Lesson Planning

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1.      Bloom’s taxonomy.

Article: http://www.businessballs.com/bloomstaxonomyoflearningdomains.htm

The domains include:

Cognitive domain: intellectual capability, ie. Knowledge or “think”.

Affective domain: feelings, emotions and behaviour ie attitude, or “feel”.

Psychomotor domain: manual and physical skills ie skills, or “do”

                       

Rationale:

 

I selected this resource because it speaks to how this model is used in organizational learning and training, which is of particular interest to me. This article speaks to how effective learning, especially in organizations, where training is to be converted into organizational results, should arguably cover all the levels of each of the domains, where relevant to the situation and the learner.

Also I learned from this article how this model has evolve over years and continues to be adapted to new thinking on the learning process. According to this article, it is also important as it serves as a checklist by which you can ensure that training is planned to deliver all the necessary development for students trainees or learners and a template by which you can assess the validity and coverage of any existing training, be it a course, a curriculum, or an entire training and development programme for a large organization (Businessballs, 2015).

 

 

It will improve my instruction by providing me with guided questions to support the learning process. For example, if I am training colleagues in my organization new material, I can go through the domains and ensure that learners are drawing form each domain, and building on each level as they go.

 

2. Characteristics of Adult Learners:

 

-individual difference

-Multiple Intelligences

-Learning Styles

-Experiential Learning

-Knowles (Andragogy)

-Diversity

 

Article: http://www-tc.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/sbpd/docs/sbpd100_characteristics%20of%20adult%20learners-reading.pdf

 

Rationale:

 

This article explains characteristics of adult learners:

• are largely self-directed

• have a broad, rich experience base to which to relate new learning

• perceive time itself differently than children do and are more concerned about the effective use of time

• learn best when they perceive the outcomes of the learning process as valuable and as immediately applicable

• are more often internally motivated (by the potential for such feelings as worth, self-esteem, and achievement)

 

I chose this academic article because it draws from the expert in adult learning, Malcolm Knowles and his theory on andragogy (adult learning). This article is designed to help educational coaches to teach adult teachers, in a way that suits there adult-learning needs and characteristics. I found it simple, and effective in explaining key points in characteristics of adult learners.

 

It will improve my teaching by using these principles in my teaching, and always keeping in mind how adult learners need to be taught differently than children and youth. For example, when I am teaching adults and I want to know what is motivating them, I can learn what the internal motivators for my students are, and keep that in mind, and draw from it, as I move through a course.  

 

 

3.      Creating a Positive Learning Environment

 

Article: http://seachangestrategies.com/pop/

 

Rational:

I chose this article because I have heard about Robert Gass, Facilitator and trainer, for several years through my work. He has done a lot of work in the area of creating positive learning environments, for adults. He has come up a simple tool here to help a group focus on a learning objective. It is called POP:

·        Purpose: Why? Why are we undertaking this? What is the purpose?

·        Outcomes: What are the specific outcomes we want to accomplish as a result of this activity?

·        Process: What steps will we take to achieve these outcomes and fulfill the purpose?

Robert Gass outlines key questions to consider when facilitating a group, which speaks to process. For example, are there ground rules, and is the environment set up to feel safe?

It will improve my instruction by providing me with specific questions to ask myself when I am instructing because I am learning how important it is for adult learners to feel they are in a positive learning environment. Also, having a simple acronym, POP, to use when thinking about creating a positive environment for my students, will be a helpful tool.

 

4.      Motivational Techniques

 

 

Article: http://www.torreytrust.com/images/ITH_Trust.pdf

 

Rationale:

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design, created by John Keller, is a motivational design that is drawn from Tolman’s and Lewin’s expectancy theory, which presumes that people are motivated to learn if there is value in the knowledge presented (i.e. it fulfills personal needs) and if there is an optimistic expectation for success (Ely 234). The model consists of four main areas: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. I chose this article because it provides a thorough overview, as well as several applications, such as with an exercise in how to write a resume.  

 

It will improve my instruction by being mindful of how motivation affects learning. There are many good ideas as to how to apply this theory to my students. One example is with keeping learners satisfied, instruction should be designed to allow them to use their newly-learned skills as soon as possible in as authentic a setting as possible.

 

5.      Assessment

 

Article: http://www.flinders.edu.au/teaching/teaching-strategies/assessment/feedback/good-feedback.cfm

 

Self-assessment and feedback are key aspects of effective teaching. I chose this article because it presents a framework of seven principles of good feedback practice and methods and techniques which I found to be useful in thinking about instructing adults. I learnt that self- assessment and feedback are aspects of andragogy that contributes to a student’s short term and long terms learning.

