A First Time for Everything

The 2013 IST Conference was held on February 28th and March 1st. This was my second IST Conference and my first time on the planning committee. While my role as Adult Education Liaison was more of an advisory role than a planning role, I had the opportunity to witness all the hard work from many people that goes into planning a successful conference. I have an even greater appreciation now for the heads of associations tasked with coordinating week-long conferences. My heart goes out to you!

The conference also allowed me the opportunity to facilitate my first conference roundtable discussion. The subject of the roundtable was Building Community in Online Education Programs. It was well attended, suggesting this is a topic of interest in the instructional systems technology community. Some of the discussion prompts included:


* If successful online education requires a different pedagogy than f2f instruction, is the same true of online community building? Is more required than just creating virtual versions of traditional community building environments?
* What types of interaction do online distance education students feel they are missing, if any?
* What types of interactions do students and instructors wish they had outside of the formal classroom environment, if any?
* What is lacking in current strategies being utilized to build program-wide community?
* What other questions do you think are relevant?

There was a lot of conflicting experiences about community within online education courses among the participants. Conversation kept going to community within online courses, and I had to continually ask questions about what happens outside of the class to bring the focus back to programs as a whole. Some students wanted community outside the classroom, many did not. There was some discussion about the difference between interaction and community, between social interaction and networking. I came away with the additional questions of what impact does age, program of study, location, etc., play on the desire for community? What effect do they have on the method of community desired?

Overall, these firsts provided me with new perspectives. Isn't that the point of a conference, to initiate transformational learning in the attendees? Well, sometimes it can lead to transformational learning on the part of planners and facilitators, also. When has attending a conference led to new perspectives for you?

ACUI The Commons - Non-Western Forms of Learning

ACUI The Commons - Non-Western Forms of Learning

ACUI The Commons - Making Resources Accessible to Everyone

ACUI The Commons - Making Resources Accessible to Everyone

Supporting Self-Directed Learners

The fact that people can and do learn on their own, without the aid of an educator, is no secret. However, in the 70s and 80s, researchers began exploring the possibility of instructors facilitating self-directed learning among their students. This formalized self-directed learning (SDL) was pioneered by the educational theorists Malcolm Knowles, Allen Tough, and Cyril Houle. The methods within SDL that have developed over time have become quite popular in today’s institutions of higher learning. The goals of the person facilitating this learning are to help learners be self-directed, and to encourage transformation and social action (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007).

            A lot of self-directed learning is already going on in our society. So, what can we do more intentionally to direct that in our work and life? The answer to this question will vary from institution to institution and person to person, based on the roles and resources at your facility. One method is to simply ask the right questions. Part of the interior design of the facility and/or promotional materials can ask questions to stimulate people into reflective thought or conversation, such as “What do you want to be when you grow up?” or “ What do you still need to do to get from where you are to where you want to be?” or whatever practical or deep philosophical questions you come up with. Another option is to design student activities that allow the learners to make choices about what they want the goal of the activity to be and, then, challenge them to decide how they want to achieve it. This has been creatively done in middle schools in Bloomington, Indiana, with an activity that could easily be changed to suit a theme relevant to adult students. The activity is called Reality Store and is provided to the middle schools via The Franklin Initiative. Businesspeople from the community come to the school and work tables, each representing a different item adults spend money on (housing, groceries, child care, etc.). Students are given a certain amount of money based on their grade point average. They have to budget that money by getting all the things they need, and then, they can upgrade or buy extras if they have any money left over. It’s a powerful life lesson for the students. They can decide whatever life they want to have, but it has to fit into a realistic income potential for them based on where they are academically. How could you adapt this type of activity for the learners with whom you work?

References

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., and Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

ACUI The Commons - Best Practices for Facilitating Adult Learners

ACUI The Commons - Best Practices for Facilitating Adult Learners

Contemplative Education

Have you ever happened upon something interesting that has been around for a long time, but you had never heard of it, and that fact makes you feel really stupid? Well, this just happened to me as I was catching up on my Journal of Transformative Education reading and saw a couple of articles about contemplative education. I'm about to finish my masters in adult education, and I'm a big fan of transformative learning. I've also spent many years in the natural health field where Western and Eastern methods are blended and contemplative teaching is practiced without ever calling it contemplative teaching. So, when I read in Wikipedia (not scholarly, I know) that contemplative education has been in the U.S. since 1974, I thought, "Where have I been MY WHOLE LIFE that I have never heard of this"?

Apparently, contemplative education blends liberal education with contemplative practices such as meditation, tai chi, etc. If you are as interested in learning more as I am, here is a list of books on the topic available through Amazon.

Peace.

Informal learning is everywhere

If you read this blog, you will quickly discover that I am a HUGE fan of informal learning. Informal learning is the learning that just happens while you are out living life. It's not the formal education you get when you go to school. It's not the nonformal education you get when you take a ballroom dancing class. Informal education is the learning that happens when you read the newspaper or watch the news. It's everywhere!

I thought about that kind of learning often during the month of September. You see, September is a big festival month in my world. It starts Labor Day weekend when I usually run off to a nearby powwow. So much informal learning happens at a powwow. You can read about powwow etiquette in the program. During the powwow, the MC describes the different dances and regalia to the spectators. The traders explain the history behind their offerings to a potential customer. My favorite informal learning at powwows is what happens at the campsites. Groups sit around in circles and just talk. Some are usually working on craft projects or regalia, while the group gives advice and teaches new skills to others. Often there will be a point where everyone shows off what they have been working on over the past year. Everyone helps everyone else learn how to honor tradition and live within the cultural norms of the powwow.

In Bloomington, Indiana, there has been an art installation throughout town called The Brain Extravaganza. You can learn more about it here. There are giant brains all over town. Each has a plaque with different brain facts, and the different artwork on the brains tells a different story about neuroscience. People who happen to walk by a brain and decide to read the plaque just experienced informal learning.

Also in Bloomington was the Lotus World Music and Art Festival. You can find more about this event here. Now, some serious informal learning takes place at this event! This year was my first immersion into the Lotus Festival. People are not only introduced to new music and art, but through the music and art they are introduced to new cultures and places. I remember at one point my friends and I were talking about which artist we wanted to see next. We started talking about a Malian singer and dancer that would be playing. One of us said, "Where's Mali"? The rest admitted we had heard of Mali but really had no idea where it was. So, another lady pulls out her smartphone and looks up all about Mali and reads it to all of us. Now, we not only know where Mali is but the population and culture of Mali, as well. That is informal learning, people!

Take a moment to bask in just how much information is easily available to you that was not available just a few decades ago. It is astounding how accessible learning is in this day and age. As you go about your week and find that you have learned something new, take a moment for gratitude.

Peace and learning to you all.