tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29958726725430464312024-03-23T03:21:47.880-06:00Lessons LearnedInteresting tidbits about teaching, learning, and scholarshipTasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.comBlogger320125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-87911204465834862802023-12-15T12:42:00.005-06:002023-12-15T12:50:45.466-06:00Icebreakers and Active Learning Strategies<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: verdana;"><i>Originally published in the Learning and Teaching Newsletter (internal publication) at Saskatchewan Polytechnic</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: verdana;">Winter semester seems far away, especially since we haven't seen much of winter weather yet. But perhaps you are starting to plan. And you are thinking about adopting some new techniques. Well, here is a list of icebreakers and active learning strategies that you may wish to add to your repertoire. I recently attended a workshop and I thought I would share some of the suggested activities that we learned about. Recommended reading: Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation by Rebecca Sutherns.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #1:</span> Icebreaker<br />Instructions: Ask a prompting questions, such as: what do you wish you could do more of? Everyone answers in the chat. Then you ask for one participant to ask a question (something that they are curious about) to another participant. <br />Example: Reading. Participant #1 asks participant #2 “what is the best book that you read this year?”<br /><br />Tip: For introductions ask yourself, how much do they need to know each other. If they already know each other, is there an opportunity to dig deeper. If they don’t but also don’t need to, a brief introduction will suffice.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #2:</span> Icebreaker or active learning strategy for Zoom<br />Instructions: Turn cameras on/off based on a response to a question.<br />Example: Everyone leave their cameras on if you have a dog.<br />Benefit: You may find that all participants leave their cameras on following the activity. Be sure to create a safe space online where kids, pets, and mess are all welcomed. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #3:</span> Active learning strategy<br />Instructions: Go into the video settings in Zoom and have participants "hide non-video participants:. This is a great way to highlight specific speakers who have been assigned a task, such as a presentation, debate, or are representing their group in a debrief following a breakout room. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #4:</span> Active learning strategy<br />Instructions: Go around the room creating a story or narrative. The catch - each participant contributes a sentence but the next participant must use the last word of the previous sentence or the last letter in their contribution. <br />Example: Participant #1 states “Ask prompting <span style="font-weight: 600;">questions</span>”, and participant #2 follows up with “<span style="font-weight: 600;">questions </span>are a good way to brainstorm ideas”. Participant #3 starts off with “<span style="font-weight: 600;">ideas</span>….”.<br />Benefit: This is a great listening exercise. Also, an excellent way to break up content, review key concepts, or energize the group. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #5:</span> Wellness<br />Instructions: Run a timer on the screen for breaks. Play music. Build in self care for breaks – make time for fresh air, snacks, and hydration. Encourage participants to not go straight from one device to another.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 1.4em; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #6:</span> Icebreaker or active learning strategy<br />Instructions: Zoom, ask participants to find an item in their space. This activity could be used for a scavenger hunt, sharing circle, or to incorporate a sensory experience.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Idea #7: </span>Incorporate UDL<br />Instructions: In Zoom – switch it up. Allow for times of audio only. Switch from content delivery to tasks (personal or group). Turn off self view if it is too distracting. Give options – you can work in a breakout room, or you can work alone. Label breakout rooms with topics, so that participants can choose what they are interested in. Create safe spaces by allowing for the cameras to be on/off.</span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-72930925506511665842023-03-02T07:25:00.001-06:002023-03-02T07:26:08.554-06:00Great Quote<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">One of the learners in my Writing for Engagement course shared this wonderful quote with our class. </span></span></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"</span></span></h3><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; text-align: left;">Neale Donald Walsch</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; text-align: left;"> American author, speaker, screenwriter, and actor</span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-33767382127818116532023-02-28T13:33:00.004-06:002023-03-21T10:28:42.759-06:00It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></i> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">Quoting the incomparable Taylor Swift, Antihero</em></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Sometimes it seems like I am the only one who worries about things. I have been excused of being antiquated and out of touch with technology. Am I the problem? If we circle back to my earlier post about Writing Being Under Attack, I wonder if we all really want to sound the same? In my opinion, part of communication is about the unique uses of language. How I might phrase something is completely different from how someone else might do it. Some of the things that make my writing unique are my purposefully negation of contractions, use of Canadian spellings, and my conversational academic tone, which aims for professionalism, but is also friendly, approachable, and polite. I am a firm believer in reading things out loud and triple checking before submitting or hitting send.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">There are many useful tools that help us write. I have come to rely on spell and grammar checkers that are built into Word, PPT, and Outlook. Predictive text on my iPhone helps me craft a text with one hand while I pet my dog with the other. Having struggled with language arts as a younger child, I often feel at a significant disadvantage in the grammar department. Another compelling reason to incorporate writing aids.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Yet what happens when we let artificial intelligence “correct” our work or even “write for us”. Think for us, do the work for us. Do we analyze the text, or trust the machine? As someone who has been in the work world for decades, I feel like I have a strong foundation of knowledge. I recognize potentially fraudulent information, incorrect use of terminology, information that does not make sense, or lacks evidence. What happens to those who are entering post-secondary education or the work world. Do they have this same discretion? Do they question what they find online, or are they easily swayed by a provocative headline? Is this true? Here is an</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/information-overload-helps-fake-news-spread-and-social-media-knows-it/" style="border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(195, 195, 195); box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">article</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">on the rampant spread of misinformation on social media.