The 6^th principle is one that I have experienced in my own adult learning:

“Feedback provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance;
Feedback is most useful when students have an opportunity to improve work by being able to resubmit the work or receiving feedback during the production process (e.g. comments on drafts) or apply the feedback to a subsequent piece of work. Also student can benefit from being given help to develop strategies to use feedback”. When I have been given feedback from my instructor with time still to incorporate it into my work, I found it more beneficial to my learning”.

 

This article will improve my instructing by using these principles in my teaching. I have learned from this article how important the teacher-student dialogue is throughout the lesson or course, and feedback is one way to encourage and structure this dialogue. I have thought about the importance of how I as an instructor receive feedback as well. Feedback requires adopting a mindset of discovery, and I can improve my instruction by modeling how to receive feedback as well as providing it.

Reflections

Here are the 2 articles relating to my topic of Adult Education and

Disabilities:

1. A Life Full of Learning

This article is about a young man named Raymond who has Duchenne

Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This is a degenerative muscle disease.

Raymond was very gifted in middle school but the school wouldn't

advance him, so his family moved and at his new school, his counsellor

saw how gifted he was and advanced him. He finished high school at

age 14 and he finished University at 18. This article speaks to the issues he faced with accessibility and transportation at university. It also

speaks to how important it was for Raymond to have an advocate help

him navigate the systems at school, and arrange contingencies for him

as he went along.

2.Teaching students with Learning Disabilities in the On-line Classroom

This article has a premise that students with learning disabilities  tend

to learn better in the on-line environment. It notes that educational

institutions are not doing enough to prepare instructors to meet the

needs of these students with learning disabilities. The type of learning

disabilities referred to in this article include dyslexia, expressive

language disorder, reading processing disability and Attention Deficit

Disorder (ADD). One challenge identified is that not all of these

students disclose.This article provides tips for instructors in supporting students with learning disabilities, such as making special accommodations and open and constant communication.

Three reflections that address each of these three Guiding questions.

a. New insights: 

         The article on Raymond provided me insights into the variety of

roles of an educator. I have learned that the role of an educator is not so  much about imparting knowledge, which is very limiting, but rather

facilitating learning and gaining understanding into how that student

learns best. The instructor that Raymond had in his middle school years  would not advance him to the next level, judging Raymond by his

physical limitations and not by his intellectual abilities and strengths.

An instructor's role therefore, is to see a student as a student first and

their disability second. Another insight I had was how Raymond succeeded at university largely because he had a father who became a full time advocate and "expediter".  A role for an educator is to grasp how important the role of an advocate can be for a student with a disability, and to meet the advocate and include them in communication as much as possible.

In my exploration of characteristics of adult learners, I learned that

Raymond displayed several characteristics of an adult learner; he had

issues and problems that were barriers to his learning and he found

solutions such as having his father help him get around campus. He

also helped to connect his fellow students together.

“Ray is very dedicated to mathematics and is 100 percent devoted to

all of his academics,” says John Ryan, a professor of mathematics in

the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University

of Arkansas and Raymond’s doctoral adviser in mathematics. “I'm very  impressed by his abilities. I have given him some very challenging

things to do, and he’s always proven that he’s up to the challenge. He is  one of the top students we've had".

Ryan says another thing that has impressed him about Raymond is his

sense of leadership. “Although he is the youngest one in the group, he

has been sending emails to the other three Ph.D. students, encouraging

them to meet and interact and talk about the work that they’re doing,”

he says. “It’s brilliant.” (A Life Full of Learning, 2014).

 In Teaching students with Learning Disabilities in the On-line

Classroom by Rob Kelly (2010), I learned that there are advantages to

the on-line environment for some students with Learning disabilities.

Some of the learning disabilities discussed in this article include

dyslexia, expressive language disorder, reading processing disability,

and attention deficit disorder. This article pointed out how there are

times when a student with a learning disability finds the on-line

environment a relief as it hides a disability that may be obvious in a

classroom environment.

     In terms of another example of a role of the educator, may be to

learn how to access how these students are doing, by keeping up with

communication, and gauging by the answers of the students if they

have a learning disability and how to best support them.

Another insight I had was how an instructor's role can be to match

students with learning disabilities with a suitable peer.

