friends, colleagues and strangers indicates that parent interaction and/or initiative in their students’ progress is wanting. Parents are called when there is a problem in school. Parents call the schools when there is a problem. What about an email “just because” the teacher and/or student wanted to give a snapshot of what was happening in class?

Sometimes parents do not know what to ask, where to begin or how to help their child or the teacher. I believe there is an assumption that everyone is doing their job (teachers teaching and students learning) until the progress report or report card indicates otherwise.

I have lost count on the number of times a friend, colleague or stranger has expressed absolute shock and dismay over the poor performance of their child. The poor performance does not make itself known until report card time. Philosophically, I cannot begin to understand this revelation. Students should be bringing homework home, exams, and projects on a regular basis. From the work product, parents should have a ballpark idea of the type of work and performance their child is completing. Parents/relatives should know which classes, friends, and teachers are their child is most popular and least favorite. Sometimes knowing these facts will also indicate which subjects are more difficult for the student.

From as early as third grade, students are learning literacy skills in both reading and computers. A great way to combine the two would be students sending emails on their progress to their parents email. Better yet, send emails to all family members with email addresses. Work on how to construct letters through this interchange. Advanced classes could use spreadsheets like Excel to chart and graph performance in all classes. This assignment combines math with computer literacy. Blogging can take on a completely new context in creative writing classes.

I recognize that these suggestions will work well in school districts that have access to computers as well as parents who have access. The sticky bits come out when you are dealing with districts and family from lower socio economic backgrounds. That’s the next homework assignment!

In a perfect world.

In a perfect world, things work when you hit the right key, everything is accessible 24 hours when you need it. In my world however, my home Internet access was wiped out for ten days and then another four days. I spent longer hours at work and my parents’ house trying to stay on top of schoolwork. While there was added frustration to losing access (and waiting on repair), there is something sacred about using your own computer. Using someone else’s is taboo-like wearing someone else’s underwear. While I am “bilingual” with computers-PC at work, Mac at home, I was somewhat vexed that I had two different organizational schemes for my course materials, so I changed the tasks each computer performed.

Outside of work and classes, I felt a little lost without Internet connection. I rely on being able to look something up in a heartbeat. I relied on being able to connect to a complete array of facts and people when I could and as I could. I realized that I have an OCD nature about my mailboxes and outstanding email. It is amazing how paralyzing work can be when the Internet is down. I realized that I have a tolerance for a particular length and breadth of email. Too long (and hence, too detailed) of an email gets tabled until I have time to really look at it. A long email requires attention to detail, problem solving and counseling that loses some context in email. Normally, I run into the student or instructor who wrote the email within a day or so and am able to solve the problem face-to-face. This course has had me thinking about how I could translate what I do “live” to online facilitation.

In order to successfully facilitate online interaction, there is a technique of attending to details or threads of communication and redirecting the communication to the group or a specific individual. There is also the skill of “chunking” themes and proactively communicate to learners A significant time commitment is required for this type of interaction. I felt that was not communicated accurately initially in class. Literature shows us differently.

No matter how much faith you put in technology, you have to have a work around, records, back up. I expected some difficulties with course management software but I was surprised with a few of the wrinkles experienced in during Fall 2007. Depending on which computer he is using, Dr. Barbour not being able to see certain responses to the blogs. I think that I am pretty good with technology and learning software pretty quickly. For whatever reason, I do not particularly care for the blog set up. I had a hard time figuring out how to configure all the student blogs I was responsible for. Fortunately, the FIT course offered a crash course for me to catch up.

Blogging in general was difficult for me. I was hesitant of my “feelings” documented and not really sure about what on what to write. Live discussion is different than documentation. I take things too seriously so I will chalk this up to experience as well.

FIT Project and Team Process

I have been fortunate enough to not have or remember having a bad group experience in undergraduate or graduate studies. Staying focused on the goal and wanting to be on time has carried significant momentum in getting the work done. I also appreciate sharing the burden with others. It makes the work more palatable and easier to do. BlackBoard has made group work even more manageable since we can share files that allow us to edit documents without having to physically meet one another. Having to manage individual schedules was the biggest difficulty in getting group work done in the past. I think the assignments have a fuller perspective when others are involved. An additional benefit in this FIT assignment was support from like-minded colleagues.

