Interview with Curriculum Developer

For this assignment I conducted a (voice) interviewed Captain Kaneil Smith of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).  He is a Training Development Officer (TDO) and is responsible for training other officers in the JDF to become TDOs too. My interview with him was interesting.  I was surprised at the level of technology integration being taught across the JDF, although I was not personally exposed to it. 
I provided him with the types of questions that I would ask in advance.  He spent some time discussing the use of simulators as technology that is incorporated in training.  I got his permission to publish the interview.

Pros and Cons of Podcasts

I am back at blogging after missing last week due to Hurricane Matthew.  Fortunately, I did not suffer too much damage from the hurricane.  It’s good to be back.

This week we are dealing with Podcasting, a term that I have heard several times, but have never really spent any time considering what it is, or its value.  It is no different from my background in blogging, but look at me now. Having reviewed the readings in King and Cox (2011), I have a better understanding of what it is, and some pros and cons.

Firstly, podcasts are digital audio files, posted on the internet and pushed to listeners through XML/RSS feed (Geoghegan and Klan, 2005).

A key advantage of podcasts is the ability to have repeated access to it.  This is even better when one considers that a lot of adult learners found audio was more helpful in retention in some areas. King & Cox (2011) mentioned a study where “researchers found that graduate online learners thought audio was far better than text-based in conveying nuance and helping students retain and apply course content” (58).

Another advantage to podcasts is its appeal to different learning styles. As King and Cox (2011) highlights, Asynchronous Audio Communications (AAC) - which includes podcasts - fits well with Bloom’s Learning Domains – cognitive, affective and psychomotor (also the interpersonal in the “expanded theory”).   Those of us, who are not quite readers, will benefit a lot from listening to a podcast.  

I see the major issue with Podcasts as its time-consuming nature.  It can take some time to prepare the podcast.  In fact, I had to take a few cuts to get my audio interview to a standard that the interviewee was willing to agree to have it go public.  Additionally, it can be time-consuming for learners to listen through all of a lengthy podcast (although it is at their disposal to return to).  An additional issue I see for people (like me) who do not live in a first world country, the ability to access the podcast may prove challenging to some learners.

 Reference

Geoghegan, M & D. Klass (2005). Podcast solutions: The complete guide to podcasting. New York: Friends of Fred.

King, K. & T. Cox (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Week 5: Wiki 8-week Training Plan

This week I will be showing how wiki can be integrated into a program that the JDF can use to review some of the policies that have existed for years. A policy review requires participants to engage in critical thinking. These policy reviews would fall within the context of what West and West (2009) refers to as “Debates” and “Nominal Group Technique”. This will allow them to use two different methods of using wikis. .   

There are five key policy documents that will be reviewed: the Fitness Policy, the Drug Abuse Policy, the Sexual Harassment Policy, Housing Policy, and the Education Policy.  The program will be conducted online since the participants are generally in disparate places, and will not be able to collaborate directly throughout the work week. Face-to-face sessions will occur on three occasions: weeks 1, 5 and 8.  

Title of the lesson/training:              Review of JDF Policies

Target audience:                               Military Officers at the level of Captain (1 from all 8 units).

The Aim of the program:                To have a mid-level management perspective of current policies and the possible changes required.

Learning/Training objectives:        At the end of the program, participants should have:

1. Become more familiar with the 5 key policies
2. Gain a balanced perspective on the policies
3. Express views on the policies that are based on evidence and research
4. Critically evaluate opposing sides of an issue
5. Produced a final review that can be used for further analysis

Rationale for the use of wiki:           Wikis provide a collaborative tool to support critical thinking (West and West, 2009).            

