Week 2 of the 20% experiment

This week has given me the time required to start following the 20% rule in the SALC as well as in my class. I’ve really started renewing my focus on giving students the skills they need to become autonomous learners. If you think about it, if I successfully do my job at a certain point the veteran students will no longer need me but will be able to identify their own learning goals and find the materials necessary to achieve those goals.  My time would then primarily be spent creating resources and interacting with students who are new to the process of self-access.

Following that idea, the first workshop I’m going to offer this session will focus on the hows and whys of blogging (both video and written). I will be teaching the students how to set up a blog and why it is beneficial to their learning. I think many of them automatically assume that their teachers are responsible for telling them how they are doing (mostly via grades).  This workshop will stress how they can monitor their own progress over time and decide for themselves whether they are making adequate progress.

I have a few classes that plan to attend the workshop, so I’m excited to see their reactions.

As far as class goes, the open syllabus model is working brilliantly – the students are very focused on the learning outcomes and attendance has really never been higher. I am very pleased with the way this experiment is moving forward.

 

The first few days

Three days into the 20% innovation challenge and it is going excellently in class, but not as well outside of class. I am really struggling to find the time to innovate each day outside of the classroom.

In the classroom I am probably hitting 50% or more innovation, including the prep time. I would love to think that this somehow averages across my day, but it doesn’t really. I suppose technically I am still spending 20% of my overall time innovating, but it is all getting stuck in one area.I have yet to be able to spend much time on SALC development.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that week two of the session will be a bit more calm….

 

The 20% Innovation Challenge

I am challenging myself to live by what I am calling “The Google Rule” for at least the next session (eight weeks). I think I’m also going to turn this experiment into a TESOL proposal.

Essentially, the Google Rule boils down to devoting 20% of my time at work to innovation.  This presents a challenge on several fronts. Here is where I see my own personal challenges being likely to develop:

1) I estimate that I probably spend about 5% or less of my time innovating as things currently stand. This is due mostly to administrative responsibilities and teachers “paperwork” – things that I absolutely cannot put off, avoid or delay. Challenge number one is most decidedly going to be finding the time for that additional 15%. I will likely work more as a result, but I’m hoping to also discover ways to work smarter.

2) Developing new ideas takes a level of concentration that I don’t normally get the luxury of having. It will be a challenge to really set aside a block of uninterrupted time to focus on these new ideas. Assuming I work an 8-10 hour day, that is anywhere from 1.5 – 2 hours a day.

3) I think the EASIEST place to innovate is going to be the classroom. This session I plan to use an open curriculum model in which the students drive the course. I think this will automatically create a 20% innovation model for me as I adapt to their wants/needs and create new projects to accommodate that. The more difficult place to innovate will certainly be the SALC, particularly considering the issues mentioned above.

Part of increasing to 20% innovation will be taking the time to reflect here on the blog. This is something that has been all to easy to ignore in the past – despite the fact that I send myself weekly reminders to update, it’s a task that can always go to the back burner. We’ll see what happens when I send it to the front.

Wish me luck!

 

Open Education – SALC feature on QR codes

Word spread around campus regarding the way we at the SALC were trying to use QR codes to enhance reading (mostly thanks to Nadia Redman!) and Mathieu Plourde, who works on Sakai and runs an open education blog here at UD, came over to talk to me and make a video. While I universally detest being recording and watching myself on video (doesn’t everyone?), the video does accurately highlight the way we are using QR codes and linking them back to our on-site resources. Thanks Mathieu for covering the QR code story!

Open Education Blog

The Flipped SALC?

I’ve been reading quite a bit recently about the idea of a flipped classroom – delivering content via video lessons that students watch at home and using class time for asking questions, working through problems, etc.

It got me thinking about the way we currently deliver the SALC orientation. We offer orientation in a video format, followed by a Q&A session. This should be similar to the idea of the flipped classroom, but I feel as though this could be taken even further.

Extend the orientation video? Create an “interactive” orientation experience (watch the video and complete a series of questions/online activities to ensure comprehension)?

Upon reflection, I believe that I will try creating an interactive orientation for next session. First, it means students can come for orientation at any time and we would be able to get them started at a computer as soon as they come. Second, we can have a final “score” pop of with their answers to the questions – 100% correct could garner a prize. The more I think about it, the more I think this idea has legs!

 

QR Codes

In what could be considered either a flash of genius or a lightning bolt of insanity, I decided that the SALC needed a QR code:

Why? I’m not sure what sparked this idea. I had seen QR codes around for quite awhile now…perhaps it was the recent purchase of an iPhone that made me more aware of the codes or perhaps it was the desire for something new and interesting, but this was the result.

Honestly, making the QR code was quite simple. I found a free online service that generated the QR code after simply inputting the URL of the website I wanted the code to point to (which, in this case, was the SALC website).

I then simply printed out a bunch of paper copies of the code and hung them up around our buildings with enigmatic statements like “Scan me!” I’m hoping it increases our web traffic and perhaps gets more students to the website – students who aren’t yet using it as a resource.

The digital age of teaching: You don’t need to be a digital expert (via Oxford University Press – English Language Teaching Global Blog @OUPELTGlobal)

Great perspective – we don’t have to be experts, we just have to communicate the desire to learn.

Shaun Wilden, a freelance teacher trainer and materials writer for OUP, gives us an insight into the role of the teacher in the digital age, as well as a reminder that you don't need to know everything! Twenty-first century teaching is no longer about the four walls of the classroom. There was a time when a learner of English had to rely almost solely on what went on within those walls. A really … Read More

via Oxford University Press – English Language Teaching Global Blog @OUPELTGlobal