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Case in point, here is an example from an email that I sent out earlier today. I was wondering if the individual had a preference for date and time when we should meet.</span></p><p><img alt="" class="wp-image-34" height="57" loading="lazy" src="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/files/2023/02/image.png" style="background-color: white; border-radius: inherit; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="283" /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The editor in Outlook wanted to change this to ‘Do you </span><strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;">prefer</strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> date/time?’ Without a list of options, this does not make sense.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">So, what is the solution? Be discerning. Verify information from multiple sources. Trust reliable sources. Trust your instincts, and find your own voice. Use evidence to back up your opinions. Not sure about a grammatical rule, double check on Google. Use the tools, but also learn from them.</span></p><div class="entry-content" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.5em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 3em;"><div><br /></div></div>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-80302261352037845192023-02-28T13:30:00.002-06:002023-03-21T10:30:53.670-06:00Always Something More to Learn <p><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></i></p><ol style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How did you find the last assignment to create a job aid, reference guide or infographic? What this a useful challenge, and something you see yourself leveraging in future?</span></em><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px -1em 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writer’s block, well perhaps more like topic block. I wanted to create something that I could repurpose for work, but I have too many projects on the go and had trouble determining what would be a good topic for this purpose. I finally landed on a handout on active learning strategies. I wanted to update the handout with different strategies, so I thought it made a good candidate for a complete redesign.</span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In my work, we do create a lot of handouts, or SharePoint pages with instructions on how to complete a task. Brevity is key, so this assignment was very useful because it forces you to concentrate on the most important points. No one wants to look at an infographics that is just text.</span></li></ul></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Reflect back on your prior assignments and blog posts in this course. What have been some highlights? What would you say are the key techniques or ‘aha moments’ you experienced that have influenced how you will approach writing for your audiences going forward? </em> </span><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px -1em 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was surprised to see so many connections between developing curriculum and writing. So many elements are similar, like writing engaging titles and powerful introductions, chunking materials into manageable pieces, the importance of organization and placement of materials, and creating meaningful content that people want to read.</span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some important takeaways for me are writing concisely, alternating paragraph length, breaking up text through the use of other elements (bulleted lists, images, text boxes, etc.), and engaging your audience. So many things that apply not only to my writing, but also my teaching. Again, I was surprised to see so many connections.</span></li></ul></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do you feel about writing now vs. when you started this course seven weeks ago?</span></em><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px -1em 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing was a chore, but now it is fun again. I enjoyed exploring topics that were outside of my purview, hoping to engage my audience and provide a compelling reason why we should care about these issues. So maybe that is it – learning to write persuasively.</span></li></ul></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Action Plan – What are 1-3 ideas or actions you would like to commit to in order to continue the development of your writing skills?</span></em><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px -1em 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Concentrate on art and design elements while ‘presenting’ my written works.</span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Practice, practice, practice. That is the only way to improve.</span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Focus on writing for online curriculum.</span></li></ul></li></ol>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-14438764305751951982023-02-16T11:30:00.005-06:002023-02-16T11:31:45.779-06:00What's the point?<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I tend to write longer, block paragraphs of text. My style includes a wall of text. I struggle between being direct, getting straight to the point, vs. being verbose, but perhaps with a friendlier tone.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because of this, one of my strategies for writing email is to capture the key point first, and then go back and add some of the filler. The part of the message that makes it more personalized, welcoming, more authentic. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My first step is to highlight key messages, especially points that I think will be confusing. Here’s an example for a recent email that I sent to a group of learners. In the email, I had embedded a poll that is built into Outlook. I assumed that many of my leaners would have never used it before. Figuring out what to click on is a bit confusing. </span></div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s the email text:</span></em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have created a poll for our next session. You have two options:</span></p><p style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">If you can attend on March 1st at 3:30, </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">then ignore</span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.6em; padding-bottom: 0.5em; padding-top: 0.5em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Not available or would prefer to attend at another time, respond to the poll. Click on </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">3 options</span><span style="background-color: white;"> to vote in the poll below.</span></span></li></ul>Because of the yellow highlighter, these two points should be the very first thing that the learner sees when they open the email. It is also helpful with email to put the action item in the subject line.<br /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;">Vote now! Options for our next meeting</em>.</span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-8980783446386240612023-02-16T10:47:00.004-06:002023-02-27T07:14:01.769-06:00Really? You expect me to read all of this?<p><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></span></i></p><p>Faced with a wall of text are you: a) thrilled, b) overwhelmed, c) anxious, or d) already tired. </p><p>40 minute Mr. Beast video - sure no problem. Sequel to a long awaited series, yes please, who needs sleep. Favourite fan fic, I got the time, bring it on. All of these are definitively A. Capital A - thrilled!