Tuesday
Mar262002
232 - Blended Learning from an Airport Phone; Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus?
March 26, 2002
#232 - - - March 26, 2002 - - - 43,201 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Business of Learning Conference - April
1. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone?
2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus?
3. Some Water at The MASIE Center
1. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone? Last Wednesday, I was
teaching a Blended Learning event from an Phoenix airport telephone at
7:00 AM. I struck me how much I've altered my teaching and consulting
style, as I was training while standing a few feet from my gate:
- One of our e-Learning CONSORTIUM members, Michelin, asked if I would
conduct a briefing on trends in learning for their senior team on that
day.
- Checked my calendar and saw that I was not only in another city, but
that I was going to be boarding the plane for a 5 five hour flight to New
York, just as their meeting was to get underway.
- The answer was a Blended Model! First, an email went to the
participants and asked them to generate a list of issues that they would
like me to address.
- Based on these answers, I videotaped a 30 minute dialogue, in my
studio, responding to their questions and concerns.
- They started their meeting by viewing this tape, followed by a going
into breakout groups and surfacing additional clarifying questions for me.
- As soon as I cleared security, I called their meeting room and we have
a 35 minute back and forth Q and A from these distilled issues.
- Following my chat, they proceeded into other discussions, and are
forwarding a list of follow-up questions, which I will respond to in a
streamed video in the coming days.
- Result was a multi-method, multi-event Blended Learning experience. It
was simple and low-cost to produce and was totally flexible to both of our
calendars. And it worked!
2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus? Recently, several faculty
gathered to talk about their experience in using e-Learning on-campus. A
number of faculty are starting to substitute one or more of weekly
sessions of their on-campus courses, with asynchronous learning and
projects. On first glance, it didn't make sense to me. Why would a
student take an on-line class from your dorm room or library, other than
perhaps to add flexibility? Aren't we giving up interaction?
But, these early adopters reported other reasons and outcomes that are
changing how some institutions are viewing the role of e-Learning:
- Greater student engagement! A number of faculty reported that they are
getting more participation from more students, due to the requirement of
engagement on-line. They even see this changing students' behavior in the
classroom based segments, as the culture of participation is not limited
to the few that raise their hands.
- Greater team work! By building team projects, often requiring
in-person or Instant Messenger collaboration, the on-line portions can be
used to increase dramatically the level and accountability of student to
student learning. The faculty are better able to monitor the progress and
process of team work.
- Changes to the classroom! Mirroring what some corporate groups are
doing, a few faculty reported that their in-class roles are changing,
moving away from lectures and presentations, which can be streamed to the
learners on-line. The class becomes more of a resource, dialogue and
deeply interactive place.
- Cross Campus Engagement! A couple of faculty are building larger
collaborations with their colleagues teaching parallel classes on other
campuses, beginning to thread and mix resources to bring more expertise
and diversity to the classroom.
3. Some Water at The MASIE Center! We had a flood here at our new
building in Saratoga Springs this weekend. The sprinklers went off
without warning or cause and water gushed throughout the place. Good news
is that all people, servers, furniture and core records are safe. Bad
news is that we have a lot of new painting, carpeting and wall repair
ahead of us in the next 90 days. Our staff are at work, up and running,
we are hosting several small groups here in our Studio and life goes on
and it will look brand new in just a short while. The bad news is that we
are going to cancel our Skills Labs at the Center for a short while, to
give us a chance to get everything back to normal. If anyone remembers
the Bill Cosby comedy record about Noah... "Is that water? RIGHT!"
Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
- Business of Learning & e-Learning: Washington, DC - April 8 & 9 - Info
and Registration at http://www.masie.com
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Business of Learning Conference - April
1. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone?
2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus?
3. Some Water at The MASIE Center
1. Blended Learning from an Airport Phone? Last Wednesday, I was
teaching a Blended Learning event from an Phoenix airport telephone at
7:00 AM. I struck me how much I've altered my teaching and consulting
style, as I was training while standing a few feet from my gate:
- One of our e-Learning CONSORTIUM members, Michelin, asked if I would
conduct a briefing on trends in learning for their senior team on that
day.
- Checked my calendar and saw that I was not only in another city, but
that I was going to be boarding the plane for a 5 five hour flight to New
York, just as their meeting was to get underway.
- The answer was a Blended Model! First, an email went to the
participants and asked them to generate a list of issues that they would
like me to address.
- Based on these answers, I videotaped a 30 minute dialogue, in my
studio, responding to their questions and concerns.
- They started their meeting by viewing this tape, followed by a going
into breakout groups and surfacing additional clarifying questions for me.
- As soon as I cleared security, I called their meeting room and we have
a 35 minute back and forth Q and A from these distilled issues.
- Following my chat, they proceeded into other discussions, and are
forwarding a list of follow-up questions, which I will respond to in a
streamed video in the coming days.
- Result was a multi-method, multi-event Blended Learning experience. It
was simple and low-cost to produce and was totally flexible to both of our
calendars. And it worked!
2. Why Take an On-Line Class on Campus? Recently, several faculty
gathered to talk about their experience in using e-Learning on-campus. A
number of faculty are starting to substitute one or more of weekly
sessions of their on-campus courses, with asynchronous learning and
projects. On first glance, it didn't make sense to me. Why would a
student take an on-line class from your dorm room or library, other than
perhaps to add flexibility? Aren't we giving up interaction?
But, these early adopters reported other reasons and outcomes that are
changing how some institutions are viewing the role of e-Learning:
- Greater student engagement! A number of faculty reported that they are
getting more participation from more students, due to the requirement of
engagement on-line. They even see this changing students' behavior in the
classroom based segments, as the culture of participation is not limited
to the few that raise their hands.
- Greater team work! By building team projects, often requiring
in-person or Instant Messenger collaboration, the on-line portions can be
used to increase dramatically the level and accountability of student to
student learning. The faculty are better able to monitor the progress and
process of team work.
- Changes to the classroom! Mirroring what some corporate groups are
doing, a few faculty reported that their in-class roles are changing,
moving away from lectures and presentations, which can be streamed to the
learners on-line. The class becomes more of a resource, dialogue and
deeply interactive place.
- Cross Campus Engagement! A couple of faculty are building larger
collaborations with their colleagues teaching parallel classes on other
campuses, beginning to thread and mix resources to bring more expertise
and diversity to the classroom.
3. Some Water at The MASIE Center! We had a flood here at our new
building in Saratoga Springs this weekend. The sprinklers went off
without warning or cause and water gushed throughout the place. Good news
is that all people, servers, furniture and core records are safe. Bad
news is that we have a lot of new painting, carpeting and wall repair
ahead of us in the next 90 days. Our staff are at work, up and running,
we are hosting several small groups here in our Studio and life goes on
and it will look brand new in just a short while. The bad news is that we
are going to cancel our Skills Labs at the Center for a short while, to
give us a chance to get everything back to normal. If anyone remembers
the Bill Cosby comedy record about Noah... "Is that water? RIGHT!"
Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
- Business of Learning & e-Learning: Washington, DC - April 8 & 9 - Info
and Registration at http://www.masie.com
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