Week	Topic	Key Learning  Activities
One	Program commencement (Face-to-face)	Ø  Overview of the five policies Ø  Introduction to wikis and how to use it for collaboration Ø  Use of wiki “Debate” style Ø  Assign readings for Fitness Policy
Two	Fitness Policy	Ø  Use wiki to collaborate critically assess the Fitness Policy and come up with a group position to be shared at the mid-program face-to-face Ø  Use of wiki “Debate” style Ø  Assign readings for Drug Abuse Policy
Three	Drug Abuse Policy	Ø  Use wiki to collaborate critically assess the Drug  Abuse Policy and come up with a group position to be shared at the mid-program face-to-face Ø  Use of “Debate” style Ø  Assign readings for the Sexual Harassment Policy
Four	Sexual Harassment Policy	Ø  Use wiki to collaborate critically assess the Sexual Harassment Policy and come up with a group position to be shared at the mid-program face-to-face Ø  Use of “Debate” style Ø  Have participants do group assessment of individual contribution and use of wiki
Five	Mid-program review and assessments (Face-to-face)	Ø  Discuss the group’s review and proposals Ø  Review the use of wiki Ø  Discussion of “Nominal Group Technique”. Ø  Assign readings for the Housing Policy
Six	Housing Policy	Ø  Use wiki to collaborate critically assess the Housing Policy and come up with a group position to be shared at the mid-program face-to-face Ø  “Nominal Group Technique”. Ø  Assign readings for the Education Policy
Seven	Education Policy	Ø  Use wiki to collaborate critically assess the Education Policy and come up with a group position to be shared at the mid-program face-to-face Ø  “Nominal Group Technique”. Ø  Have participants do group assessment of individual contribution and use of wiki
Eight	Wrap up (Face-to-face)	Final discussions on: The 5 policies Use of wikis Evaluation of the work

Wiki Activity Evaluation: This will be done by self and group assessment.  Participants’ contribution will be judged based on a scale of “Above Average”, “Average”, “Below Average”.  Areas that will be considered will include: Quality of contribution, Response time to other contribution, frequency of contribution and use of wiki tools.

References

West, J. & M. West (2009). Using wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Week 4: Wikis

Welcome back to my Blog. Today I want to discuss wikis.

According to West and West (2009) a wiki is a collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published (p. 3).  A wiki facilitates collaboration. It allows groups to collaborate, share and build online content, and is especially useful for distance learners who are separated by time and space (West and West 2009).  According to King and Cox (2011) “wiki are the perfect tool for collaboration, as they are easily editable” (p. 121). I can attest to this fact, having done a wiki project before.  Added to that is the fact that I am in a different country from all my classmates.

There are a number of advantages to using a wiki as a collaboration tool.  They are practical (allowing for collaboration); political (allowing freedom of participation; and, timely (providing up-to-date content) (King and Cox 2011 p. 126).  As an asynchronous form of communication, it compares favorably against other similar types of communication, including blogs and threaded discussion, especially when collaboration is the objective.  

There are different types of wikis and they carry various disadvantages.  Some offer minimal management capabilities, others provide limited security, and some come at a cost. From a personal perspective, having worked on a wiki project, my greatest fear was ‘spoiling’ the wiki page or removing something that shouldn’t be removed.  This worry may cause other me and other persons to not be as active in using this excellent adult learning technology.

Below is a great YouTube link that gives an easy explanation of using wikis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0WQUrX-jBw&feature=youtu.be

References:

King, K. & T. Cox (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

West, J. & M. West (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Week 3: Weblogs

Welcome to my first blog!!! It is interesting that the essence of this ground breaking first blog of mine, is to discuss blogging, comparing it with discussion boards (which I have used before) and look at pros and cons of blogging. From what I have read so far, blogging can be used in several ways to support adult education.  I do hope that I will be able to use it wisely and effectively.


Blogging is similar to discussion boards activities.  However, although there are many similarities with discussion board activities there are some differences.  One similarity between a blog and a discussion board activity is that readers can comment on posted entries, which are dated. Another similarity is that they both allow for reflective practice by the author and also persons who write on the blog.  Oravec (2002) also highlighted that educators can use blogs as sources of information on important topics and as modes of online classroom interaction. Again, this is similar to how discussion board activities are generally used. 


The main difference between a blog and a discussion board activity is that the blog is accessible by the public worldwide, whilst the discussion board usually is designed to be private and are usually a part of a LMS.  Once a blog is created and exist on the web, then it is there for public viewing.  The blogger is not then able to restrict who can access it (although I have seen where one can use the options to limit readers' ability to comment). Another subtle difference that I have noted is the reverse chronological listing of entries in a blog, which is not the same for the discussion board activities that I have participated in. According to King and Cox (2011), blogs allow for entries to be searched, archived and categorized. 

Blogging like other forms of technology can play a significant role in adult learning.  However, it has pros and cons (which are similar to other forms of technology). One advantage is its use in reflective practice and journaling. On the other hand, the major drawback is the inability to control who views/accesses the blog – although this has certain positive aspects to blogging as well.

 King, K. P., & Cox, T. D. (Eds.). (2011). The professor's guide to taming technology:  Leveraging digital media, Web 2.0, and more for learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. 

 Oravec, J.A. (2002). Bookmarking the world: Weblog applications in education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45(7), 616-621.