</p><p>Other options including course curriculum. <b><span style="font-size: medium;">B</span></b>, <b><span style="font-size: medium;">C</span></b>, and/or <b><span style="font-size: medium;">D</span></b>. These walls of text will have learners reacting with dread. Case in point, clicking on one of the suggested <a href="https://hilt.harvard.edu/news-and-events/events/research-based-principles-for-multimedia-learning/" target="_blank">resources</a> for this week, my immediate reaction was "ugh, do I really have time to watch the whole thing". Even though, everything that I have read/watched/listened to thus far in this class has been extremely valuable. I know that. I know that I will learn a lot, but 84 minutes is a commitment. </p><p>So if you are not Mr. Beast, how do you engage your learner? How can you entice them to read, learn, and participate in your course. Several solutions were presented this week. And in case you were wondering Kristi, I did read all of them. Here are some of the suggestions that stood out to me. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Include a summary at the beginning of the article. See <a href="https://elearningindustry.com/audio-in-elearning-7-golden-rules-elearning-professionals" target="_blank">7 Golden Rules</a> for an example. This reminds me of abstracts in scholarly research. It gives the reader a compelling reason to continue reading, answering the WIIFM. </li><li>Organization is critical. That includes the placement of items on the page, their proximity to one another, and avoiding redundancies. </li><li>Chunk information. Add white spaces. Shorten paragraphs. Use bullet points or numbered lists for key pieces of content. These act as memory aides. </li><li>Substance vs. gloss. Shiny and pretty might be visually appealing for the reader, but if there is no substance, it can be very frustrating. For more information, check out this great <a href="https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/277278/understand-these-10-principles-of-good-design-before-you-start-your-next-elearning-project" target="_blank">article</a>. </li></ul><p></p><p>Course materials that appeal to both visual and verbal elements of learning will aide in engagement with the content and retention. This can be achieved by providing a variety of resources and types of materials. Better yet, by providing options, you are meeting UDL principles. </p><p><br /></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-12806628817112524302023-02-03T10:06:00.003-06:002023-02-03T10:06:14.954-06:00Redo or Start Over<p><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></span></i></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is easier? To redo someone’s existing work, or to start over. Sure it is nice to have something to start with. Someone else has done all of the work. All you have to do is tweak it and make it better. But that can also be painful. Sometimes I get stuck in their language. I can’t think of any other way to say it.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you start from scratch your voice is present throughout. The piece follows your stream of consciousness. The words, phrases, and information are your personal choices. Disadvantage here is that you might not know how to start, or what to say.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am struggling with the first assignment, trying to rewrite someone else’s copy. Last year was spent the same way. I rewrote an existing course and made it into something new. I also created a new course from scratch. In the end, both are good courses, but I am extremely proud of the one that I created on my own. This one also didn’t take as long to complete. Interesting. I should spend some time thinking about that.</span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-51514921047869279602023-02-03T10:04:00.005-06:002023-03-21T10:38:29.236-06:00Peer Reviewer 2 is the Worst<p><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" style="color: #ce220a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">URL</a></span></i></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rejection is a huge part of academic writing.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But let’s step back a bit and review how one would even get to this point. It starts with an idea. Perhaps it is a gap that your institution is trying to address. Perhaps you are investigating a solution for a problem that you can no longer ignore. You invest your time and energy into this project. You read literature. You experiment, interview, survey, explore. You pour your heart and soul into it. The project is huge, so you work with a team, over a period of six months to several years. You write up your research findings in the form of an academic journal article. You are filled with hope. You have produced something that people will want to read. It is important. You scour academic journals to find one that is appropriate to publish your piece in and then you hit submit. You are optimistic. If you make it past the first editorial review, your paper is then forwarded to a group of three peers who will complete a double blind peer review of the piece (i.e.: you don’t know who they are, they don’t know who you are). Your excitement begins to wane.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Peer review has three outcomes. The first and most rare result is that the article is accepted upon first review, with no changes. Second, tentatively accepted with minor/major changes. Or third, and the most likely scenario is that your article will be rejected. Regardless of the outcome, you will receive feedback.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every time that I have went through this process I have learned a great deal and my writing has been the better for it. If you are lucky, at least one of the reviewers will be thorough, making suggestions throughout the text. From minor grammatical errors, to word choice, to areas that require further explanation, are vague, or should be deleted all together. Then it is back to the drawing board. Your team will need to decide how to incorporate all of the “helpful suggestions” into the work. You are allowed to disagree, but you will need a compelling reason why. You submit it again and hope for the best. Maybe if you are lucky this time, the journal will run the piece. You now move to copyediting, which thankfully is a lot easier. When the final product is published, you often do not recognize it. You have this feeling of “did we write that, it is actually really good”. The editors and reviewers made it so.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But back to reviewer 2, the reviewer who is notorious for making unhelpful suggestions. Don’t believe me, Google it. Titles include “How bad is reviewer 2, really?”, “How not to be reviewer 2” and “How did the myth of reviewer 2 come to be”. For some reason they have earned themselves a horrible reputation, and it is not hard to find many author reflections on how terrible this reviewer is. In my experience, they give you nothing of value. No explanation why they think your piece is not suitable nor are there any suggestions for improvement. So ignore reviewer 2, and concentrate on the other feedback. Even better, cement this knowledge into your brain. Use it in the future. Writing is an iterate process. Learn as you go.