Folks,
You should have an e-mail from my instance of Moodle inviting you to view the course.
http://www.rdheath.com/moodle/
Please login and have a look around. One lesson learned from teaching my last unit is to have only the welcome and the first lesson visible to students and to reveal the course as we work through it. I’m not doing that for you all simply to keep this straightforward. I look forward to your feedback.
H-5-MS-Word-Document-with-graphics-and-accessibility-Bob-Heath
Ok, so in the end, it is a pdf, rather than an MS Word document, but I think that might even accomplish more in terms of accessibility. I took my product review paper and based on chapter 3 of:
I added a bunch of formatting and images per Owen’s request.
This was a good practice for me since so much of what we do in the workplace is quick and dirty Google docs. The downside is that a 5-page paper is now nearly double that. An interesting practice in both Word and Adobe was to use the “read out loud” feature of the respective programs to review my work.
Final Project, Third Draft Strategy
Learning Management Systems Comparisons from the Business Point of View
Hey Bob,
I like your UBD Tree “deconstructed.” Did you find the little fillable boxes annoying? Are you more comfortable with this more linear format?
I too think more quickly and more clearly within the confines of a word or google document.
I’d be curious as to your thoughts on this exercise as a process tool? What do you think about “charting” as a design process?
I know your thinking on your own subject is quite evolved, and this is reflected in the flow of your Leadership and Management design – from Essential Questions through Learning Logs (forums) as assessments, and into traditional content areas such as training videos, research, and mentor feedback.
-Owen
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Yup, the little boxes pinched and chaffed a bit. That admitted I am suspicious of my response to the text. I am holding open the possibility that in a different circumstance that chart might be the right tool. Right here and now the linear path got it done. I wonder if in a collaborative setting that chart might be a way for content expert and instructional designer to work together? I wonder as well if particular disciplines might call for that approach, say, poetry, for example. I recall last semester we were wrangling over the laboratory component of science instruction. I wonder as well about the studio component of arts courses in the online venue. Perhaps the chart has a place in helping me connect with those teachers?
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…and on your paper…
Interesting point about the LMS in the workplace. I completely agree that most companies aren’t going to encourage “open learning” – so much effort is bent and focussed on combing and preening the corporate image, tolerance for behind the scenes exposure will be extremely low, I would think.
Wow. In addition to a simple tool evaluation, your paper addresses such a complex and very interesting topic. … I hardly know where to begin.
Sort of stream of consciousness – I think it interesting that Oxford Online uses Moodle. I’ve also been intrigued by edX and Canvas. The advantage that Blackboard offers is institutional security – that is, large departments can feel secure in knowing that they’re purchasing the Chevy Caprice of LMS Learning Taxis. The one thing about Blackboard (Bb) is that their pricing is also institutionally variable. There is entry level pricing to entice the institution and once your institution is invested, prices and service contracts may increase.
Years ago I was involved with a Major LMS/Campus Software system upgrade. The small college I was working for had a terrible system that was horrendously expensive through Campus America. It operated on an antiquated VAX computer… and was incredibly unapproachable. I was head of IT at the time and after a year of deliberations, we purchased a new product based on WindowsNT servers, super user friendly, much easier to maintain, etc… Product was called TEAMS. We got through a year of installation and data conversion and finally decommissioned the old VAX server… two months later the company was purchased by Campus America… It was a good system while it lasted, but I fear the future was not bright at that point.
There are so many factors. Faculty, Students, IT, costs. Even maintenance philosophies and capacities within IT departments can be highly variable and extremely important. UAA and UAF both have Blackboard, but UAF’s installation is several versions ahead, and UAA’s support staff is a small fraction of UAF’s.
I’m intrigued that Google has backed edX’s open platform efforts. I like the platform and am hopeful for a bright future funded by our click-generated dollars. Check out Mooc.org…
Thanks for the reviews and for opening the can of worms that is the LMS debate.
-owen
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I am surprised that you did not go deeper in evaluating Moodle (the open source version). I find there are two main features that IT departments are looking for: scaleability, cost, and security. Incidentally, free Moodle offers all three. Additionally as far as features go, I actually find Moodle more powerful than Blackboard. There are a lot of additional features available that are built-in. One that I think any professional trainer will appreciate is called Workshop and allows you to build branching scenarios (which are at the core of instructional design for training purposes, I think). The interface for building is a bit complicated at first, but you can create SCORM-comparable training modules without purchasing SCORM building software like Articulate.