Also, in terms of use of technology with the students, the instructor's

role can be to learn a wide range of assistive technologies, or at least

know where to refer a student with a learning disability with in the

institution.

b. Trends:

 Trends that I am aware of in my field of Adults with Disabilities, is

around advances in technology for augmented communication and is

Accessibility.

For augmented communication, the term often used is Augmentative

and Alternate Communication  (ACC). For example, I work with a

young adult who attends a post secondary institution. She is non-verbal

and has severe Cerebral Palsy, and she has recently been provided the

opportunity to use a communication device called "EyeGaze". Here is a

short video that illustrates it being used: Eyegaze technology

 It is essentially a computer that is mounted on her mobile wheelchair.

When she gazes on a pre-programmed statement or letter, the computer

detects what she gazes on and then it speaks the words. She has a

support worker beside her when she is in class and the school has made

accommodations so that she can attend. This amazing technology has

made it possible for this young woman to attend post secondary

education and to feel like she is contributing like everyone else.

The use of Kindle's and I Pad's are increasing as well, for those with a

range of disabilities.

As for accessibility, trends that I am witnessing are around the

awareness of how much more we can do to make spaces more

accessible to people with mobility challenges. For example, the local

high school has put new railings in for a young adult who has visual

impairment. Ramps, and railings in bathrooms are also seen more in

educational institutions.

 I am preparing to address these trends by putting time and effort

into researching advances made in this area. When I am in an

educational setting, I can prepare by asking the instructors and

administrators, how they are accommodating adult learners with

cognitive and physical disabilities. As an instructor, I can prepare by

learning what accommodations are needed for my students and find

ways to support their learning.

 Lastly, I can prepare by continuing to challenge my own thinking

and beliefs around what it means to have a disability, and be aware of any judgements or assumptions I may have that could negatively

influence my own instructing.  

c. Web-Conference:

     Reflect on the Web-Conference experience. How was it? What was

one thing I learned about from my learning partner?

The Web conference was a very positive learning experience. The format of "teaching" the other what we had learned from our articles was excellent practice and we both appreciated the opportunity to discuss and share using Skype. My learning partner was engaged in the Web conference, by asking questions and offering feedback and finding parallels in his learning. For example, we both discovered that we were both using the technology in our work that we were learning about, such as Skype, White boards, and social media.

One thing I learned from my learning partner was that his work requires him to personalize his instructing to each student and their respective needs. Adult learners come with full lives and schedules and needs, and he finds that he can't teach generically. I realized that that is an important aspect to instructing adults, regardless of what is being taught.

Resources

Here are the two articles I used for my topic on Disabilities and Education:


1. A Life Full of Learning

2.Teaching students with Learning Disabilities in the On-line Classroom


Here are the 5 articles for the Lesson Planning Assignment:

1.      Bloom’s taxonomy.

Businessballs article:

 http://www.businessballs.com/bloomstaxonomyoflearningdomains.htm

      

 2. Characteristics of Adult Learners:

 

http://www-tc.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/sbpd/docs/sbpd100_characteristics%20of%20adult%20learners-reading.pdf

 

 

   3.      Creating a Positive Learning Environment

Robert Gass Sea Change Strategies:

http://seachangestrategies.com/pop/

 

4.      Motivational Techniques

ARCS Motivation Design:

 

  http://www.torreytrust.com/images/ITH_Trust.pdf

 

5.     Assessment

Flingers Teachers Strategies:

 

http://www.flinders.edu.au/teaching/teaching-strategies/assessment/feedback/good-feedback.cfm

 

 

 

 

Links of Interest

1. SIE website


2. SIE Facebook


3.Bloom's Taxonomy


4.Brad Harrison's Blog


5. Students with Disabilities Fact Sheet


6.Life Long Learning as a Human Right

Autobiography

Hello! A little about me: I live in a small rural community on the Salish Sea and I have 2 young adult sons who have grown up way too fast! As they get older and move on, I find myself wishing I had a dog and dream of getting a puppy. I love living in rural communities and I love to garden and be outdoors. I am currently working full time as a social worker and I am a student as well. I plan on obtaining my Provincial Instructor's Diploma over the next few years and then moving into work that is instructor/training based.
I love to learn new things and I love to see new places. I value my friends and family and I am lucky enough to have a large family who inspire me in many different ways.
Right now I am reading books on stretching and yoga because I pulled a ligament over Christmas and am still experiencing limitations. I am slowly realizing that as I get older, I have to invest more time and effort into my health. Acceptance of that fact has been a major theme in my life.