Common themes in the FIT assignment were students not completing the assignments in a timely fashion, not being able to do our assignments because of student delays, and technical glitches that impede progress. When the FIT assignment began, it took a couple attempts to gain full access. I believe I had difficulty with IT 7130 access in addition to IT 6140. Once in the IT 6140 course, we still did not have full viewing capacity. For whatever reason, when it came to accessing the assignments, we needed to go back to the instructor for some behind the scenes magic to grant access.

I realized that I experienced a time/task delay with what happened in class versus following up with FIT instructor as well as follow up with evaluations. Early on I had to remember to follow up. Sometimes I forgot. I see a definite advantage with having connectivity (wireless) wherever I go. I am not however, convinced that I need to bring laptop/PDA to class regularly. I am appreciating a new symbiotic relationship to my computers, advanced organization and technology. Connectivity is a must for this type of coursework.

Communication a different kind of connectivity is a critical component and integral to things working properly online. The first few weeks were spent clarifying assignments and duties as our group changed membership. There seemed to be a ton of email each week. Better to know than not to know. I did not fully appreciate the amount of communication needed to establish and maintain the course. Thus connectivity to the Internet is very important.

We were assigned specific students to monitor blog assignments as well as grade a few assignments. I found that I graded harder than the instructor in both assignments. I tend to grade hard or err on the conservative side. I need to see the entire class’s body of work to judge top projects versus substandard ones.

Some of my assumptions of online education have changed. Unfortunately, just like other things, online education is a fallible and vulnerable system. What hasn’t changed is the element of babysitting students. I still appreciate real time, human face-to-face from a student perspective as well as a teaching perspective.

Concept Mapping In Medical School

Modern higher education requires students not only to master a great quantity of information, but also to integrate information from diverse disciplines. Medical school students face some of the toughest integration challenges. They must not only learn the myriad complex biochemical processes, but also integrate this learning with higher-order understanding of organ systems and application with clinical skills. Success in medical school requires the integration of knowledge across disciplines and the application of higher cognitive level thinking. Unfortunately, many students begin medical school (as well as graduate school) with basic cognitive level skills and have problems adapting to the requirements necessary for successful completion of medical school.

The initial difficulties students report having in medical school are making a successful transition, managing the volume of material, the ability to memorize enormous quantities of material. While students identify memorization as the mental challenge to their successful study, the true challenge is a conceptual problem. One promising strategy to close the conceptual gap is to equip students with the skills of concept mapping. This is a method for organizing learned concepts into graphic arrays.

Concept mapping deemphasizes memorization and focuses on methods to engage higher cognitive level thinking, such as application and problem solving. Concept maps are built from nodes (concepts) and links (lines), which form hierarchically arranged propositions. Map construction requires students to make connections between different bodies of knowledge (1). This makes the technique especially effective for organizing and learning new information and integrating it with previous knowledge (2). Concept mapping is a technique in which students organize and represent knowledge into a graphic network of ideas and interconnections, thus providing students with the thought processes needed for application and problem solving skills.

Concept mapping has been most extensively tested in secondary and undergraduate education, but a growing number of reports indicate that the technique can be successfully applied in schools of medicine and nursing. Concept mapping was effective in increasing student understanding and retention in courses and units such as medical microbiology (Fonseca, 2004), For some students higher ordered thinking may be inherent, not all students have been challenged to recognize and apply these concepts in their studies.

Concept mapping utilizes the principle established by Asubel and others that “meaningful learning” is superior to rote learning in creating knowledge that can be applied to new situations. (3). Meaningful learning involves building a mental model of a new subject, and linking it to previously created mental models of related subjects. The emphasis on curricular integration across courses in medical school is aimed at creating meaningful learning, in this case learning that can be applied efficiently to problems of diagnosis and treatment.