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So why did I choose to focus on peer review in this blog post? Because the process recognizes the importance of editing. And what have I learned in module three? I am committing the ultimate writing sin. I am writing and editing at the same time. I am author, editor, and peer reviewer all in one. I am not spewing all of my ideas onto the page, and then returning later to edit. When did I realize that I was doing this? Paragraph three. At that point, I forced myself to just start typing, regardless of polish. Let’s repeat that – paragraph three, not several years ago, not at the beginning of this module, but paragraph three. Why? Well before this class, I honestly never thought about the process too much. It was just what I did.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now. I have the inevitable blank stare at the screen – what do I actually want to say?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wonder what comments reviewer 2 will have, if any?</span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-32780503666206398862023-02-03T09:58:00.007-06:002023-02-03T10:09:45.511-06:00Writing is Under Attack<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><i>Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, <a href="https://alwayssomething.edublogs.org/" target="_blank">URL</a></i></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What is it about human nature, that we immediately go to doom and gloom when faced with change. ChatGPT was introduced, and suddenly social media is flooded with posts about the end of the university essay; posts heralding that research papers are now obsolete; some even suggesting that education is antiquated. Writing is dead is the same argument that they tried to use when calculators were invented – no point in learning math any longer (I wish).</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps we fail to remember that overhauling post-secondary education has been on our agenda for a while now. That we have been slowly transitioning to authentic assessments in order to ensure that knowledge gleaned is actually applicable when our learners enter the work force. That independent thought has power, impact, and value. Despite not seeing a relevant reason for essay writing, the connection is evidence. Learning how to use evidence to frame our ideas, helps us to form compelling arguments. You may not write essays in your real life, but you do need to know how to be persuasive, how to make a point, how to debate, how to discuss, how to be logical and reasonable. All of these skills are learned through essay writing and research papers.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have also forgotten the humanist angle. There is only one person in the world that has had the same experiences as I have had, me. There is only one person in the world that has my perspective, my knowledge, and my opinions. All of that is meaningful. My contributions matter. Writing is a very powerful way to communicate thoughts, ideas, learning, opinions, and points of view.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So before you start the inevitable doom scroll, don’t forget that you have a voice.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.6em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Use it.</span></div>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-56493985413368606042023-02-03T09:54:00.002-06:002023-02-03T09:54:09.941-06:00Another great quote<p>Not specifically about academic integrity, although I think it definitely applies, here is a great quote: </p><h3 style="text-align: center;">I must do my own work, </h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">and live my own life, in my own way, </h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">because I'm responsible for both </h3><p style="text-align: right;">Rudyard Kipling from The Light that Failed, chapter 8, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2876/2876-h/2876-h.htm" target="_blank">URL</a></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-46024585789071496522022-10-24T16:52:00.001-06:002022-10-24T16:52:04.145-06:00That's a wrap!<p>Honestly, I was perplexed on how I would be continuing my learning journey. Would I simply return to the same old bad habits, or try and incorporate new techniques that I have learned along the way? That feeling lingered until I had an opportunity to review a poster that a friend was creating for an upcoming social event. I found that I immediately had many comments to make on how it could be improved (maybe she didn't want my help after all - ha!). From looking at the colour scheme, contrast, font choices and size, to the language used and the amount of text. I was able to use what I had learned in class to hopefully(!) help her out and make the poster more appealing. After all, like everything nowadays, you need to entice your readers to delve a little bit deeper, your viewer to hold their attention a little bit longer, in hopes of engaging the audience to interact with the materials. It is a rare occurrence to be able to immediately put all your new found skills into practice, and it was certainly a marvel to realize how much I did indeed learn over the past 7 weeks.</p><p>The things that stand out for me are:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The group project. I had such a fantastic team to work with. It was a rewarding experience, and helped to set the tone for the rest of the class. Although I might suggest that you consider moving it back one week. Two people in our group didn't even join the class until we were already done our project, and we all felt a bit sad that we missed the opportunity to work with them.</li><li>The hang outs. Online learning can be very isolating without any live interactions. These hang outs added a lot to the class. My classmates were very engaged with the topics and contributed to a rich and vibrant conversation.</li><li>The section on graphic design. I think I gravitate to visual elements, so this section was particularly interesting to me. </li></ol><div>Next steps:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Register for the Writing for Engagement course in the winter term. Then finish up the certificate program as soon as possible thereafter.</li><li>Continue to learn about engaging my learners through a variety of modes and mediums.</li></ol></div><p></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-7982506322097795722022-10-21T13:20:00.003-06:002022-10-21T13:20:22.271-06:00Creating an ePortfolio<p>Well that was a learning experience! The last time that I had to create an ePortfolio was when I was completing my MLIS at Wayne State University in 2012. That ePortfolio was part of a larger assignment that was teaching us about html coding and ftp. </p><p>This time around, I thought I would use it as an opportunity to learn more about the functionality that was recently made available to faculty, staff, and students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Learning objects can be added as they are completed from any course page + you can reflect on the item. You can also add any item to your ePortfolio that is not associated with the Brightspace course. Adding items was easy, although tagging was not necessarily intuitive and took me a couple of tries to figure out what I was supposed to do. </p><p>From there, I endeavoured to make the ePortfolio publicly available. A lot more trial and error here, until I finally gave up and asked for help. Then I didn't fully read the instructions, so a bit more frustration ensued. Ultimately, users need to create a presentation of their ePortfolio which can then be shared. Within the presentation, you can organize and add pages. On the pages you can add content. You can also create a theme for the ePortfolio, which essentially turns it into a resume type item. </p><p>I am glad that I had a chance to experiment with this functionality, as it will be a part of our LIFT program, and as such, it will be important for me to know what we are asking of our learners. </p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-3641277983087445192022-10-19T13:37:00.008-06:002022-10-20T12:25:12.797-06:00The Importance of Academic Integrity<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">"Today I am going to give you two examinations, one in trigonometry and one in honesty. I hope you will pass them both, but if you must fail one, let it be trigonometry, for there are many good [people] in this world today who cannot pass an examination in trigonometry, but there are no good [people] in the world who cannot pass an examination in honesty".