Mun workshop-nov-1-2011

Dr. Michael Power Faculty of Education

Laval University

Enabling Faculty to Integrate Technology into their Teaching:

A Case Study-based Workshop

*

1) Briefing: a) opening remarks on supporting faculty with technology integration and b) presentation of the three case studies: 15-20 minutes 2) Case studies – the group divides up into two or three teams of 5-8 participants and each is assigned a specific case study: 30-40 minutes 3) Plenary - we come back into the plenary session and the reporter summarizes the challenge the team faced and presents his/her team results which will be followed by open discussion: 30 minutes 4) Break - 20 minutes 5) Debriefing: an open-ended discussion about IDs, support staff and faculty. Results from interviews with seasoned senior IDs about (a) working with time constraints, (b) understanding fears about technology and helping faculty overcome them, and (c) developing faculty-friendly technological tools and techniques. Also, research currently underway at Laval University and among networked collaborators and potential research & development activities: 90 minutes.

WORKSHOP PLAN (Two 90-minute sessions)

www.ulaval.ca

16-01-07

Power, 2009

Athabasca

University

Press

www.ulaval.ca

WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK

I couldn’t find a book on an actual Instructional Designer

experience

That said, I did enjoy Anne-Marie Armstrong’s (2004) Instructional Design in the Real World: A View from the Trenches.

www.ulaval.ca

•101thingsilearned.com

101thingsilearned.com

Reflexive practitioner

www.ulaval.ca

Money-back guarantee (for free upload)

nbgazette.com

www.ulaval.ca

A word on open access publishing •Peter Suber.

http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm

16-01-07

•What is remarkable about the open access (OA) movement is that despite having no formal structure, no official organization, and no appointed leader, it has (in the teeth of opposition from incumbent publishers) triggered a radical transformation in a publishing system that had changed little in 350 years.

http://www.infotoday.com/it/jul11/Suber-Leader-of-a-Leaderless-Revolution.shtml

www.ulaval.ca

16-01-07

•http://s3.amazonaws.com/hypertextopia/public/uploads/2044/PittedBrickWall_g.jpg

Things I have learned

powerlineman.com

companionsoftware.com


www.ulaval.ca

needs means


funnyanimalpictures.net

www.ulaval.ca

T E A C H I N G

R E S E A R C H

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

Faculty always have something else they’d rather be doing…

Zazzle.com

Zazzle.com

shops.godaddy.com

cafepress.com

store.theonion.com

thestayspun.com

than designing course material!

Online Learning: what should be proposed to Faculty

airborne

WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE

COURSE REDESIGN through integrating technology


airborne

Safety margin




airborne

Safety margin

Minor obstacle



TECHNOLOGY LEARNING

CURVE


airborne

Safety margin

Off-ramp



Minor obstacle

TECHNOLOGY LEARNING

CURVE

Online Learning: what is being proposed to Faculty WHAT FACULTY PERCEIVE


Perceived as a major obstacle (and not as a facilitating agent)



Perceived as a major obstacle (and not as a facilitating agent)


mobileshop.com

Online Learning: what is being proposed to Faculty

airborne

Major obstacle

WHAT FACULTY PERCEIVE

If, however, they rise above it…

Online Learning: what is being proposed to Faculty

airborne

Major obstacle

Clear flying

WHAT FACULTY PERCEIVE

Many faculty do not want to spend their days (and nights) at a keyboard.

How did I get involved

in this?

2

eng.1september.ru

www.ulaval.ca

Under the gun, literally…

16-01-07 Last.fm

www.ulaval.ca

Case 2 Power, 2009

I need some sort of tool with which I can better guide SMEs through the design model…(40)

•gamespot.com

www.ulaval.ca

the whole course AT ONE GLANCE…

mintha.com

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT RAPID ID

IF faculty involvement/engagement is iffy (i.e. they may forego (re)designing their course),

•Gain their trust (ID is a people thing!);

•Provide SMEs with the level of support they need/specifically request;

•Focus on trouble-shooting first (that is what is foremost on their minds); then move on to other critical areas;

•Focus on activities. i.e. what they want their learners to

actually DO, not just hear or see.

www.ulaval.ca

16-01-07

Case 3

Power, 2009

•http://jkneilson.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/looking down on earth.jpg

•It was a matter of coming back down to Earth

www.ulaval.ca

Janovy (2003), Lessons from Cedar Point

•Lacking time, faculty availability, technical support, and so on, I have been frantically searching for a solution,…(…)… I needed to focus on design essentials, nothing more. I see that learning activities are the key… which brings to mind what Janovy (2003) said in Lessons from Cedar Point: “course design consists primarily of the activities you ask your students to perform” (p. 67). That was it. The penny had dropped.