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While Owen assigned us a paper on “product comparison” in the end my paper was about decision models and organizational change management. There are literally hundreds of LMS products. That and the realization that in a business case an HR department will be running the training program. This means that other factors need to be included in the review of LMS products, like the suite of HR tools the LMS is embedded in or at least integrated with matters too. For example, an employees personal file is accurately and immediately and hopefully automatically updated based on LMS results. So my examples were more foils for the other discussion, however, they were selected based on being full featured, then on being very different from each other.
I am completely aware that what I am doing for assessment in this training module is situation specific. In another workplace, tests and quizzes, might be appropriate. Likewise, a rubric similar to the example from Arizona, or even one more traditionally classroom shaped might be appropriate. The hard question is do I have the skills and the language to do that work too?
In response to Owen’s comment about the value of rubrics particularly for those performing at the lower end of the skill set, motivation and self-discipline. I understand in both the classroom and the workplace, since I have awarded failing grades and terminated employees. Additionally, I will be challenging my staff to do more with rubrics in relation to workplace performance. The obvious benefit is greater consistency in evaluation. However, an important and often understated benefit is getting unspoken expectations articulated. In a multi-generational, multi-cultural, and variable skill/experience workplace unspoken expectations are unfair and the cause of stress.
This segues into why I am emphasizing “learning logs” in this module. I am concurrently teaching the module on professional demeanor that I designed last semester. Using the forums as a “learning log” is working well in this situation. “Working well” means, employees are engaging with me and with each other and most of the feedback is gentle and cheerful. Admittedly some of the topical posting is answers that “I want to hear.” However, we have created a venue where we can have a conversation about the kind of workplace we want to create and inhabit and the student employees are part of that. Accordingly, their membership in the team is greater and their accountability is higher too. We evaluate their performance in the workplace. Sometimes that results in progressive discipline and ends in termination. Most frequently, it involves coaching for improvement and recognition of solid performances. Sometimes it results in encouragement to apply for supervisory openings.
We had some confusion and some resistance to participation in this training module from a handful of employees at the outset. I choose to handle it in the workplace and through the chain-of-command. I spoke with my library coordinators (the direct supervisors of the student staff). I asked about how they presented the training to these new hires? It was here that we encountered an ambiguity two had made very clear explanations of expectations; one had been vague and open-ended. That supervisor met in person with each employee and re-explained the expectations. She also encouraged them to talk with me directly. I have had three conversations. Time management has been a recurrent concern. One person expressed concern about discomfort with one of the assignments. I have learned several lessons: one is about cognitive load, second is about framing some flexibility into the assignments, third is about the students’ unfamiliarity with online learning environments. Two of my library coordinators were uncommitted, at the outset, to this form of training. This showed in their direct reports initial participation. However, as my staff has joined the conversation their misgivings have been allayed.
In this context approaching the conversation as “learning logs” is working. As I mentioned, I liked looking at the postings in terms of clarity, analysis, relevance, and self-reflection. However, I do not see the value of adding the matrix of low, medium and high quality at least in terms of individual postings in the online venue. I think each library coordinator is following along and is getting a sense of that for themselves and their direct reports. Training is one column in our employee evaluation and this adds information to that column, however, non-participation speaks more loudly, and will ultimately influence our decision to not rehire an employee.
Original Post
Right now, I am imagining a section that precedes this that focuses on “Taking the Step up….” I expect this communication section to take about a month. I am still toying with what to follow this section with – right now, I am thinking of shifting to very pragmatic elements of supervision, delegation, for one example.
Third enduring understanding: Communication, communication, communication getting it all done depends upon excellence in communication in all forms.
Communication (core)
Learning Outcomes
Learning Resources (Attn: ED 635 students I have written this for my target audience. However, if you access Lynda.com through the UAF Library your student login will give you access to these trainings, assuming they spark your interest. I really recommend the Leading with Applied Improv.)
Go to this url http://web.colby.edu/acits/lyndacampus/, and follow the instructions on logging in. Once you have access view the video training listed below. It is fine to do this during your regular but quiet shift (please just remember to leave one earbud out so that you can still hear the phone, or face-to-face customer questions).
Listening is a critical competency, whether you are interviewing for your first job or leading a Fortune 500 company. Surprisingly, relatively few of us have ever had any formal training in how to listen effectively. In this course, communications experts Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes show how to assess your current listening skills, understand the challenges to effective listening (such as distractions!), and develop behaviors that will allow you to become a better listener—and a better colleague, mentor, and friend.