</span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Madison Sarratt (1891-1978), dean, Vanderbilt University. </span></span><a href="https://studentorg.vanderbilt.edu/honorcouncil/honor-quotes/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Source</a>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-75464236096062584822022-10-19T13:35:00.002-06:002022-10-19T13:35:04.853-06:00Great quote from Alvin Toffler<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhgnFANlN6A11_5w6CAJFhTe-ZA9YcO6hdqAXVI_mdRGG3QX9g_RBJo4Yan4b2ox0RX6HbWjQghYsXx9u82119hA-kUdCWhNZqwArC-l5Qye7GCyMVKOscztgKRUX_Fw_ARonpQo_XEk53X-eYFQZT9nIV-4aBVITdxw1v0kbfMZnoNVvu1eHrn0V/s904/main-qimg-9621ba30f3385b01664b15cb5a90ef38.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="602" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihhgnFANlN6A11_5w6CAJFhTe-ZA9YcO6hdqAXVI_mdRGG3QX9g_RBJo4Yan4b2ox0RX6HbWjQghYsXx9u82119hA-kUdCWhNZqwArC-l5Qye7GCyMVKOscztgKRUX_Fw_ARonpQo_XEk53X-eYFQZT9nIV-4aBVITdxw1v0kbfMZnoNVvu1eHrn0V/w331-h497/main-qimg-9621ba30f3385b01664b15cb5a90ef38.webp" width="331" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-53178561083208295762022-10-19T12:33:00.004-06:002022-10-21T13:10:53.050-06:00The Power of Storytelling<p>I attended the hang out on October 20 which featured a special discussion on storytelling. My key takeaways from this session were the importance of conducting research in advance in order to add authenticity to your story, and power to your words. </p><p>This book was recommended by the presenter - <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/story-design-the-creative-way/9781775055907-item.html" target="_blank">Story Design</a>: The Creative Way to Innovate by Denise Withers </p><p>If we think about it from the big picture, storytelling could involve looking for patterns in data and then deciphering what the patterns tell us. </p><p>From a learning and teaching perspectives, we may consider what behaviours we are trying to change and how would a story fit into that narrative.</p><p>Finally consider how to craft a story, and what its structure would be. </p><p>BTW - I did purchase a book that was recommended in a previous class, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/Books/product/1419747959-item.html?s_campaign=email:TRG%7Est%7E2022_indigo-or004-order-confirmation-v2.0_na%7Ena" target="_blank">The Science of Storytelling</a>. I am really looking forward to reading it. </p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-80059517544875265112022-10-12T16:58:00.003-06:002022-10-20T12:31:57.363-06:00PPT for the win!<p>I love when you think you know everything there is to know about something and you walk away with several things that you learned. </p><p>This happened to me while I was watching a video for class on elements of graphic design. The three items that were new to me are: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Use the eyedropper option under the home menu, theme colours. You can use this option to match colours that you find on the web. This is an ideal for covering items that you do not want such as logos on an image. This option will allow you to match to the background as well.</li><li>Layers - arrange layers instead of bring to the front, etc. as this option is more precise</li><li>Use https://accessibleweb.com/color-contrast-checker/ to check colour contrast</li></ul><p></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-70843406009358742362022-10-12T11:56:00.001-06:002022-10-12T11:56:18.483-06:00Elevator Pitch - Presentation Redesign<p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Project: NIO Microteaching Exemplar Session</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">We offer a new instructor orientation 3 times a year. The facilitators in my department are responsible for 5 sessions of the 3-day program. The learning outcome for the program is 'explain the components of a lesson plan'. The sessions that we cover include icebreakers, elements of a lesson plan & creating a learning outcome, microteaching exemplar, engaging learners and providing feedback. I have taught the orientation twice this past year, and felt that the exemplar session was not as successful as it could be.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">The session that I have redesigned is an exemplar on microteaching. Microteaching is the main assignment for the orientation. Each participant is tasked with providing a 15-minute lesson using all components of a lesson plan, but in particular, an active learning technique. When we have offered this session before, participants were confused on what was our lesson, and what was an example of the microteaching session. Watching the learner's microteaching sessions in August, it occurred to me that it would be lovely to highlight a past learner's work in future iterations of NIO. The choice of program would also make it easier to distinguish the content from the example. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">The redesign has a past student come into the classroom and deliver the 15-minute microteaching session, and then the class dissects the lesson. We tried it like this, just last week, and learner feedback was very positive. Learners identified the elements of the lesson plan, and were also less intimidated to create their own session.</span> </span></span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-33862484674602605682022-10-09T13:23:00.002-06:002022-10-09T13:23:45.126-06:00Week 5 Discussion Posts<p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Q1. After adding to our group page on tools and resources, which one did you try out? How was it?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">I am a huge fan of Canva. I use it to make PPT presentations, images on the postcard templates and Twitter posts. I am lucky enough to have the premium version of this software, so I access to all of the good stuff. This is probably the tool that I use the most in my work. I like that I can collaborate with people in my organization. The files are easy to add to Brightspace. I think the templates are interesting and engaging. It is also a very versatile software, so you can easily upload your own stuff if they do not have what you are looking for. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">QR code monkey is useful for including digital resources on a print format, such as a poster. </span><a class="c-link" data-remove-tab-index="true" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/" delay="150" href="https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank">https://www.qrcode-monkey.com/</a><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">. Pro tip - always doublecheck that your QR code works.