Canada.com

www.ulaval.ca

Another great Individual activity called

thereviewcrew.com

Kiss the lobster

www.ulaval.ca

A team activity?

examiner.com

Try bouncing balls and boas

www.ulaval.ca

…and alternate between individual activities

dailymail.co.uk

news.nationalgeographic.com

and team activities

www.ulaval.ca

An activities-based model THREE kinds of activities:

individual activities,

team activities

group activities

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT ACTIVITIES

•THEY SHOULD BE ENJOYABLE;

•THEY SHOULD BE SKILLS-BASED;

•THEY SHOULD BE TIERED TO BE OPTIMAL (INDIVIDUAL – TEAM-GROUP, each tier is the basis for the next).

www.ulaval.ca

TIERED activities Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

Getting off to a GREAT start…

•She viewed the design process as an additional obstacle in her already very busy schedule. She told me she wanted to “get it over with as quickly as possible.” (I got an inkling of what it must feel like to be a dentist…).

makethelist.net

www.ulaval.ca

Finding the right balance in learner support

•… finding the right balance comes up frequently in instructional design. On the one hand, most professors want to offer a quality, structured course to students as well as provide them with a high level of learner support ….

•On the other hand, they are usually overwhelmed with research- or service-related tasks and responsibilities.

ouradoptionjourney-hegland.blogspot.com

www.ulaval.ca

Finding the right balance in learner support

Providing learner support

OTHER COMMITMENTS

ouradoptionjourney-hegland.blogspot.com

www.ulaval.ca

The discussion forum

…unless forums are organized according to set themes (threads), debates can become chaotic and unbeneficial to students.

www.ulaval.ca

Questions-Comments (Students) Sharing (Students) Ideas Sharing (Students) Social Weekly Assignments (1-15) Week 2: Individual Assignments Week 2: Team Assignments Week 2: Discussion Only

The Discussion Forum: Organisation

Bulletin Board (Professor)

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT LEARNER SUPPORT

• IT HAS TO BE DESIGNED TO BE SUSTAINABLE (TEACHERS OR TRAINERS CAN MAINTAIN THE PRESCRIBED LEVEL);

• IT HAS TO BE A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN LEARNER EXPECTATIONS AND TEACHER/TRAINER LIMITS

• IT HAS TO BE FLEXIBLE

AND ADAPTED TO NEEDS

(AS IN …THE SQUEAKY WHEEL

GETS THE GREASE)

askville.amazon.com mychinaconnection.com

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT LEARNER SUPPORT

• IT HAS TO BE DESIGNED TO BE SUSTAINABLE (TEACHERS OR TRAINERS CAN MAINTAIN THE PRESCRIBED LEVEL);

• IT HAS TO BE A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN LEARNER EXPECTATIONS AND TEACHER/TRAINER LIMITS

• IT HAS TO BE FLEXIBLE

AND ADAPTED TO NEEDS

(AS IN …THE SQUEAKY WHEEL

GETS THE GREASE)

askville.amazon.com mychinaconnection.com

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

theadrenalines.com

Getting from A to B

www.ulaval.ca

Breaking the mould

greenmanpress.com

www.ulaval.ca

The mould

•A typical course syllabus Title, description,

Contact information

Course information (content)

Course objectives

Course calendar & assignments

Bibliography

Sections generally unlinked

x x x x

www.ulaval.ca

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THIS CASE

•The results of this (the HCS) started to show during in-class discussions and debates. The discussions were more enriching as we would relate ideas to the texts and go into them a lot deeper. ...(…)

•The HCS made it (my course) so much more systematic.”

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

fotolia.com

Although he was an experienced professor (…), he had never developed a course in conjunction with an ID... From the very beginning …, the professor expressed misgivings and was decidedly cautious …

www.ulaval.ca

WE ARGUED A LOT… ABOUT WHAT COMES FIRST

inetgiant.in inetgiant.in

Architect Foreman

Design necessarily precedes production, does it not? The architect must first do his work before the construction foreman comes on the scene.

life.com army.forces.gc.ca

www.ulaval.ca

WE ARGUED A LOT… ABOUT WHAT COMES FIRST

inetgiant.in inetgiant.in

Architect Foreman

Strategy necessarily precedes tactics, does it not? The general must first do his work before the commanding officier comes on the scene.