Leading with Emotional Intelligence
Emotions are all around us in the office, and it is important for leaders to understand how to harness them to cultivate productivity and positive relationships. In this course, lynda.com director of learning and development Britt Andreatta shows how to develop emotional intelligence to better lead teams, work with peers, and manage up. Learn what emotional intelligence is and how it factors in at work and discover concrete techniques for raising your own emotional quotient (EQ). This includes perceiving yourself accurately, exercising emotional self-control, practicing resilience, and developing empathy. Then turn those lessons around to build your awareness of others and learn to inspire helpful communication and manage conflict.
We will be viewing these two instructional sessions together. This is to create a foundation of thought and skills on the topic of communication. They allow us to compare and contrast the instruction by the various presenters as well – that is we interpret between the two and make our own sense of the topic.
Let us think of the forums as our journals. Journal entries do three kinds of work: first they record what we have seen and heard in the training videos, (slides, bullet points, interesting turns of phrase, ideas we encounter for the first time), then we turn to reflecting we record our reactions, feelings, judgments, and learning, third we analyses:
Unlike our private journals, this is a shared journal. As such, we have responsibility and accountability to each other. We need to be both courteous and hardheaded. If we simply pitch each other softballs, our learning will be limited. If we are rude to each other, no one will participate.
I want you to practice the skills your are learning about with customers as you help them transact business. I also want you to use them with co-workers and direct reports. Keep notes on these interactions and report in the forums on your experiences. Finally, as you interact with outside businesses (grocery store, clothing, liquor, and restaurants for examples) apply the communications skills again keep notes on these interactions and report to the forums on your observations.
Assignment three takes us in a slightly different direction. Accordingly, we will adjust the work a little to match the different content. This section is about attuning ourselves to others. Seeing how they struggle to communicate and seeing their emotional stumbles or equally possible we can observe their excellence and intelligence with communication. So, again list and record what you learn from the training, but now shift your attention to observing co-workers as they interact with customers and each other and reflect on how skillful or inept their communication is. The point here is not to judge but to observe and to begin to plan for helping them improve. This is the rudiments of job assessment and an important aspect of a supervisor’s role. Record both good and weak performance (out of courtesy do not report the person’s name) and report to the forums on performance and suggestions for improvement. Together we will analyze these examples you provide.
Learning Resources (Attn: ED 635 I am considering pairing the Emotional Intelligence and the Leading with Applied Improve and leaving the Effective Listening, first and Having Difficult Conversations, last as stand-alone bookends on the unit. Any thoughts on that alternate structure?)
We will be viewing these two instructional sessions together. Their content is less directly related to each other though there are points of overlap. However, both connect well to the previous two trainings we watched and so watch for that.
Having Difficult Conversations
Leadership coach and lynda.com director of learning and development Britt Andreatta shares her tips and strategies for having difficult conversations. In her four-phase model, you will discover the situations that lead up to difficult conversations, decide when the conversation is warranted, prepare for the interaction, and monitor outcomes to ensure success. Along the way, learn the secrets of turning difficult conversations into successful interactions that enhance communication and rapport. Improve both your professional and personal relationships, finding your way back from conflict through mutually successful outcomes.
Improv theater was designed to help actors solve problems on stage. In this course, facilitator, coach, and former stand-up comedian Izzy Gesell demonstrates how to use the skills, practices, and mindset of improv to develop critical leadership qualities of presence, acceptance, and trust. Izzy shares some games you can play with your team members or coworkers to “practice spontaneity” and incorporate the improv mindset into your everyday life.
Learning Outcomes
Assignments
As in the previous set of assignments, some of the work here is to learn new material. Accordingly, we are looking for recording, a list, a set of bullet points, which identifies skills, tips, and techniques that you learned from the training videos. We are looking for you to explain insights and to ask questions as well. However, beyond that we are looking for you to make associations with the first two videos and to select, interpret and apply among the tools these four training videos offer. Thirdly, we are asking you to interrupt you existing patterns of communication, or to venture beyond what your existing comfort zone is and to do that you will have to practice these skills regularly. So, first try these skills out in your interactions with customers, dorm mates, professors in the classroom, parents. Obviously celebrate your successes, more difficult consider sharing your failures. Through peer review and coaching on these forums and our face-to-face sessions, you have amazing resources available to improve your communication skills please take advantage of this opportunity.
So much for deadlines.