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">I use </span><a class="c-link" data-remove-tab-index="true" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="https://niram.org/read/" delay="150" href="https://niram.org/read/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; text-decoration-line: none;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank">https://niram.org/read/</a><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> to calculate the reading time of websites, journal articles and other text based items. I add this information for my learners before linking to an article in Brightspace.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Finally, I use Camtasia for video editing. I have been using this software since 2010 and think it is the most intuitive video editing software there is. It is easy to use, and have a huge list of functionality and features that make it worth every penny.</span><span aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-191" class="c-message__edited_label" data-sk="tooltip_parent" delay="300" dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(var(--sk_foreground_high_solid,134,134,134),1); cursor: default; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; white-space: nowrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Q2. Though there are no formal discussion questions this week, the floor is yours. What do you want to talk about? What questions do you have based on this week's topics/themes?</span></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are so many great tools out there, but I would add that all of this is useless unless you make a concerted effort to apply the Universal Design for Learning principles and make the items accessible. For example, captioning video, adding transcripts, and supplying alternative formats (i.e.: PDF and a Word file). UDL moves your items from decorative to functional. </span></span></b></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-57196138567678131662022-10-09T12:00:00.006-06:002022-10-09T13:53:43.282-06:00Reflection on Week 5<p>If you are interested in the basic principles of graphic design, you will enjoy this video. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YqQx75OPRa0" width="320" youtube-src-id="YqQx75OPRa0"></iframe></div><br />The video reviews the concepts of space, line, colour, texture, and placement or layout. It also goes over the positions of power, or the four points in any image that the eye automatically scans. <p></p><p>Week 5 also discussed the use of Canva templates. I use Canva all the time. I add PPT presentations and images to my online courses. One thing that I have gotten into the habit of doing is adding the transcript below the item, as well as adding descriptive alt text. I truly believe that learning experience design is useless if it is not accessible to everyone. Applying the UDL principles is vital to any and all learning objects. </p><p>During the week, I reflected on the design decisions that I made in online courses. For example, whenever possible, I set up links to open in a new browser window. For me, this makes it easier for the learner, as they can easily return to the content from the course without losing their place. They can also leave the tabs open if they want to refer to that content later. I also centre all of the videos the page. Perhaps because this helps draw the learners eye to this important content as does not fall in line with the rest of the text. I insert a Canva image to break up text, I include alt text, and add an accordion fold with the text transcript below the image. Finally for consistency, I try to highlight content in a similar fashion throughout the course. Pink aside boxes for readings, grey framed box for instructions and teal aside boxes for reflections. I hope that by doing that, the learners know what will be expected of them just by the visual clues on the page. </p><p>Week 5 also spoke about the use of stock images in a course. I use Unsplash for images that have a Creative Commons licence. Copyright is an important consideration here, so make sure that you use images that do not require attribution, or reference them correctly. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KxDwieKpawg" width="320" youtube-src-id="KxDwieKpawg"></iframe></div><br />I also really enjoyed this video. Especially what he had to say about telling a different story, one without songs, a peaceful village, a love story or a villain. He asks us to tell a different story, while making sure that the audience invested in the arc of the main character, whether or not they like them. How can you make your audience care? <p></p><p>Finally, we covered the importance of video editing. I use Camtasia to edit my videos and then Kaltura to publish them. I add captions and try to add chapters. I think it is important to not just share the recording from your class, but record a condensed version of the lecture with the sole purpose of creating the reference copy. That way viewers of your video do not need to skip through class discussions and things that are not relevant to them when they are viewing it asynchronously. </p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-54347187626871904432022-10-07T14:03:00.004-06:002022-10-07T14:04:03.523-06:00Who is responsible for academic integrity?<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Originally published in the Learning and Teaching weekly newsletter (internal publication) at Saskatchewan Polytechnic</i><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Like so many things, the answer is everyone. Although
learners are obviously responsible for integrity in the materials that they
submit, along with the assessments that they complete, faculty can support
learners by discussing (early and often) the values of integrity and honesty.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to model integrity in everything
that we do. Here are some examples:</p>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Using evidence from
external sources to complement or support your course materials.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Textbooks<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Journal articles<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blogs, newsletters,
newspapers, and magazines<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Video content<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Information from
vendors or trade associations/organizations<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Codes of conduct from
professional organizations or governing bodies<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reputable online
information<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Adding references on all
learning materials <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Provides reference
examples </span></li></ul></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are interested in discussing academic integrity, join
our group of likeminded individuals. The Academic Integrity Community of
Practice (CoP) is predominately a discussion; everyone is given time to speak
and share. The goal of a CoP is to generate ideas and collaborate with
colleagues to find solutions to issues in their teaching or work. This CoP will
focus on academic integrity issues. We'll highlight collaborative ways to find
proactive and equitable solutions and offer support for faculty and staff who
are seeking assistance to empower their learners and aid in their academic
success at Sask Polytech. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This CoP is led by two ILDC Facilitators, Tasha Maddison
(Saskatoon Campus) and Selinda England (Moose Jaw Campus). This CoP will be
delivered virtually on the second Tuesday of every month from 3-4 p.m. All are
welcome. Click here to <a href="https://saskpolytech.sharepoint.com/sites/LandT/_layouts/15/Event.aspx?ListGuid=b1c64f36-6b0c-47a7-8b97-62f0a04cfee9&ItemId=415" target="_blank">register</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At our next CoP, we will be focusing on faculty