I learned concept mapping through “old school technology”, good old paper and pencil or markers and crayons. Brainstorming and concept mapping were used synonymously throughout my education. I found that concept mapping was used more in idea seeking assignments (term project, paper, etc.) than drawing concepts together or integrating disciplines. High tech equivalents can involve all sorts of devices and interfaces including CMap from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) ( http://cmap.ihmc.us/) . This not-for-profit research institute is affiliated with several Florida universities and allows educational institutions across the globe free use of the tools. Free use enables greater cooperation and collaboration of ideas while leveling the playing field around access and cost of technology.

An important benefit of this software is that it allows for both asynchronous and synchronous learning. In addition to teaching students how to use concept mapping, an additional benefit is exposure to outside sources of information, other users and collaborative learning, The technology itself is a promotional tool for idea sharing, collaborative learning, etc.

I am collaborating on an educational development grant sponsored by the Office of the Provost to use technology and a novel pedagogical approach designed to improve teaching and learning in medical education. The IHMC provided both the impetus and technology for the proposal (which was granted). The grant will train an at-risk subpopulation of Year 1 medical school students to use concept mapping as a tool for integrating, understanding, and remembering material from medical courses. It is predicted that the use of concept mapping will lead to the increased use of application and problem solving skills, thus leading to higher pass rates in courses and board examinations. Outcomes from the pilot will also determine if concept mapping will be used as a continued educational intervention for other students in the continuum of medical school education at Wayne State University School of Medicine. A larger study for similar graduate program in Allied and Health Sciences is also in the works.



References
(1) Novak JD. The promise of new ideas and new technology for improving teaching and learning. Cell Biol Educ 2003; 2(2):122-132.
(2) Rendas AB, Fonseca M, Pinto PR. Toward meaningful learning in undergraduate medical education using concept maps in a PBL pathophysiology course. Adv Physiol Educ 2006; 30(1):23-29.
(3) Novak JD. The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Technical Report IHMC Cmap Tools 2006-01. 2006. Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Ref Type: Report

Exploring some changes made in my first year as the Academic Counselor . . .

In the School of Medicine (SOM), technology and the Internet have a large influence on the curriculum as well as integral presence in medical students’ lives. Ninety-five percent of the lectures are video streamed and available on BlackBoard (Bb). Some students are quite traditional, attending all lectures and labs, preferring a “live” medical educational experience. Many students also appreciate the anonymity, individualization, and comfort video streaming permits. These two types of behaviors influence adaptive or effort avoidant help-seeking behaviors: whether or not to ask and/or use assistance from support services.

I tended to view the role of a facilitator as an intermediary who moves information and clarifies that information between two parties. Online facilitation however is multifaceted and not that simplistic. While my lectures are available on Bb, students interact with me primarily in the traditional face-to-face, counselor-student encounter. There are a number of students who resist making appointments with me and/or their counselor attempting to get “just-a-minute” solutions over the phone or through email. I respond to straightforward questions, but discourage extended conversations about academic/personal problems without the context of body language and other face-to-face dynamics, as certain aspects of a counseling session are lost in translation.

Facilitators can also be interlopers, putting their “nose in someone else’s business” to provoke thought, action or change. Counseling sessions tend to uncover more than the initial or immediate problem raised. I field student complaints and concerns to the appropriate eyes and ears behind the scenes while encouraging students to press on in a proactive positive manner. In turn, I often participate in creative problem solving at the administrative level. As a result, the facilitator is also a collaborator/consultant working with different constituents to provide a seamless curriculum.

In response to effort avoidant behavior, as well as trying to make information accessible 24/7, the academic support website is updated with most of the information students can pick up directly from a meeting with me. I figure if a student is having an academic crisis or needs to take action after business hours; the material is available at their fingertips. I also know that some materials can be used as a carrot to come in to see me. Periodic email throughout the academic year serves as a reminder to consult various methods, information, etc. Students at their time and pace, review materials and reflect on skills they need to develop and follow up with a visit to Support Services.

Because the incoming class increased in size this year, my lectures are on Bb. Comparing current student help-seeking behavior to last year’s, many more students in the average performance range came to see me for help, an example of adaptive help-seeking behavior. Students within the marginal range did not solicit help, an example of effort avoidant behavior. The next problem to address is how to use the same technology to decrease effort avoidant behavior.