PADLA News (blog)

What is a good Microsoft Producer Replacement?

Rodney Murray — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:42:41 GMT

From: David Brickett [mailto:dbrick@temple.edu]
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2013 3:50 PM
To: Louis Stricoff; 'WENDY LEBING'
Subject: RE: Higher Education Symposium Thank You

Louis,

Thank you for your help. I also enjoyed the presentations last week.

As Wendy stated, we are looking for a replacement for Microsoft Producer. Ipresent, Presio is the next best software that I can find, but lacks a lot of tools that I need. Most of the programs that I find are on-line only. Any input you have would be helpful.

David Brickett

267-468-8566

Learning to be a Digital Citizen

Rodney Murray — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:30:56 GMT

"Learning to be a Digital Citizen" presented by Joe Raimondo, Principal at The Infotention Network

Presented at the PADLA meeting on Thursday, January 24, 2013 at West Chester University.

The convergence of social technologies and the exponential growth of the availability of data has provoked the emergence of a new set of fundamental capacities to deal with the information onslaught, as well as to enable people to be effective digital citizens. How do we develop effective models and pedagogy for providing these new capacities? We will explore how to provide a standard set of models for teaching "infotention" a term coined by author and futurist Howard Rheingold to describe "the psycho-social-techno skills/tools we all need to find our way online today, a mind-machine combination of brain-powered attention skills with computer-powered information filters." Further, we will explore the work Howard has done to develop online skills training in this arena as well as how this type of learning would scale to cover the whole enterprise.

View PowerPoint Presentation

The Mouse is Dead: Welcome to the Post-PC Era

Rodney Murray — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:24:31 GMT

"The Mouse is Dead: Welcome to the Post-PC Era" presented by Dr. Chris Penny, West Chester University

Presented at the PADLA meeting on Thursday, January 24, 2013 at West Chester University.

Ready or not, we are entering the Post-PC era. A time when mobile technology, such as the Apple iPad, will challenge higher education faculty, and corporate trainers, to guide learners through the discovery process, rather than lecture from the front of the room. Mobile technologies can change the teaching and learning process. In the Post-PC era educators have an opportunity to implement new pedagogies, and learners have opportunities to explore, create and apply knowledge in powerful new ways.

View PowerPoint Presentation

PADLA Lends a Helping Hand to ApprenNet as they Launch on the First Law-Focused MOOC

Rodney Murray — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:44:25 GMT

After giving a five minute presentation on our latest education experiment, the first law-focused “massive open online course” (MOOC), we were fortunate to move from group to group full of thoughtful, problem solving Pennsylvania Distance Learning Association (PADLA) members and learn how we can better our platform.

Last year the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded our company, ApprenNet LLC, the first of a series of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants for our team to develop and test an innovative way to bring online learning to life. With the funding, we created and piloted Meets. Meets are three step learning exercises that involve learning by doing, learning from peers and learning from experts. For example, a LawMeet® asks students to listen to a hypothetical client, research a solution and upload a video response acting out the role of the lawyer. After grappling with the problem, students review pairs of responses, provide feedback and then vote on a preference. Experts, i.e. the professor or practicing attorneys, then review and provide feedback to
the top peer-rated responses and leave their own video responses. Meet participants have access to all expert feedback and demonstrations.

We piloted Meets with more than 1,000 law and business students around the country in thirty-six classrooms. The results were quite positive. In short we learned that:

1. Meets turn traditional push in online learning experiences, i.e. lectures, into
engaging, pull out online learning experiences; and

2. Meets scale a teacher’s reach by lessening the burden of having to provide one on one feedback without losing the impact of individual feedback.

In an effort to allow more people to learn with Meets, we are offering the first law-focused MOOC this Fall. At the most recent PADLA meeting we presented our version of a MOOC and received a tremendous amount of insightful, useful feedback from PADLA members.

By way of background, MOOCs are classes that are taught online to large numbers of students, with minimal involvement by professors. Typically, students watch short video lectures and complete assignments that are graded by machines or by other students. That way a lone professor can support a class with hundreds of thousands of participants. Our two-week MOOC involves four video lectures and four Meets. Rather than assigning individual tasks to assess someone’s knowledge, e.g. multiple-choice quizzes, we are assigning Meets. We are also including two panel discussions in our MOOC.

We asked PADLA members whether they thought our spin on traditional MOOCs would engage students and how they would improve our MOOC format. PADLA members provided us with the following insight:

Group 1

Group Question: How can professors formally check for understanding through a
Meet?

Answer: At the moment professors review a handful of responses and determine
if the class as a whole understands the objectives.

PADLA Suggestions:
o Incorporate multiple-choice questions at the end of a Meet that branch to
different levels of questions depending on a student’s response.
o Create a Check for Understanding Meet after the first Meet where students
give short answers and discover a solution immediately.
o Have students compare and contrast pre-populated Meet responses to
determine if the class understands the objective of the Meet without
having students submit their own response.

Question: How can we make the site more user friendly?

