Inviting Students to Active Learning

Last week I read an interesting article about learner engagement. The author drew a strong distinction between just “showing up” and truly “active” learning. I have to admit this article, like any other on this particular topic, struck a cord with me.

(Allow me a moment on my soapbox…) All too often we mistake simply “showing up and going through the motions” as real engagement. (Okay, stepping down from the soapbox…)The article last week reminded me of a piece I created on inviting students to be “active” learners. You can check out my article here: Inviting Students to the Active Learning Process. I wrote the article to agricultural educators (I must admit… I am one!), but I think the underlying principles “stick” in any classroom. If you’re a skimmer, like me, then you may want to skip the intro (a.k.a. nice academic stuff…) and head over to the third column on the first page. Start reading after the sub-heading in that column and I think you’ll find the useful information on pages 2 and 3. Enjoy!

Engagement in e-Learning

I just read an excellent opinion article on engagement on eLearn Magazine by Mark Notess at Indiana University (See article.) So often I find that most individuals tend to look at engagement as a “property of the materials.” For example, we add an interactive set of tabs to click through to chunk up the information delivered and call it “engagement.” Yes, this does in some way equate to a form of engagement. It seems to me that “engagement” in e-Learning exists on multiple levels just as it does in a face-to-face setting. At the lowest level you have attendance, a warm body in the room or sitting at the computer. At the highest level you have transfer of the knowledge to a new context. More than likely, to achieve transfer there had to be more than just “attendance.” In some eay the materials should have inspired engaged, minds-on active learners who are constructing knowledge and/or understanding of the subject matter through some combination of methods (i.e. discussion, reflection, collaboration, a task, etc.) As we evaluate “engagement” in our e-Learning modules and courses I try to ask myself, “how well will the ‘engagement’ tactics we chose for this piece translate to active thoughtfulness?” Likewise, in our design work at Vivayic we try to step back and ultimately evaluate “engagement” by determining whether or not the targeted behavior is transferred by the learner to practice in the real world.

Do You Jing??

Remember show and tell? Remember the days when you knew you had the absolute BEST thing to share with the rest of the class? That’s what I feel like today. I have something cool to share! So here’s my show and tell for today. About a year ago I was introduced to a very cool tool – Jing.

It’s a tool that allows you to capture images on your computer screen. (Not really special… you can already use shortcuts to do that on your own computer.) What is special, you can either snag what’s on screen by recording what you’re doing or you can snap an image. If you choose to record what’s happening on screen you can also add audio to describe what it is you’re doing. If you’re familiar with Captivate or Camtasia this isn’t all that exciting. What is different (besides the fact that Jing is free) is just how easy it is to share all of those images and recordings. You click “share” and it uploads the image or recording to the web and places the link on your clipboard. All you do is press CTRL+V and share the link. Where other screen capture tools are useful for bigger projects this tool is for quick and effective communication. Jing opens up a whole new way of communicating. Besides the easy application to explaining tasks – how do I change that setting again - it is a cool tool for educators!

Why is it an effective learning technology?

As I ponder why it works it makes me think about what Richard Mayer (2001) summarized about the relationship between different forms of multimedia and our memory systems. He shows a diagram similar to the following one.

Jing allows us to share information using both narration and pictures. Current thinking on multimedia and learning suggests that using pictures and narration alone is more effective at facilitating the processes in our memory system than pictures with both narration and printed text on screen (Mayer and Clark, 2008). The idea is that our sensory systems can become “bogged down” when the incoming signals overload our two primary “channels” for receiving information (eyes and ears). Jing is a tool that allows us to apply this learning principle in our work as educators and instructional designers.

What is an application for the tool in education and training settings?

An emphasis of this blog is to share ideas that translate theory into practice. Jing is a tool that can also help us facilitate an important process in learning – scaffolding. Jing is a way to enact practices associated with scaffolding in a classroom or training program. You are able to provide the “just in time” assistance a learner needs to do something that is just beyond his/her current abilities or zone of proximal development. 

One application of Jing as a tool to support scaffolding is to create a library of really short “how to”, “show me”, and “what next” videos to help someone complete a larger more complex task. For example, if you’re working with students conducting a science experiment you might prepare a series of short Jing videos to provide them with a place to start with each step in the scientific process (i.e. how do I get started with developing a hypothesis; how do I identify a research question; etc.) Another library of Jing’s might scaffold students as they complete the large task of writing a research paper (i.e. how do I cite a reference?; how do I use an on line database to conduct research?; how do I write a quality thesis statement?) 

If you’re in a training setting you might create a similar set of videos to scaffold an adult learner who is tasked with creating a balance sheet in a spreadsheet application (i.e. how do I enter an equation in a cell? how do I save? how do I enter data?). Heck it doesn’t even have to be that formal. In our company I try to create a Jing’s (yes, it’s a word) that each answer a question I anticipate the learner might have as they complete a task on a project. For instance, I created the following videos to scaffold “learners” in pulling together the final documents for a project.

• What documents do I need to complete this task?
• How do I reformat the text in the Slide Notes section after I copy and paste?
• How do I create a module outline?

I try to title the Jing video in terms of learner-centered questions. As I try to anticipate the learner’s questions I ask myself, “If I were doing this task for the first time what would I need to know to be successful?”

Do you Jing?? It’s a simple, effective tool for your learning toolkit. As someone who has to find ways to leverage what we know about effective learning - it’s a must have! 

Hello World!

This blog is for anyone who’s profession requires them to answer the question, “How do I leverage what I know about learning to design instructional spaces that facilitate learning really well?” 

What’s “the boundary” you might ask? Instructional designers, teachers and trainers work at the boundary of a lot of different conversations. My goal is to create a blog that sits on the boundary of several current, ongoing conversations about learning. The blog will focus mostly on adolescent and adult learners in both formal and informal learning settings, but I hope that individuals who work with learners of all ages can find something here. Expect a rich dialogue that connects you to issues, ideas, innovations and ponderings about our best thinking on facilitating learning in educational settings. Grab a cup of coffee and read on.