EDUC 696 - Discussion #1

 Hello everyone! My name is Amanda Parton and I am from a small town in Western North Carolina near Asheville. My husband and I have two wonderful daughters who are nine years old and 2 years old, so needless to say, we have our hands full! I am a new instructor at South College – Asheville in the Imaging Sciences Department and am pursuing my Master's degree in Education. Although I have an extensive clinical background in healthcare, the academic and educational world is somewhat new to me. I have discovered that beginning a new career and educational path at the same time to be very challenging and exhausting while still trying to manage a family and life as well. Please pray for me! I am very excited about new opportunities, though, and very excited to be a student here at Liberty. I look forward to getting to know each of you during this class.

I found the presentation about professionalism to be a good refresher to what most of us already know about appropriate forms of professional behavior. My definition of professionalism would encompass elements from all three views given on this video including a modest dress code, a confident demeanor, a Christian attitude and stance regarding decision-making, respect for authority, and the display of a work ethics regarding time and attendance. Each of these elements are essential in creating and solidifying professionalism within one's career. I would also have to add that Christ-like actions and reactions are probably the most critical elements that can quickly make or break a professional appearance. Over and under reaction to situations can cause judgment to be placed on one's professional behavior. As Dr. Moore-Austin explained, we should always present ourselves with the intention of representing a Holy Father and we should always consider what Christ would do in our situation (Moore-Austin, 2012).

When this course is finished and my degree finally complete, I want to take Dr. Michelle Goodwin's advice (2012) and spend some time studying and observing some true role models and leaders within my place of business. People-watching can be very interesting and informative. Unfortunately, professionalism is not one of those areas we can easily learn from a book. Sometimes these traits presented in various situations need to be observed and considered further so that reflection and follow-up can be done. I also plan to continually master these skills by purposeful and conscientious thought in my daily activities with students and with administration.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to reading your posts!

Reference:

Liberty University. (2012). Presentation: Professionalism.  Retrieved from https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_248507_1&content_id=_8626741_1

EDUC 630 - Discussion #1

Discuss your overall reaction to the Wesch video.

. I found the overall video very informative and eye-opening into some of the obvious behaviors and actions of my own adult learners from my classroom. While we all notice certain gaps and issues within our classrooms, this video provided invaluable insight into actual data of the perception of students in school today. While quite disturbing and sad, I believe this information has had to be valuable in turning education and technology into more meaningful learning environments over the past few years.

- Do you find the video's message to be on target?

As an instructor of adult learners, I totally agree with the information expressed on this video. All too often I find students uninterested in lecture and in in-class assignments because they are more interested in texting and being on facebook. I would also agree that even though these students end up being thousands of dollars in debt after completing their degree, they still seem to be only going through the motions to get a degree in the end. It seems as though students would want to be more engaged and more aggressive toward their own learning progression. Many times I feel the students in my class think they are going to learn through osmosis because they feel that all of the information should just be handed to them. There is little motivation and drive in a large number of students. Another point the students from the video pointed out was that they only read approximately half of their assigned readings. I can attest to my own students who, again, feel like all the information should be given to them aloud to qualify as important. For the most part, I can see a great number of these points in my own classroom (Wesch, 2007).

- What changes or advances in technology have taken place to help address some of the issues raised in the video?

. I think that one of the main changes that have taken place over the last few years is the byod initiative. Allowing students to use their own personal devices within the classroom for supplemental resources, interaction, and collaborative efforts among classmates. Another change that has occurred is that students have more options for e-learning, distance learning, and online classes than in the past. Students are forced to become self-centered learners and not rely as much on an instructor. In my own opinion, this has helped to address some of the boredom within the classroom, the wasteful spending of those who cannot attend class for various reasons, and the time spent driving to and from class. These types of classes offer more convenient and flexible situations for our students. More active learning environments have also been achieved through flipped learning environments where the student learns the material own their own time, and participate in more action-based activities within the classroom setting (Horizon Report, 2015).