PADLA Suggestion:
o Include an avatar to help guide people through the site, e.g. Clippy from
Microsoft

Group 2

Group Question #1: How does ApprenNet manage customer feedback and
service?

Answer: At the moment, through help pages, user guides and email.

PADLA Suggestions:
o Create forums for users to talk with each other.
o Break forums into Project Based Learning (PBL) groups and Topic Based
Learning (TBL) groups.
o Use our already created social media feeds as a support desk.
o Create two buttons on our site, one for participants to discuss things about
our MOOC with each other and one for participants to contact ApprenNet
directly.

Group Question #2: How do we make the panel discussion a success?

PADLA Suggestions:
o Do not include real time questioning from the audience rather collect two
questions from each MOOC participant in advance of the panel discussion
and ask a sample of those questions during the MOOC.

Group 3

Group Question #1: How can we make the initial video lecture more engaging?

PADLA Suggestions:

o Keep video lectures under 12 minutes long.
o Include transcripts of the video lectures for participants who prefer to read
rather than listen to a lecture.

Group Question #2: How can we increase community engagement in a Meet in
addition to our written feedback strands?

PADLA Suggestions:
o Allow participants to leave video or audio feedback in addition to text
feedback.

We learned a tremendous amount from the PADLA community. Thank you. We hope to join more meetings and learn about the exciting work the PADLA community is doing in the e-learning space.

Many thanks!

- Karl, Paul and Emily, Co-Founders, ApprenNet LLC

Video from 1/24/12 Meeting @ Corbett, Inc

Louis Stricoff — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:58:09 GMT

To all who attended our last PADLA meeting. Check out the video produced by Red C Media and our gracious hosts @ Corbett, Inc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebXend3cSm0&feature=youtu.be

The Matrix Revelations Challenge: Designing Highly Flexible, Modular, and Easy to Use e-Learning

Rodney Murray — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:12:25 GMT

"The Matrix Revelations Challenge: Designing Highly Flexible, Modular, and Easy to Use e-Learning" presented by Kristy Macellaro, CPLP and Training Specialist for People 2.0

Feedback from the meeting is below. I’m using much of this to plan for my organization’s 2012 goals. Thanks again for the opportunity to present and get the feedback!

Repurpose Existing Content

Develop a matrix of single topics (rather than “chapters” of content)
Keep modules around 5 minutes long, but no more than 15 minutes
Try to structure based on role/function
Design to access info “in 2 clicks”
Use video only where needed. Elsewhere, use job aides or PPT or other forms of online information.

Invest in additional Internal Resources

Designated Web server
LMS
Hire an Intern

Gather Support

Internal ROI evaluation to support need for above resources, focusing on time spent facilitating vs. effectiveness and scalability
Record user testimonials to encourage use of the online training program and resources
Research and report on time spent in training vs. time spent making mistakes and fixing them because user didn’t attend training

Transitioning Instructional Skills from the Traditional Classroom to the Virtual Classroom

Rodney Murray — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:00:57 GMT

"Transitioning Instructional Skills from the Traditional Classroom to the Virtual Classroom" co-presented by Travis Eschenmann: Director AAA University and Instructional Design, and Michelle Wu: Director of AAA Training & Development

Challenge

As AAA’s T&D team transitions to delivery of more virtual training programs, we have been challenged with providing our trainers with new skills needed to effectively deliver the training.

Ideas and Suggestions

Instructor Training
- Allow instructors the opportunity to learn new skills in smaller chunks. Start with basic webinar features and advance to the more complex (breakouts).
- Create an online persona. Attend acting classes, exaggerate gestures and facial expressions, or otherwise find a way to stand out in a virtual environment.
- Create a certificate program for trainers that have mastered the art of delivering instruction in the virtual classroom.
- Allow instructors to pair up during delivery. Identify a strong virtual instructor and pair them up with a new virtual instructor to see best practices.
- Google best practices for delivering in a virtual environment. There are many articles.
- Tie virtual delivery skills to existing training methodology (i.e. Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gagne, etc.). This helps to draw connections to existing practices.
- Online book: “Creating a Sense Presence in Online Teaching”.
Practice
- It is critical to give instructors ample try to practice using the tools associated with the specific webinar technology that they will be implementing. (recognize the investment in training trainers)
- Instructors should have time to practice delivering the content in the session in front of their peers. This provides a safe environment to collect feedback.
- Record practice sessions so that the instructor can review themselves and self-evaluate.
- Give instructors the opportunity to attend a virtual class and be the student to gain that perspective.
Instructional Design
- Make sure that the course is well designed for a virtual environment before it is given to the instructor. If the activities and class exercises are well defined for an online environment it will create a better opportunity for success.
- Identify a “producer” role to assist the trainer during initial classes so that they do not have to do as much multi-tasking as they are learning the process.
- Provide templates for the virtual classroom.
Change Management
- Demonstrate how achievement of these new skills will make an instructor even more valuable to the organization and marketable in the future.
- Gain instructor buy-in by giving them the opportunity to participate in the course development process.
- Communicate that many physical classroom skills can easily be transferred over to the virtual classroom.
- Make sure that virtual delivery is not perceived as punishment for instructors that have always delivered in the physical classroom.
- Provide research that demonstrates the impact of training in a virtual environment.
- Create a logo for virtual training to make it distinguishable from run of the mill webinars.