Strategist

life.com

Tactician

army.forces.gc.ca

About positioning a course

earthobserver.org

About positioning a course

…the actual position of individual courses tends to shift around. I think of the analysis phase in the design process as I do the functioning of a GPS: it is used to determine a course's objective position and relative position within a given program at a given time.

www.ulaval.ca

About the university teaching tradition…

“…the withering interrogation followed by the exaltation of getting it right or the shame of publicly going down in flames, only to arise again from one’s own ashes during the next class”.

iStockphoto.com

About where the black holes are

•In my experience, every course has “black holes”. …these are areas which generally do not receive the attention they deserve. Students stumble and fall,… few didactic resources... I consider these areas a top priority…


•In my experience, every course has “black holes”. …these are areas which generally do not receive the attention they deserve. Students stumble and fall,… few didactic resources... I consider these areas a top priority…

•indiareport.com


•In my experience, every course has “black holes”. …these are areas which generally do not receive the attention they deserve. Students stumble and fall,… few didactic resources... I consider these areas a top priority… here

•indiareport.com

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT WE LEARNED about knowledge acquisition

•Socio-constructivists claim that knowledge acquisition must go through the crucial stage of negotiated meaning. Knowledge does not exist in and by itself, but only the mental representation that one makes of it.

wisestartupblog.com

I just want it.

I just want it so he can’t have it.

www.ulaval.ca

WHAT WE LEARNED about course delivery

•From the dawn of time, teaching/training has mainly been an oral tradition;

•People learn from people, not machines (Finkelstein, 2005);

•Academics are more likely to adapt technology that enhances what they are ALREADY DOING (Jaffee, 1998);

•Course delivery that aligns structure and dialogue (Moore, 2003), cogent presentation and spontaneity will dominate.

www.ulaval.ca

From the dawn of time, teaching/training has mainly been an oral tradition

montrealradioguy.wordpress.com

I actually am a good listener.

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

Working in teams

…all of his exercises up until now were destined for individual students, … he had never thought of having them work in teams. I told him about the socio-constructivist approach in education, about the importance of working in teams, and he agreed to think about whether he might be able to develop some team assignments.

•According to Lee and Allen (2001), working in pairs is very effective in improving the quality of student learning… even more effective than working in teams.

•profy.com

www.ulaval.ca

In-class

Discussion of weekly team

activities

Focus on

Team

work

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

What WE learned: learning by teaching

…in the better teams, the work was undoubtedly done together and the stronger members learned the most because they had to explain the subject to the others.

Everyone knows something.

Get everyone involved.

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

Design & Intellectual property: open OR shut case?

Some faculty members maintain that what they write belongs entirely to them…

Others concede that their university may own a right to part of it ...

Still others… contend that university professors are paid to produce knowledge and that they receive all the support they require from their institutions to write and produce texts and thus disseminate their knowledge. Asking for further payment could denote a lack of professional ethics.

www.ulaval.ca

Intellectual property: …MINE!

reformationreport.com From Fnding Nemo

www.ulaval.ca

NEW TOOLS FOR NEGOTIATION OF MEANING

I presented the synchronous virtual classroom to him...

I insisted on the fact that this environment would allow him to continue implementing his own pedagogy, thanks to the two-way communication software. (…) I emphasized that this software, besides enabling two-way audio communication, split-screen viewing, Web safari, application-sharing, etc. was really not a lecture platform, but rather one for fostering problem-solving through dialogue.

The VIRTUAL classroom

Quebec

Boston

New York

Montreal

Toronto

Lima

Bermuda

even Cape Breton

Augmented webinar

The VIRTUAL classroom

Quebec

Boston

New York

Montreal

Toronto

Lima

Bermuda

even Cape Breton

Augmented webinar

•…during the weekly online, real-time plenary sessions, your students have their say. You get a chance to listen to them report on what they have learned that week… (…). The synchronous platform gives them an opportunity to talk to you about what they have seen and understood. It is best implemented as a feedback tool.

www.ulaval.ca

What WE learned

•What I liked best was the instructional method, the way of representing the subject matter and the data, and the way of simplifying it... Incidentally, I used the method in my other courses. It is really interesting and useful. The results I’m getting are better. … the courses I’ve designed with you are much better built and much more planned out intellectually.