- Students entering college today were born in the last years of the 20th century. Middle and high school students were born in the 21st century. They have always been "connected." What elements of instructional design should be considered to meet the needs of these connected learners?

. I think the main consideration for enabling students to be connected is to allow responsible use of their own devices in the classroom environment. Students have a broad range of information available at their fingertips most of the time. Being able to reign those resources in to use in an academic manner is a huge consideration for teachers of the 21^st century. The redesigning of learning spaces to incorporate more active, hands-on, collaborative work spaces will also encourage students to be connected to themselves, as well as to the material they are learning (Horizon Report, 2015).

-Share a couple of questions or concerns you have in thinking about this seismic shift in educational practices.

One concern I have about the future of education is the ability to of educators to cater to the needs of a diverse group of individuals. Although this has been a challenge of educators for many years, I believe it will be an even greater challenge to try to align devices and technology to meet the needs of learners. I also think that educators will have a challenge keeping up with changing technology over the next few years while trying to utilize it for their diverse learners. Technology changes so quickly that just when one thinks they can use a new technology well, it is already outdated. Yet another concern is the motivation and initiative educators will display in regards to much-needed professional development for the effective use of technology.

References:

Wesch, M. (2007, October 12). A vision of students today. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o.

NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-horizon-report-2015-higher education-edition/

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EDUC 639: Research Showcase Blog

EDUC 639: Wiki Blog

Hello everyone! I don't know about you all, but I am really glad this week and this assignment has come to an end! We have all been very busy the past few weeks. I found that the wiki was really the most cumbersome part of the whole assignment. Our first encounter with the wiki occurred as a group while on a google hangouts session. While none of us had used a wiki before, we were all quite lost. In fact, we ended up setting up two different wikis that night just to play around and see which was the most user-friendly. At that time, we had issues with giving group members equal rights to edit and use the wiki. It seemed like we could all see the edits happening easily enough, but did not do so well with all being able to edit equally. At that time, we also added a graphic to the wiki which seemed easy enough to accomplish. I, honestly, do not think that using the wiki contributed or took away from my learning experience through this assignment either way. Yes, we learned the steps of setting up a wiki, but I cannot say that I grasped the entire concept of using a wiki and how it would benefit my future in this career path. I do, however, think it is an interesting tool to utilize and know how to use it and share your work with others. In addition, I do not think this activity hindered or helped my understanding or attitude of the subject matter. As I read through other people's wikis this week, it may very well help me in that respect, but not in developing our own wiki with our own subject matter we have written.

The final wiki edit was completed by our group member who actually created the wiki. We found it was much easier for one person to make the needed changes to website. While collaborating throughout the assignment, we used Google Hangouts and Google Docs to share our work and check in with each other. These seem to be much simpler forms of collaboration than the wiki. To try to get a better understanding of the wiki, I watched a couple of the videos displayed in the atomic learning section offered by Liberty. While these were somewhat helpful as to the creation of the wiki, our group (again) just felt it much easier to communicate by other means. So, as to answer the specific question posed in this blog, our group's final edit was made by one group member while the rest of us revised and insured we agreed with the format and layout of the website.

In between, again, our group communicated and provided feedback and input into the final documents needed to be placed on the wiki. We all as a whole made suggestions to the creator of the wiki, Shanna, as to what kinds of things needed to be displayed, including the title of the wiki, the contents of the page, the multi-media presentation, and the graphics of the digital badges that we used to spark interest on the page. We found formatting of the text within the wiki to be problematic as well. In all honesty, our group found easier ways to communicate throughout the assignment and have only used the wiki as a means to turn in and complete the necessary components of the assignment. I truly understand the intent of learning new technology related to methods of distributing information and am have learned this new feature, just have not been as enthused with its usefulness as other applications I have learned within this program. Throughout the assignment, I have felt my colleagues frustration and lack of interest in the wiki, as well. While we all agree this is certainly a trend on the internet today, its use just did not contribute to our overall project the way we expected.