On-Line vs Live Training: Keeping Learners Focused and Engaged in the Virtual Classroom

Rodney Murray — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:04:56 GMT

"On-Line vs Live Training: Keeping Learners Focused and Engaged in the Virtual Classroom" presented by Craig Brody, Computer Software Training Consultant

Collected Feedback from the various meeting attendee breakout groups (their suggestions to address the challenge):

Include a photo or picture of myself during the virtual class to simulate a live classroom experience
Set expectations to the class, such as “I will be calling on you” to keep them “on their toes” and focused (set the ground rules) Can do this directly or as one suggested, convey this indirectly to not turn them off
Break up the large class (typical size: 60) into smaller groups for more personal interaction
Set up incentives and competition for the students so they stay engaged
Use a webcam to show myself live to simulate a live classroom and make it more personal
If a large class size is unavoidable, use a support person to help handle chats and to increase the interaction with the students
Ask frequent questions and interact frequently (every 10 minutes) to keep them focused
Think about different teaching styles to employ to keep them engage
Set objectives as to why it’s important for students to stay attentive…what’s in it for them?
Make sure they can commit to the class so they will stay focused throughout
Use relevant work examples that can apply to student’s work so they see the relevance in the material and would stay focused more
Find out comments of past attendees (from surveys/evaluation forms) as to how they were engaged in the class and use some of their feedback in future classes
Ask them “if you could learn one thing in the class that’s most important to them”, find that out and teach to that so they stay attentive to learn it
Provide additional resources before and after class; have a video library to point them to for command details…this way you can give them more of a high level overview in a shorter timeframe so they won’t drift off if you spend a lot of time on detail they already know
Have remedial and advanced skill level groups divided to not slow down the group which may cause some to become distracted. State prerequisites for class before hand so keep the skills levels in the class more uniform
Shorter time duration of classes/small modular approach
Have more breaks and polling questions built in to the class; use chat tool more
Share students screen during class to make it more personal and facilitate more of a “give and take” atmosphere
Have students assembled into the same conference room if possible to minimize distractions that may come up if they take the class at their desk or from home.
Use anecdotal information; simulate a live classroom by doing things like standing up to deliver the class; smile; Be yourself just like in a live setting
Show entertaining video to class on the consequences of not paying attention in the virtual classroom and the benefits to them of being engaged
Be entertaining, humorous in your own way, use “icebreakers”
Use webex tracking tool to find out if students are using other applications other than the ones you want them to use. This could help determine if they are being distracted by using other non- relevant applications
Take an interest in them personally through knowing their names and finding out details about them before class; personalize delivery; use their names in your delivery
Reduce “one way” teaching; use more collaborative techniques to facilitate “give and take” during the class

Craig Brody

Computer Software Trainer

C. Brody Associates

craigbrody@att.net

cell: 267-872-7410

Introducing the New PADLA Website: User Feedback and Suggestions

Rodney Murray — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:11:04 GMT

"Introducing the New PADLA Website: User Feedback and Suggestions" presented by Rod Murray Ph.D., PADLA Secretary/WebMaster and Executive Director of Academic Technology at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

Collected Feedback from the various meeting attendee breakout groups (their suggestions to address the challenge):

add separate password link for new members
offer job board to non-members
partner with job sites; post rss feed of relevant jobs to help draw in members
grow mailing list by offering web content (white papers) by members, where we collect contact info
make sure we have our URL on the LinkedIn Padla group
add other to industry list in the member profile
add title to membership list in addition to name and institution
add member blog (public)
arrange resources page better, divide into categories
offer reduced fees to partners
post training events from other organizations
add "ask the experts" area for members only?
put job 'teaser' on top page for public
put up an FAQ
adjust large text blocks to make them more readable
move photo higher on profile
create padla facebook page
rss feeds from industry and professional development sites
have rotating member profile on home pagea
add separate forums on various technologies (LMS, design tools, etc)

Attendees, thank you very much for your suggestions. Now I need to get to work!

-Rod

Do you know your password?

Rodney Murray — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:42:15 GMT

You don't since you have not signed in yet to our new home. Just click the link 'Forgot Password' on the upper right corner, enter your email address and you will receive an email with instructions on creating your own password.

Welcome to the new PADLA website!

Rodney Murray — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:16:03 GMT

Well, we finally overhauled our PADLA website. Long overdue. You may now login and renew your membership and pay for events online with your credit card.

Members also have some added benefits. There is now a 'Members Only' section where you can see the full directory of members to make it easy to connect with your colleagues and a new Discussion Forum section with a General Discussion and a Jobs Board.

Enjoy and let me know if you have suggestions for improving our site.

Regards,
Rod Murray
PADLA Secretary (and Webmaster)