responsibility. As you start to think about your responsibilities, ponder this
quote "Former Vanderbilt Dean of Students Madison Sarratt (1888-1978) once
said “Today I am going to give you two examinations, one in trigonometry and
one in honesty. I hope you will pass them both, but if you must fail one, let
it be trigonometry, for there are many good men in this world who cannot pass
an examination in trigonometry, but there are no good men in the world who
cannot pass an examination in honesty” (Patel, 2016, para. 1). This is such a
powerful statement on the roles of integrity, honesty and trust, play in post-secondary institutions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Reference</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Patel, A. (2016, April 15). <i>Honesty - The Vanderbilt
community</i>. Vanderbilt University. <a href="https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2016/04/honesty-the-vanderbilt-community-creed/#:~:text=I%20hope%20you%20will%20pass,pass%20an%20examination%20in%20honesty.%E2%80%9D">https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2016/04/honesty-the-vanderbilt-community-creed/#:~:text=I%20hope%20you%20will%20pass,pass%20an%20examination%20in%20honesty.%E2%80%9D</a><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-42782758616893208272022-10-07T12:38:00.005-06:002022-10-20T11:50:05.699-06:00Ed Tech<p>I have been thinking a lot about week 5, which focused on graphic design elements and education technology tools. This is a topic that I am very passionate about as it is ripe with potential inequities. The digital divide was exacerbated during COVID when all learners were forced to rely on digital technology to access every component of their courses. Some learners faced incredible barriers due to these technology requirements. Space and sharing amongst households was also an issue for many. In my house, if a video game was being played in one room, it seriously effected my Zoom meeting in another. </p><p>The other aspect of ed tech that I would like to note here is that as educators we need to be aware of what we are asking our learners to do. Are we going to use this tool throughout the semester, or only one time? Did we review the terms of use, and understand how our learners information is going to be used and stored? Is it supported by our institution? Are there privacy concerns?</p><p>Couple of examples here:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My institution has a specific list of software that they support for operational or educational use. We are welcome to use other tools, but are essentially on our own if we need assistance. Fair enough! As a member of a support department, I try to model best practice and choose, whenever possible, tools that are supported by my institution.</li><li>I try to be mindful of not choosing a tool, just for the sake of having a tool in my class. I start with the outcome, the content and then choose a tool if appropriate or necessary.</li><li>I am concerned about privacy and storage of data, and as such have decided against the use of certain tools. </li></ul><div>Recently, I was responsible for adapting an existing course on ed tech. The main assignment for the course asks learners to analyse a software choice from the perspectives of functionality, ease-of-use, support, equity, safety, and ethics. I believe it is good task for instructors as it forces them to think about the consequences of their choice of software. </div><p></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-31663850922962040622022-10-03T18:54:00.002-06:002022-10-03T18:54:18.510-06:00Week Four Discussion Posts<p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q1) What’s the one thing that stood out to you from this week? One key idea? Strategy? Something that either validates what you are already doing, or has transformed the way you are approaching your learning experiences.</span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Storytelling as an active learning technique is so powerful because "your brain remembers pictures first. It then remembers the emotional context, and finally, it remembers language" (Stevenson, 2016, para. 4). There is a connection between the emotion, the image and then the language. This connection equates to the learner being able to successfully recall the key premise of the story or presentation. </span></span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am fascinated by the components of recall and memory in effective learning experience. How storytelling can improve memory because of the emotional connection to the information that is being shared, is an important concept for instructors to remember.</span></span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Storytelling is an excellent way to incorporate Indigenous Ways of Knowing into your curriculum. </span></span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q2) This course has a bit of a bias towards the digital side of experience design. But what about the physical world? What about the “Offline” space? How do we begin to reimagine this environment? Have you seen any good examples or strategies for transforming the classroom?</span></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think it is very important to transform our physical spaces so that they meet Universal Design for Learning principles, such as aisle space, accessibility and movement around the space. This is a difficult question to answer though, as my mind immediately goes to the work that we have been doing to incorporate technology into our classrooms. </span></span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And perhaps we also need to ponder, are we ever truly offline anymore?</span></span></b></b></p><p><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q3) Have you ever encountered a learning experience where storytelling made all the difference? Share your story.</span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I recently attended an Office of the Treaty Commissioner session on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. The presenter was an incredible speaker and shared her personal story of residential schools. The images and information that she shared will haunt me for a long time. She kept repeating "can you even imagine" - such a simple and powerful statement. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is important work and I was incredibly grateful to be a part of the session.</span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reference</span></span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Stevenson, D. (2016, July 26). <i>Storytelling and brain science: This is your brain on story</i> [Blog post]. </span><a class="c-link" data-remove-tab-index="true" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-stringify-link="https://www.td.org/insights/storytelling-and-brain-science-this-is-your-brain-on-story" delay="150" href="https://www.td.org/insights/storytelling-and-brain-science-this-is-your-brain-on-story" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-line: none;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank">https://www.td.org/insights/storytelling-and-brain-science-this-is-your-brain-on-story</a></span></span></span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-25578878930442639722022-10-03T08:14:00.002-06:002022-10-03T19:01:05.730-06:00Reflection on Neuroscience <p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;">As I was making my way through the materials for week four, a couple of points stood out. I have captured them here for future reference or review.