The young people who work for me are traditional college age students 18-21. Many come from preparatory schools, though not all. The libraries actually do a good job of recruiting students of color, and international students. The international students are perhaps as privileged as our majority students are. Frequently they are recruited from programs like UWC International. Some of our international students are at Colby, in part, on a “can pay” basis. Meaning they are paying entirely out of pocket. A few of our students come from working class backgrounds. One might presume that such a talent pool should make hiring easy. Alas, excellence in academics and sports does not necessarily translate to a good work ethic or an appropriate professional demeanor. Frequently their work experience is very limited sometimes constrained to summer camp staff or even volunteer work. All of that aside we are talking about some very intelligent, focused and hardworking young people. Out of this pool, we train and develop student employees. Moreover, from those we train we recruit student supervisors. We require that student supervisor’s interview with our entire permanent staff, five of us, and one aspect of their interview is to come prepared to teach us something. I have learned to make peanut butter sandwiches, various origami… things, how to play Angry Birds, and one person taught us to triple jump, as a sampler.
Wait, the UPS driver just called. “How is your driveway?” “You might not want to come up.” “Can you meet me in 10 minutes?” “I’ll be there.” So, now I have to ask you all to hold that thought while I go read Chapter Six…. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, ok, I am back.
And, I have to say that our authors may be good teachers, good instructional designers, but they are not good philosophers. They are making the notion of “understanding” do too much work; as best I can see “understanding” is every step in and the whole of cognition. I will whine about this more in the forums and here instead focus on the work Owen requires. First, “create a brainstorm.” Then sort that crap out:
Taking the Step up to Supervision
Awkward: (itkad, perhaps even core)
Organization Mission and how promotion changes ones relation to it(core)
Core Leadership Theories (wbfw)
Leadership Styles (Itkad)
Communication (core)
Project Management/Delegation (itkad)
Management (wbfw)
So, this is the rough shape of the brainstorm. This is just pulling crap out of my head. I am sure I have forgotten important stuff. I am equally sure that I need to put meat on these bones.
First enduring understanding: If my expectations are unclear, the employee’s performance will be vague as well. Corollary to that, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is simply stupid.
I think this is important to me as leader. It keeps me honest when I assess employee performance. It keeps me honest as well when I am not getting the performance I want from employees. Perhaps I need to ask for, train, role model, coach in a different way to achieve different results.
Second enduring understanding: leadership is what we do with people, including ourselves. Management is what we do with money and stuff (glibly speaking for librarians, books, for example). Both are important and both require different, perhaps unrelated knowledge and skills, even talent.
I think it is hard to be excellent at both sets of skills. In a purely subjective universe, I prefer leadership skills at optimum levels and management skills at good levels. I believe that is true currently. I wonder about it in the future as we replace people with technology here I am thinking about Amazon’s web site replacing cashiers and customer service personal, and their robotic retrieval system replacing warehouse staff, for one example.
Third enduring understanding: Communication, communication, communication getting it all done depends upon excellence in communication in all forms.
This is hard to learn. It is hard to be a good writer, it is hard to be a good speaker, it is hard to paint or draw well, and I know nothing about music, or dance. Yet I can see every day that when I get it right(and that is tentative, fleeting and subjective) the work gets easier.
Now because I find our authors to be confusing on “understanding” I am going to have to circle back to the final element of this assignment. “Once you’ve created a list of content priorities and identified the big ideas, the next step is to craft the wording for your “Enduring Understandings.” In pursuit of this goal, read Chapter 6 in the Understanding by Design text.” I am looking forward to a lively conversation in the forums because I think we have to get a much clearer grasp of what we mean by this if we are going to make it central to our instructional design.
Owen, are we heading in the direction you hoped for this assignment?
Hey Bob,
I thought your opening paragraph setting expectations very interesting. I like how you say, basically, that learning how to do your job may require time out of work. I thought about this in light of student expectations regarding learning content. We are so used to negotiated effort agreements, I found your approach refreshing. “This is going to involved work on your part. This is life.”
Under Communications– Section 1, there’s a heading titled, “Assignments” I think these points might benefit from some type of organizational device other than what you have. Here’s your first item:
1: View Leading with Emotional Intelligence, Introduction, and section one and two, Understanding Emotional Intelligence, Developing Self-Awareness, and View Effective Listening, welcome and section one, Assessing your Listening Skills
This is workable but might reorganize somehow? Here’s a thought. (my formatting options are somewhat limited in this post).
