I heart my iPhone. Today I used the Google app to do a voice search for the first time. Works great. Learn faster! There is so much to learn.
Posted with LifeCast
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Friday, June 6, 2008
A Little Example of Learning
Online learning means a lot of different things depending on whom you ask. My example for the week is how I learned to make one of those tiny site icons that show up in the favorites list in your browser.)
The first thing I learned is what those little thingies are called: Fav(orite) + icon = favicon. How did I learn this? Well, I had to use my already learned skill of how to figure out the right keywords to use in a browser search. I learned/developed that skill mostly by trial and error, though I would say my software skills (honed through training others) and writing skills (based on a good general education, language facility, and, well, lots of writing) helped considerably.
I used Google (of course) and came up with the term "mini-icon." I started with little or small icon, but my brain told me to make it more like one word to focus the search. I also typed "how do I make a mini-icon" rather than just "mini-icon." Perhaps not the official "right way" to search, using unnecessary words. Another thingy I've learned--perhaps a life lesson--is that sometimes you just say what you need. Just "mini-icon" would have produced sites that wanted to sell me favicons, but the question resulted in sites that offered help in learning about them.
Once I did that, I hit some "how to" sites for favicons right away. How did I know which one to look at? Any good Internet crawler will review the list, then click in and out of a few likely candidates before spending any time on a specific site. Experience taught me that one. I found a site that succinctly walked me through the process and gave me just enough information. Did it help that I had previously learned Photoshop? Heck, yes. Did it help that I had prior knowledge of pixels? You bet. I found a site that helped me at the level where I was ready to be helped.
This is Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) at work. Sorry to throw the whole theory thing in so suddenly, but I couldn't help myself. With all learning, but with online learning specifically, it's all about the ZPD. If I'm off on the net looking for distraction, my tendency is to follow what I already know about and understand. The familiar, we call it. AKA The Comfort Zone. However, if I'm looking to learn, I'm going to look for content that's new to me but that I can relate back to what I already know. I want to build on my existing knowledge with new knowledge; I don't want to jump into the middle of something I know nothing about. That's the place of learning that we learners (great and small) are always looking to find; the point where we can use what we know to learn something we don't. When learning in person with a good teacher, s/he can adjust the level of the topic to fit our needs. On the net, we mostly meander about searching for that point for ourselves. I'd venture to say that most of us know it when we see it, and the more practiced we are, the better we get at zeroing in.
So I whipped through the making of my new favicon and the posting of said favicon on my website. And it worked brilliantly...in Firefox. Sadly, Internet Explorer does not like it, not one little bit. But I learned about the fickleness of browsers way back in web design class, so I am not discouraged. I just look at it as something else I have to learn.
The first thing I learned is what those little thingies are called: Fav(orite) + icon = favicon. How did I learn this? Well, I had to use my already learned skill of how to figure out the right keywords to use in a browser search. I learned/developed that skill mostly by trial and error, though I would say my software skills (honed through training others) and writing skills (based on a good general education, language facility, and, well, lots of writing) helped considerably.
I used Google (of course) and came up with the term "mini-icon." I started with little or small icon, but my brain told me to make it more like one word to focus the search. I also typed "how do I make a mini-icon" rather than just "mini-icon." Perhaps not the official "right way" to search, using unnecessary words. Another thingy I've learned--perhaps a life lesson--is that sometimes you just say what you need. Just "mini-icon" would have produced sites that wanted to sell me favicons, but the question resulted in sites that offered help in learning about them.
Once I did that, I hit some "how to" sites for favicons right away. How did I know which one to look at? Any good Internet crawler will review the list, then click in and out of a few likely candidates before spending any time on a specific site. Experience taught me that one. I found a site that succinctly walked me through the process and gave me just enough information. Did it help that I had previously learned Photoshop? Heck, yes. Did it help that I had prior knowledge of pixels? You bet. I found a site that helped me at the level where I was ready to be helped.
This is Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) at work. Sorry to throw the whole theory thing in so suddenly, but I couldn't help myself. With all learning, but with online learning specifically, it's all about the ZPD. If I'm off on the net looking for distraction, my tendency is to follow what I already know about and understand. The familiar, we call it. AKA The Comfort Zone. However, if I'm looking to learn, I'm going to look for content that's new to me but that I can relate back to what I already know. I want to build on my existing knowledge with new knowledge; I don't want to jump into the middle of something I know nothing about. That's the place of learning that we learners (great and small) are always looking to find; the point where we can use what we know to learn something we don't. When learning in person with a good teacher, s/he can adjust the level of the topic to fit our needs. On the net, we mostly meander about searching for that point for ourselves. I'd venture to say that most of us know it when we see it, and the more practiced we are, the better we get at zeroing in.
So I whipped through the making of my new favicon and the posting of said favicon on my website. And it worked brilliantly...in Firefox. Sadly, Internet Explorer does not like it, not one little bit. But I learned about the fickleness of browsers way back in web design class, so I am not discouraged. I just look at it as something else I have to learn.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Are We Having Fun Yet?