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

design is one part science,

The art of details!

campusaccess.com

www.ulaval.ca

design is one part science,

The art of details!

campusaccess.com

lace.lacefairy.com

one part art

www.ulaval.ca

What we learned

“I found it very enjoyable, not only the design, but the entire process which allowed me to reflect on my course. I found the process long, but it helped me in organizing my course differently. I was constantly reflecting on why I do this and why I do that. We sometimes take things for granted. After a while, we even stop asking ourselves questions anymore”.

www.ulaval.ca

What we learned

“Previously, in class, I would spontaneously raise questions. I had never written these questions down. With this approach, my students have to prepare themselves in advance. … But old habits are hard to break and I find time is being wasted since students only prepare themselves to take notes, rather than prepare themselves to discuss the material.”

www.ulaval.ca

Power, 2009

www.ulaval.ca

thetrapofsolidgold.blogspot.com

www.ulaval.ca

thetrapofsolidgold.blogspot.com comicsmakenosense.blogspot.com

•http://www.stormeffects.com/images/70503%20ElsmereWmillMamma.jpg

There was trouble brewing…

Instructional design seems to disrupt a lot of their (professors) thinking about teaching because the process generates a lot of questions and creates uncertainty in areas where certitude once reigned supreme.

www.ulaval.ca

Integrating technology

Generally unfamiliar with computers, even less so with software, she was not aware of any software that would apply to her course. So we did an online search, … In no time at all, we found inexpensive software (…) that would enable students to practice certain skills as often as they liked.

Then she was afraid she’d lose her job… but more on this tomorrow!

www.ulaval.ca

Conclusion

16-01-07

Questions Commentary

Critique

•& other forms of abuse

Then, let’s workshop!

www.ulaval.ca

16-01-07

Interviews with Senior IDs

Dr. Michael Power Associate Professor Department of Studies on Teaching & Learning Laval University Quebec City , CANADA

Interview with Claude Potvin, senior ID-TLC, Université Laval

Enabling and empowering faculty in the use and integration of technology in teaching

www.ulaval.ca

A few questions…

• Here are three issues our Teaching and Learning Center staff are dealing with (nothing really original but I'd like your take on them)...

1. Managing faculty (professors) time constraints 2. Overcoming their fear of technology 3. Making sure the tools developed (by University Teaching & Learning Center staff) respond to faculty needs - or- how to get faculty to use the tools we have.

90

www.ulaval.ca

First question

• 1. Managing faculty (professors) time constraints?

91

These questions could be answered differently, depending on the context in which they are asked. So CONTEXT is everything and my answers should be understood within the context in which I am working (major university, centralized support team, senior ID, …)

www.ulaval.ca

First question

1. Managing faculty (professors) time constraints?

92

The role of the ID first has to be understood, by all. In some cases, SMEs are suspicious, on the defensive.

Time contraints, something we all have to live with, for instance in Med School and Dentistry. So we have to simplify the design steps, although there are limits that have to be respected if we want the project to succeed. Thus a basic commitment has to be respected. You have to be realistic though about what your faculty is capable of producing.

The importance of the first meeting: harmonizing our views. Creating synergy from the get-go.

www.ulaval.ca

First question


93

You have to use a very simple plan, a straight-forward approach to course design. Clear-cut steps, and lots of examples from their peers (greater credibility when it comes from a peer!)

Focus on redesign. In most cases, you simply don’t have time to start from scratch; maybe use LOs, maybe re-use existing materials, like PPTs, course notes. Reformate, harmonize, improve.

www.ulaval.ca

First question


94

Anecdote: a huge history project… everything was gong well, huge material build-up but it all fell apart when the team were unable to get access to copyright-protected IP.

Use Rapid Design shortcuts, perhaps a virtual classroom recording software for instantaneous, on-the-fly podcasts

Think Blended learning-based activities, rather than aiming at developing high-quality, stand-alone asynchronously-delivered materials.

www.ulaval.ca 95

2. Overcoming their fear of technology

Is it fear or prejudice? Just a lack of knowledge?

Build up a showcase of technological integration. Find opportunities to demonstrate the usefulness of technologies

Integrating technology is often a ‘hard sell’…the learning curve is often feared. Unless we can convince the SME that it will save him/her time and make his /her workload lighter, we cannot succeed. Peer-support, faculty-to-faculty exchanges are important because they are credible. Examples of successful technological integration carried out by peers is usually a winning strategy.

www.ulaval.ca 96


Fear is often expressed otherwise; SMEs rarely admit to fear… it manifests itself in this way “I need to see my students, I want them there in front of me”…so on.