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;">Alvin Toffler, in his book</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;"> </span><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2e333a; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Rethinking the Future </i><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2e333a; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">states that "t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;">he illiterate of the 21</span><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2e333a; line-height: 0; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2e333a;">century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn" (para. 20).</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #2e333a; font-family: inherit;">Gottfredson, C., & Mosher, B. (2012, June 18). <i>Are you meeting all five moments of learning need?</i> [Blog post]. https://learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/949/are-you-meeting-all-five-moments-of-learning-need</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #2e333a; font-family: inherit;">This resource focuses on effective learning strategies to retain and recall information. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #2e333a; font-family: inherit;">Weinstein, Y., Smith, M., & Caviglioli. (n.d.). <i>Six strategies for effective learning</i> [Blog post]. The Learning Scientists. https://www.learningscientists.org/downloadable-materials/ [CC BY NC ND] </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #2e333a;">The reason why storytelling is so powerful is that "y</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #313133;">our brain remembers pictures first. It then remembers the emotional context, and finally, it remembers language" (para. 4). There is a connection between the emotion, the image and then the language, or the point of the story or presentation. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #313133; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Stevenson, D. (2016, July 26). <i>Storytelling and brain science: This is your brain on story</i> [Blog post]. </span>https://www.td.org/insights/storytelling-and-brain-science-this-is-your-brain-on-story</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="color: #2e333a;"><br /></span></span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-69312482290810985792022-09-25T15:46:00.005-06:002022-10-05T20:18:26.666-06:00Reflection on Learning<p>Apparently there is no such thing as learning preferences. But for argument sake, let's say there were. I have definitely discovered that I find audio to be very challenging. This is interesting to me because I am a huge fan of audiobooks. I rarely read a real book. I listen to books before going to bed, when I can't sleep in the middle of the night, on the road, and while I am cross stitching. </p><p>Audio in a course, without the accompanying PPT slides that tell me what information to focus on is proving difficult. Perhaps, I am an old school learner, where I want to know exactly what the expert thinks I should know. Perhaps, I am from the generation, that wrote down every word on the slide and then just regurgitated it on the exam. What did I retain, probably not much. </p><p>Perhaps I need to reflect on my reliance on PPT.</p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995872672543046431.post-62865697773037666012022-09-25T15:36:00.010-06:002022-10-03T18:54:33.210-06:00Week Three Discussion Posts<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Q1</b><span face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">. This is the..uh.. third question I ask every client when kicking off a project: "What does success look like for you?" Often times, it's the same ol' "We want them to like it" or "People took the training" (whatever the hell that means), but every once in a while I'll get an honest answer. It's an incredibly simple and deceptive question when you really try to answer it honestly.</span><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> Look deep into your own environment's experience design and ask yourself: What does success look like? What does success look like for your (various) stakeholders? How will you know this learning intervention succeeded?</b></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Success looks different for each project and is completely dependent on its purpose. In the past year, I have been responsible for creating two online modules that will be mandatory for all new permanent full-time faculty. Here success would be engagement, motivation, and the ability for the learner's to apply what they have learned. In other words, have they achieved the learning outcome? The online modules include a number of assessments, discussions and a final project; the module is pass/fail based on the completion of all of these items. There is a final evaluation of the course as well.</span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">I also am responsible for producing one-off professional development sessions. Success would be attendance. Were people interested enough in the topic/description to attend the session. Then I would question whether the material was valuable, applicable and useful? We do send out evaluations here as well, which ask for feedback on the session, along with ideas for further offerings. </span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Q2 a) What's a data point that you currently work with and what can it tell you (and not tell you) about your learners or the experience you have designed?</b></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;">This is an interesting question, as I am not directly involved with any data points. All of this work happens behind the scenes by an administrator and I am not responsible for the creation of the surveys nor what happens with the information that the data gives us. </span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;">I believe we measure attendance, engagement in Zoom session (whole session, half session, etc.), and then the evaluation survey (rating out of 5, comments, key takeaway, going further [learn more about this topic]).</span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Q2 b) What's a data point that you would like to collect (assuming unlimited resources/permissions) and what could it tell you about your learners or the experience you have designed?</b></b></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;">It would be very interesting to do an environmental scan of polytechnics in Canada and then compare those results to our institution. What are we doing well? What are the areas that we could improve upon.</span></span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;"><b data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Q3. This week, we took a look at the LX Canvas. Between Plaut's model, the CUBI model and the LX Canvas, which one do you prefer and why?</b> </span></span></span></p><p><span data-stringify-type="bold" face="Slack-Lato, Slack-Fractions, appleLogo, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #1d1c1d; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span data-stringify-type="bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit;">LX Canvas is intuitive, user-friendly and can be immediately applied to my work. It is set up much the same as the lesson plan template that we use at my institution. It poses the important questions that need to be pondered in order to create a thoughtful, organized, and meaningful learning experience. </span></span></span></p>Tasha Maddisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119942307947857010noreply@blogger.com0