Christine Horgan

Hello:

I hope my question isn't too much off topic--I do think it's related. One of the trends I'm noticing in faculty development is self-directed, on-line PD....it's very much grass roots, very much informal. The PD is acknowledged, but there's not formal organization or additional support from Faculty Development. I may be answering my own question here, but it seems to me that a PD collaboratory is part of formal faculty development....it's happening in some places, so what is it about those institutions that encourages faculty to venture into the arena of non-traditional PD ?

Thanks, Chris

(Edited by Sylvia Currie Split from the welcome thread to make a new discussion topic - original submission Thursday, 21 August 2008, 03:14 PM)

Nancy:

Unless I'm dreaming, you mentioned gathering our responses into a Wiki and it now being ready for editing. Assuming I'm not dreaming, I can't find that information. Could you please resend it.

thanks, Chris

Nancy:

I did post an introduction earlier today (at least I thought I had), but I see it's not popped up yet.

I'm a Curriculum Co-ordinator in a large service department in a 2-year technical colleage (SAIT Polytechnic) in Calgary (Alberta, Canada). My work involves a lot of project management and a lot of coaching around curriculum "stuff." In terms of making curriculum projects manageable for new SMEs, I'm always looking for resources--including job aids and quick learning pieces. Our SMEs tend to be folks who are carrying a fairly full teaching load in addition to taking on curriculum projects. There's some curriculum-specific PD available--not much yet, and much of it new for the first time this year....but not everyone has the time to attend F2F training and so I'm always on the look-out for on-line training that'll help SMEs rethink curriculum development (from F2F classroom delivery to online delivery/development).

Nancy, your opening remarks included a number of questions--which I answer briefly in this response.

But.....what I really would like to know is a lot more about the vision your institution has for a PD collaboratory. I assume we're talking more than the posting of print articles....and so I wondered how the collaboratory/respository would be organized, what sort of content you expect to host, how you are planning to market this resource internally, and how you are going to address the "WIIFM" (what's in it for me?) issue.

  How do you find out about  PD opportunities?  SAIT has excellent in-house PD. I take as much as I can. It's advertized on our online Public Notices board.I also receive information from organizations such as the Hewlett Foundation and EduCause and the Conference Board of Canada. If I identify a gap in my learning, I often go looking for courses to fill it...and that sometimes means taking courses at a competitor's instititon...which offers a great opportunity to see how others organize courses.

What encourages you to visit online PD websites?  Mostly, I'm interested in seeing what others are doing. I have two guiding principles: work smarter not harder (borrowed, but I don't recall the source) and Don't reinvent the wheel, just paint it another colour. With those to guiding principles in mind, what encourages me to look at websites is that I can get ideas from others and reflect on them later. Also, chatting to colleagues in other institutions helps me benchmark where my department is in terms of curriculum design and development.

What are the components of exemplary online professional development sites?  Quick information that is easily accessible. There are so many demands on my day (like everyone else, of course), and so I don't want to be wandering around busy websites on the off chance I'll find something useful. I want the information to be obvious, and I want it to be a quick read. I'm now at the point where, rather than reading online, I'd like to see video. If something interests me, I'll go back and do the reading later. In many ways, I'd like to see on-line PD material follow a similar model to credit courses.I find that most websites (home pages) are way too busy, and I find that I am now backing out of them becasue I don't have the patience to try to find what I want.

What is missing and needed?   I'm not sure that there is anything missing. I've only recently started supporting my own PD needs through online resources. it's a new venture for me. My learning style supports F2F learning (and so conferences and in-class courses work really well for me) and reading (but I'm of the generation that prefers a book and a highlighter pen when I read).

What aspects of online PD websites encourage you to return to the PD website and share your contributions? For me, at present, the encouragement is the commitment I've made to myself to participate in online PD. I can't recommend online PD to my collegues if I haven't tried it myself.

I look forward to an interesting discussion. Cheers, Chris

Nancy:

As my intention was to mostly lurk in this seminar, I'm right on target, but that doesn't help move the conversation forward.

I don't have the textbook and may not have it until well after the seminar ends, so I'm at a distinct disadvantage. There seem to be several others like me.

are there a half dozen activities from the book that someone with the book can offer the group and we can discuss those activities. If there's something simple and "do-able" beyond powerpoint (with or without voice over), video clips, e-whiteboards, and colour for text....I'm interesting in hearing about it.

many thanks, Chris Horgan

Thanks, Jim:

I never cease to be amazed at how far my institution and its instructors have come in some 10 years. Many (probably most) of our courses are supported by some sort of on-line materials (blended). There's still learning happening around how we best make use of on-line resources in a F2F classroom. We now have a large number of fully online coursee (asynchronous delivery).

Many instructors are subject matter experts/instructors first and computer geeks a distant second, so we are very fortunate that we have  fabulous support in our teaching/learning centre--it makes blended/distance teaching "do-able" for many.

As a Curriculum Co-ordinator (and former teacher) I wear many hats from coach to project manager to co-developer and many things in between. Like many of my colleagues, I'm an "expert" in my area but I'm not a computer expert. I figure I need to know options and have others help me create those options.

With the preamble done, let me try and capture what I'm struggling with.

We use WebCT: there are pros and cons...it's what we use. Our courses are already quite rich, but I often question if we are addressing the "WIIFM" (what's in it for me?) for our students--in other words what will they get out of a blended or distance course that they won't get in a traditional F2F course?

 The "cookie cutter" aspect of course design/development is that we now have standard features in our courses (which is important) but I think there's an opportunity to be lulled into thinking "that's it."

Our courses  have 

• standard resources (tutorials on netiquette, course outline, instructor contact information, general "housekeeping" content, for example) and links to common resources (library, tutorials, learning support);
• we have examples (often annotated--mouse over and/or voice over);
• we have links to eBooks in our institution's ebrary;
• we use threaded discussions; we use whiteboard lessons with voice over and videos;
• when we are given permission to use third-party materials (tutorials, videos, examples, etc), we incorporate them;
• we use on-line quizzes/exams;
• we use some on-line "lesson" material (not a lot) supported by textbooks.
• In some areas of our institution, we have tech-savvy instructors using iPods--but this resource is very much in its infancy for us, and so I can't address the quality of the "lessons."

What I'd like to know is what else could I recommend to my SMEs?--what other "things" that are  simple and easy and will excite a non-tech-savvy SME? Something that makes sense, something they'll recognize as being an e-form of their F2F delivery, something that isn't overwhelming (and this last piece is really important).

Jim, I'd really like to know more about your archiving system and Wimba.

Thanks, Chris