Some are afraid of looking foolish in front of their techno-wizard students. Feeling

Also, “I don’t trust technology…”, it never works the way I want it to work. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Other Faculty fear criticism or reprisals from their colleagues. (i.e. what they are doing becomes the new standard for all faculty, expected by students; thereby adding to their already considerable workload).

www.ulaval.ca


97

Some Faculty don’t want to invest much time in integrating technology because they figure that, at the rate technologies change, they’ll have to turn around and redo their learning materials all over again.

Then , some Faculty will never integrate technology, no interest, no perceived need; one way to help them along is to demonstrate the usefulness of technology in their research, which is usually their main priority.

www.ulaval.ca

• 3. Making sure the tools developed (by University Teaching & Learning Center staff) respond to faculty needs - or- how to get faculty to use the tools we have?

98

Third question

We have to be careful about “faculty-friendly technologies, software and tools”. Some are so friendly, you can’t do anything with them!

Take for instance concept-mapping. Very useful in may fields but there is a learning curve involved.

So we mustn’t give faculty the idea that everything will be easy, can be done overnight and will not require any of the time!

www.ulaval.ca


99

Third question

Continually link the learning objective to the choice of technology. All use of technology has to be objectives-driven. Not the other way around.

Some IDs are more technology-skilled than skilled in pedagogy and we also have the reverse. We need IDs who master both fields.

www.ulaval.ca


100

Third question

Getting back to the original question… what are we trying to achieve? Do we develop a tool and then say “I wonder what can we do with this?” Is it a means looking for an end? Is that what we want?

Focus on needs and on results achieved through various case studies (which means we have to document our work…)

Dr. Michael Power Associate Professor Department of Studies on Teaching & Learning Laval University Quebec City , CANADA

Interview with Michel-Frédérick Gagnon, Faculty of Social Sciences,

Université Laval

Enabling and empowering faculty in the use and integration of technology in teaching

www.ulaval.ca

1st question Managing faculty (professors) time constraints?

102

A. Support your faculty members B. Put together a ‘lean design & development team’ including a dedicated graduate student. He or she will be the go-between the Fac member and the Team. C. The choice of the right grad student is crucial, making all the diff between success and failure. D. The ID is the driving force behind the project, he or she has to propulse it forward, step-by-systematic-step.

www.ulaval.ca


103

E. Insure that your SME is under as little pressure as possible, use the grad student to the maximum to produce materials, which are then revised by SME. F. Make sure the roles are clear: the ID is there to assist, to counsel (FR: Conseiller pédagogique) The SME makes the calls on content. The intersection between them is PEDAGOGY. That is where the ID and SME have to ‘connect’.

pedagogy Technology expertise

Content expertise

SME

ID

www.ulaval.ca


104

G. Importance of setting clear and realistic deadlines. H. Development of learning activities, ‘not too time-consoming…’ a bit of a time-pit… Try this strategy: first produce and then perfect…

I. Getting back to the role of the ID: s/he keeps the train on the tracks so to speak; needs great project management skills; keep close contact with the grad student; provide technological solutions developed by the team as the project advances but technological solutions that are firmly based on pedagogical considerations.

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2. Overcoming their fear of technology? A. Starting out with the right attitude is crucial.

If this is your SME’s first experience co-designing a course or working with an educational technology team, s/he will feel vulnerable, even unprofessional, outside his/her comfort zone. So work hard to establish a bond of trust. A no-threat, no- judgement ethos. Confidence must reign.

B. The ID has to focus on pedagogy and on pedagogical considerations. THAT is what links the SME and the ID. Technology is then added gradually, heuristically, naturally, as a facilitating agent. Like stealth technology…

www.ulaval.ca 106

3. Making sure the tools developed (by University Teaching & Learning Center staff) respond to faculty needs - or- how to get faculty to use the tools we have? Is this the right question to be asking, the most probing? Should we not be asking

Should we not be asking, are the tools we’ve developed actually responding to real and important faculty needs? Yes or no or to what degree?

www.ulaval.ca 107

3. Making sure the tools developed (by University Teaching & Learning Center staff) respond to faculty needs - or- how to get faculty to use the tools we have?

Taking baby steps… no magic formula. First walk, then run. And run with champions; build up success stories. Champions are not necessarily early adopters (they often just do their own thing). Go with the eager, the bold, the confident and the hungry!

Make sure you can provide them with the level of support they need.

PATIENCE, PATIENCE AND SOME MORE PATIENCE. Build on small successes. end