Oof. Been off working hard at being an online student and a face2face one as well (blended learning, you know). But haven’t forgotten about my quest here. Have some new sources to write about in my next posts, and a fun experience also for today. After reading The Synchronous Trainer’s Survival Guide, discussed last time, I visited the author’s site and signed up for a free session called “Learn How to Learn Online.” Just attended last week and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. My current learning experience, which is my first time with synchronous online learning, is strictly chat, and free chat at that. Don’t get me wrong, it does the job. It just doesn’t compare to the delightful WebEx (which I may be the last person in the universe to try). Attendees were introduced to signaling tools for raising one’s hand, taking a break, responding to a polling question, and so forth. We could also view slides, point at slide content, write or type on slides for collaborative activities, and use chat when we didn’t feel like talking. Combined with teleconferencing, it was as if a world of options had opened up. The very attentive instructor, Jacqueline, recommended allowing 1 ½ hours for a session that would run 1 hour face2face; learners apparently can become very involved when given opportunity and encouragement. Classroom facilitators should be jealous. Of course, all those bells and whistles could get a bit distracting at times. We had a pretty light topic to cover; much of the point of the session was to get a chance to play and get familiar with the software. A trainer would need to be ready for the challenge of keeping it all focused. Would love a chance to do more with it myself, as learner and facilitator both. Overall, it opens up wild possibilities for active learning experiences.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Learning How to Learn Online
Lo and behold, The Synchronous Trainer’s Survival Guide, by Jennifer Hofmann of InSync Training, includes a section on “Learning How to Learn Online.” The book, geared toward facilitators of “live and online” training for adults, provides an introduction to the tools and techniques used in what it refers to as “the synchronous classroom.” Hofmann uses a terrific analogy in her introduction; classroom learning is to online learning as a theater production is to a television show. She points out that early television mimicked theater until we figured out that there was more to it than that. Some are, at this stage, further ahead than others in figuring out how to use online learning in ways beyond classroom methods.
Chapter 6 takes the focus off the trainer’s perspective to look at the participant experience. Hofmann makes the point that participants need to adapt their expectations and develop new skills when preparing for online learning. Needs such as doing the prep work and creating a workable workspace can come as a surprise to the inexperienced. She recommends that facilitators start their own process of learning to teach online by becoming an online participant. Great advice, IMHO, that will provide invaluable insight. She also recommends that facilitators offer their own version of “Learn How to Learn Online” as a prerequisite for other training classes. This session should include a chance to explore the tools used (whiteboard, audio and/or chat, breakout rooms, polling, etc.); a review of the ground rules for communicating; guidelines for participants on setting up their environment; and an explanation of policies on prep work, participation, and handling interruptions.
Hofmann writes a bit in this chapter and more elsewhere in the book about communication differences between classroom and online interactions. For example, online we lose the ability to signal that we have a question by looking quizzically at the instructor. It can be frustrating to find ourselves functioning without the simple visual and verbal cues we take for granted when interacting in person. This has been something I’ve been very aware of in my first months as an online student. I hope to get a bit further into this topic in a future post.
Chapter 6 takes the focus off the trainer’s perspective to look at the participant experience. Hofmann makes the point that participants need to adapt their expectations and develop new skills when preparing for online learning. Needs such as doing the prep work and creating a workable workspace can come as a surprise to the inexperienced. She recommends that facilitators start their own process of learning to teach online by becoming an online participant. Great advice, IMHO, that will provide invaluable insight. She also recommends that facilitators offer their own version of “Learn How to Learn Online” as a prerequisite for other training classes. This session should include a chance to explore the tools used (whiteboard, audio and/or chat, breakout rooms, polling, etc.); a review of the ground rules for communicating; guidelines for participants on setting up their environment; and an explanation of policies on prep work, participation, and handling interruptions.
Hofmann writes a bit in this chapter and more elsewhere in the book about communication differences between classroom and online interactions. For example, online we lose the ability to signal that we have a question by looking quizzically at the instructor. It can be frustrating to find ourselves functioning without the simple visual and verbal cues we take for granted when interacting in person. This has been something I’ve been very aware of in my first months as an online student. I hope to get a bit further into this topic in a future post.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
“Are you sure you’re ready for online learning?”
This post’s title is the tagline of OASIS, “an online readiness assessment designed for students either considering an online course or currently enrolled in an online course.”
It includes two assessments, one for online learning readiness and another for learning styles with tips on how to make the most of one’s styles—active or reflexive, sensing or intuitive, visual or verbal, sequential or global—when participating in online learning.
The site boasts the participation of 75 community colleges in Illinois, access to 2156 online courses, and the participation of over 23,000 students. It does have minor indications of being outdated and the typical signs that the project never quite got competed according to plan. However, it’s a useful tool for college students new to online courses.
I was thinking my post about what’s needed to be a good online student might have been a bit over the top, but this instrument lines up with my points nicely. It emphasizes self-motivation and discipline, the need for greater time and effort than a classroom-based course, and strong reading and writing skills.
The site also includes some brief tutorials on online learning tools; no surprise that this is where the outdatedness comes in (e.g.: IE5). This is not the strongest part of the site.
It includes two assessments, one for online learning readiness and another for learning styles with tips on how to make the most of one’s styles—active or reflexive, sensing or intuitive, visual or verbal, sequential or global—when participating in online learning.
The site boasts the participation of 75 community colleges in Illinois, access to 2156 online courses, and the participation of over 23,000 students. It does have minor indications of being outdated and the typical signs that the project never quite got competed according to plan. However, it’s a useful tool for college students new to online courses.
I was thinking my post about what’s needed to be a good online student might have been a bit over the top, but this instrument lines up with my points nicely. It emphasizes self-motivation and discipline, the need for greater time and effort than a classroom-based course, and strong reading and writing skills.
The site also includes some brief tutorials on online learning tools; no surprise that this is where the outdatedness comes in (e.g.: IE5). This is not the strongest part of the site.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