View:
1. Leading with Emotional Intelligence:
Introduction, Understanding Emotional Intelligence, Developing Self-Awareness
2. Effective Listening:
Welcome and Assessing your Listening Skills
I really like your thoughtful inclusion of the Lynda.com videos. They’re great and should lead to some valuable conversations in your discussion forums. Running through the unit, I wished I’d had such a learning experience when I was younger – would have saved me a lot of wandering in the darkness.
Bob, overall, a great unit. There’s a few bits waiting to be completed, but your effort is hugely ambitious – which I give you credit for.
What are your thoughts? What are you most satisfied with? What are you least satisfied with? What next?
I appreciate also the Moodle hosting decision. Moodle can be a bit text-heavy and visually non-remarkable. That being said, there is a lot of content here and the visual simplicity helps keep the focus on just that.
-owen
Moodle-shmoodle can put you through scrolling hell! I have a love/hate (bordering on hate/hate) relationship with it. But I don’t hate it anymore than Blackboard (or any other LMS system). I actually found that you can design more visually stimulating and better organized course with Moodle than BB (which for me was a huge surprise), but it takes a lot of exploring and figuring out of tools in order to do it (learning curve is huge as Moodle is largely counter-intuitive and overwhelming — too many un-needed tools and options and too many gems buried underneath all these options). However, it is FREE ?
Bob, I did not receive the email ? Could you try and email it to tapi_______.edu? Thanks!
Owen,
Thanks as always for your generous comments.
I was struck profoundly by the differences between classroom teaching/teachers and the workplace and supervisor roles throughout this course. I mentioned this last class too, I miss my team. For example, I have an employee who is a genius with proofreading, grammar, and copy editing. It is my strategy to get her involved and invested in these kinds of projects by relying on her strengths. The young people who do the training will at the end of it tell me how to make it better, as another example. I wonder if I have a freedom to take risks with training/learning that others in this class cannot?
I have to admit that Kim blew me away with the video content that she created for her website. I worried about over relying on Lynda.com in this context. In my own context it is the obvious answer. Moreover, this summer I will pay a couple student employees to make training videos that will be used in these training’s. But, where does that get me in developing my skills, in learning something new? In my context these answers are appropriate. However, I do think there is an important insight about personal development that I wasn’t anticipating — so I will be spending more time with video and podcast creation this summer.
I think you are right Owen some of the assignments are still roughly phrased. I think some of my intentions with certain resources are underdeveloped (The Step up to Supervision book, for example) and so I can do some more work on integrating that resource to subsequent sections. I was surprised and satisfied with how the final project for this class turned into a section that I had no intention of developing. I wasn’t going to spend time on theory only on practice. I’m glad to stumble into a way to do better than that.
One of the most satisfying bits of feedback we hear from former employees is, “I learned to work in the libraries, thank you.” I guess I am trying to do this better with both the Professional Demeanor unit and this Step up to Supervision unit.
Tatiana, I sent you another invite on this new e-mail. And, I agree that Moodle can be an exercise in scrolling. My strategy for this course is progressive revealing and hiding of sections. So that the learner only sees the introduction and the current section, less scrolling. We will see what the feedback is from the young people on that. Obviously my employer owns this training and accordingly it will be behind user id/password, and firewalls, so creating it in Moodle here makes sense in my context. “Open learning” just isn’t a good fit for this purpose.
Hey Bob,
Sorry I’m a bit late chiming in. I really liked what you did here and appreciated what you are trying to do. I once ended a conversation with an employee “the problem isn’t that you were late, the problem is that I wasn’t’ surprised that you were late.” He got that, and the problem was solved. It takes enough of my time trying to teach new employees a position each semester that I don’t have much left to also teach them how to be good employees. And yet, I think that is what student employment is about in many ways. So, bravo! Taking on this aspect of employee training is huge and a place not many go.
Also, I kind of liked the ‘rough edges’. I felt like it wasn’t canned or rehearsed and edited to exclusion of all personality. As a matter of fact, I feel like your voice was very authentic throughout. Then you through in the Lynda stuff, which is super polished and edited, and it creates a kind of balance.
Hey Bob,
I hear you on the Lynda.com resources. I think you bring so much to the process via the frame of inquiry (essential questions) and the learning activities, (learning logs, discussions, etc…) that the course doesn’t have the feeling of simply a Lynda.com playlist. … And it does seem appropriate that there area few holes you find and fill in (the personal development piece) as you go.
Kudos to you and your team on the positive feedback from your former employees. As I said above, I wish I’d had some training like this early in life. It would have placed and contextualized much of my working experience… Even still, I find some of the content extremely valuable.
-owen
How do you log into?
http://www.rdheath.com/moodle/