Week 12

Chapter 30: Using Rich Media Wisely

After reading about rich media as an effective instructional method that promotes learning, I need to adjust my thinking on a new concept that is being introduced in our BUS 1750 Freshmen Business Enterprise class. For Spring 2009 semester the once 3 hour a week class is now only an hour long per week class with the rest of the time being spent watching videos. Due to lack of information provided to the advising office, we really don't know the content of the class. I am going to believe that it has been well planned and includes using rich media wisely. I will take away from this chapter a different view of this class. We have smart people and great faculty in the college of business, so I will trust that what appears to be a great way to educate a lot of students with limited professor contact will really be a trendy way of using rich media to help the student improve learning. I hope to see some evaluation data on how students are responding to this new set up. If the opportunity presented itself I would also like to be involved in future plans when incorporating rich media into instruction.

Another tangible I will take away from this chapter is how important visuals and pictures can be in improving the learning process. Based on Mayer (2001) research "students learn better from words and pictures than from words alone." Another important issue for me to remember is how the cognitive learning process works. We all have a working memory and a long-term memory. Part of the brain remembers images and another part of the brain remembers words, so if I give the student a little bit of both, they will store this information in separate channels and hopefully retain more of the information that has been provided to them. Another important factor to remember is that too much environmental sounds and background music will overload the capacity of the auditory/verbal channel, hurting the learning process.

I am more interested in the subject of using rich media to enable more effective instructional methods that promote learning than I was before reading this chapter!


Review of online applications:

When I first went to Google Documents I got excited because I thought it would be a great tool for keeping spreadsheets and word documents stored in one universal site in which I could share with the President of ISCSC, in which I am the "treasurer" and keeper of membership payments and membership lists. My first excel file uploaded fine, however my second pick was a data base file in Access and it would not upload and either would the most current versions of word and excel. This free application would be fine for the older version of Microsoft, however if one has already converted to the 2007 version of Microsoft this will not work. Another issue I found was that for the best version and all the options you had to pay $50.00. The version that is free is the "ad-supported" version, which is fine for being free, but has the before mentioned limitations. On the same page as the price quotes there is link to "see our solutions for schools" link. It gives an Education Edition that would be great for school districts to utilize it as it is free and there are several similarities between this and Microsoft word and excel.There are several reasons to use Google Docs and they advertise well with the Top 10 Reasons to Use Google Apps. However, I would only recommend this to schools, non profits, or other entities that do not have a budget for any other software purchases. It has limitations already with being outdated with the newest version of Microsoft and will it continue with that trend? A reason to not rely on it at this point for serious business dealings.

The Image Editing application I choose is Picnik. I would recommend Picnik as an effective photo editing tool to students, family and friends. It lets you do basic edits and fun to create different effects in your photos. It is free and that is one of it's greatest advantages. This could be used in an educational setting. However, my computer did tend to freeze up a bit more than usual while using Picnik, so that was a little unsettling. I did have fun playing around with the tools. I liked the tooth whitening and the red eye reduction features. Going to black and white really helped make some of my photos better looking, that is another neat feature. This application is very easy to use and I would recommend it to students, family or friends. But in a professional setting in which the business is of photography, not so much.

Week 11

A main competency that is a must in my current profession is to be able to communicate effectively. I also need to be a good listener and at times that is hard. Listening skills are important in communication and at times when my office is super busy with students having registration issues it's hard to take the time to effectively listen. I also have to communicate and produce visual materials for students to fully understand all the requirements in order to graduate. If this information is not communicated effectively it can cost someone time and money. At the same time I must comply with ethical and legal standards. I feel I do a fairly good job in establishing and maintaining professional credibility. I see hundreds of students every year and over time they gain your trust and credibility as long as you provide the correct information.

I feel a strength of mine is my strong work ethic. I am striving to learn how to update my skills and stay current in educational technology. I continue to update my knowledge base and stay current in my field by attending conferences and other professional development opportunities.

I would like to work towards doing some sort of needs assessment in my office. This would be a competency I would have to work hard to develop. Conducting a needs assessment in my office would be tough. For starters it is totally out of the norm. I don't think a needs assessment has ever been done. I am not sure senior staff members would agree to or cooperate with the idea. Selling the idea would be the first hurdle. I think developing and implementing a needs assessment in an academic office sends a strong message to all members of the college community that advising is an extremely important responsibility. Again, this would be a competency I would have to work VERY hard to develop.

Another competency I would like to continue to develop is to use technology to enhance the advising experience. This class has inspired me with great ideas and I plan on continuing this competency.

If I was in a position of power a competency I would really like to develop would be to plan and promote organizational change. In the last few years so much has changed technologically that if organizations are not willing to become more technology driven, they are not going to survive. I would like to see changes occurring with in the organization such as utilizing facebook and blackboard to get messages out to students. A few in the organization like the idea, but for the most part think email is fine. Students are instructed to read their school email everyday, but in reality most do not. However, most students check facebook 3-4 times daily. Many also check blackboard more than they do their school email. Another change would be to create more visuals and more tech related resources such as podcasts. I would also like to see more on understanding of the diversity of learners that come through the organization. This is a touchy subject, so it would be extremely difficult to achieve this change without some professional consultant on the issue of diversity.

The website I have created is for the Loy Norrix High School Band. The band director has talked about having a website, so I decided to base this assignment on creating a website for the band as a surprise to him and the students. I like the idea that they can also have access and add and delete information. Included is a calendar and a schedule of events that will have to be faithfully updated. Hopefully, the band students can incorporate this into the school day and make updates as needed. Here is the link:

http://sites.google.com/site/loynorrixhighschoolband/

Week 10: Screencast

I found team approach to be a significant and recurring theme in all three different contexts--in business, higher ed and the P-12 educational system. Another is how important interpersonal skills are when facilitating change.

I did appreciate the information on the chapter from the Assistant Professor who states his students and colleagues appreciate him on a personal level, which he says he has never experienced in the corporate setting. I gather he works in an environment that supports the team approach that is why he feels appreciated. They probably have the same goals and vision toward the student body at the university where he works.

The Instructional Designer in the Distance and e-Learning Centre states "the ability to interact effectively with faculty and staff and sell ID theory, which often means more work to time-stressed staff, is key ID skill". TEAM APPROACH and interpersonal skills at work once again.

If you take a look at the organization structure on page 225 in the core of the structure is Multi-disciplinary Unit Team. There is that word again "team".

In education a professor is expected to provide leadership at the academic program, department, college, and university levels. In business a CEO is expected to provide leadership at all levels also. And in P-12 education the principal is expected to provide leadership at the school level and the superintendent is expected to provide leadership at the district level.

I enjoyed the last part of the chapter from Jack Dempsey, Full Professor. I do believe anyone that works in higher education loves it, just as everyone teaching children in P-12 systems love what they do--educating the youth of America. I do wonder if everyone in the other hemispheres love what they do everyday.

My screen cast is for transfer students who do not go through freshman orientation, but need assistance with navigating the GoWMU system at Western.