January 5, 2015 Effective media instruction has always been a designers’ medium. In fact, the only applicable phrase for effective media instruction — “instructional integrity” — does not belong to the new Merlins with their magic technology. That phrase is the province of flesh and blood human beings, the instructional designers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Media instruction has never been an evolving electronic gadgetry world. It is rather one more step...
December 17, 2014 This will be my final blog of 2014. So, with the two week holiday season upon us, I want to re-share some of the “interesting to read” items I’ve encountered over the past few years. They have expanded my awareness on issues facing American education. I think you’ll find one, or more, of them worth your reading time — whether one agrees or disagrees. On the subject of Standardized...
December 15, 2014 While these posts have traditionally concentrated on online learning solutions, and will again today, the three major hurdles I am going to enumerate must be overcome with any training initiative —- however it is packaged and presented. One should always include a complete examination of these considerations when contemplating all training initiatives, regardless of your instructional approach. Your chances for success will depend on it. First, and foremost, for...
December 11, 2014 Those of you who regularly read this blog are well aware of the many posts I’ve written opposing the “testing culture” that has invaded our schools. I’ve included quotes and referenced articles that have, generally, exposed a single aspect of this issue —- be it from the students’ side, the parents’ side, and/or the teachers’ side. However, with the publication this week in THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR we finally have...
December 8, 2014 Today, e-Learning is singularly poised to positively impact all aspects of one’s business. It is touted everywhere as “the answer” — just as was videotape in the 1970s and was Interactive Laser Videodisc in the 1980s. It is uniquely capable of making significant contributions to employees, management, shareholders and customers. With online learning, organizations have a learning tool that can improve attitudes, skill levels, communications and the bottom line....
December 3, 2014 An article (“The Participation Gap/A Conversation with media expert and MIT Professor Henry Jenkins”) and published by the National Education Association, tells us: What is the “participation gap” and how does it relate to the digital divide? “The digital divide mostly referred to the gap in access to technology in American schools and libraries. The goal over the last two decades was to provide every student access to networked...
December 1, 2014 A Dennis Carter piece in eCampus News included the following headline, “Report predicts online learning explosion by 2015” and began: “The number of college students taking online college courses will equal the number of students who attend classes in a traditional classroom by 2015, according to a market research firm whose research contradicts another recent study suggesting a possible leveling off in online learning. The research firm, Ambient Insight,...
November 24, 2014 This month, a NEW YORK TIMES article, “States Listen as Parents Give Rampant Testing an F” by Lisette Alvarez focused on some of the damage constant testing is inflicting on our children: “Florida embraced the school accountability movement early and enthusiastically, but that was hard to remember at a parent meeting in a high school auditorium here not long ago. Parents railed at a system that they said was...
November 19, 2014 Wikipedia defines “training” as follows: “Training is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies.” Narrowing that definition to Industrial Skills Training we can describe it as a branch of training designed to develop the skills and knowledge required of workers in the process and manufacturing industries. Working in industry today...
November 17, 2014 Too many people have forgotten the goals of “Training.” Information transferral has begun to blur the lines. And unfortunately, the real losers will be those workers who need to learn the necessary skills their organizations require. The distinction between Education and Training has been clear for centuries. While “Education” is difficult to pin down, generally, the accepted definition revolves around the acquiring of Knowledge for one of a variety...
November 12, 2014 The world is beginning to harvest the advantages achieved by bringing technology-based learning into both the academic classroom and the corporate training environment. In education, many of the foundation skills and competencies — upon graduation, so critical to the workplace — can be achieved through the use of technology in the classroom. “Students using technology demonstrate any number of improvements: more confidence, higher motivation, peer mentoring, collaboration, and enhanced...
November 10, 2014 “According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read. That’s 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates can’t read. The current literacy rate isn’t any better than it was 10 years ago....
November 5, 2014 Today’s post will begin by quoting from PLANT ENGINEERING (“Logic and plant engineering: become a more effective problem-solver by avoiding these common fallacies”): “Troubleshooting problems in plant equipment and systems requires a flawlessly logical thought process. Like many of the skills needed in the world of plant operations and management, logic is something maintenance managers and facilities engineers are just assumed to have. Yet good logic is a skill...
November 3, 2014 It’s been five years since Theodore Sizer died —- but, his influence lives on through the Essential Schools movement he founded. In a long career, Dr. Sizer was, among other appointments, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Chairman of Brown University’s education department. Dr. Sizer’s view of education reform — “with a premium on classroom creativity, bottom-up innovation and multiple measures of student learning” — opposed...