R/D 9 Reflection on Online Course (so far so good)

I have to say that so far so good is probably an understatement.  Employment for the not so 20's generation  has taken on quite a new look in the last ten to twenty years.  Employers and Employee don't necessarily stay together for thirty years anymore. 
Having the ability to take this course online provides a flexibility that makes it possible for me to continue with my education that would not be possible if I had to dedicate campus time for all of the classes. It allows me to juggle my schedule between three part-time jobs and family life.  Next week I will be completely out of town so I was able to go online and complete all of my classwork ahead of time and not even miss a beat. 
I have enjoyed the challenges of surfing and investigating technologies that I have heard about and said "Oh, I should try that " but alas have not.  Now I can say " Oh yes, I've tried that" and have first hand knowledge as to whether in my never to be humble opinion it was great or not.  
The first few lessons were challenging. RSS Feeds, and del.icio.us gave me the biggest fits.  In working through the issues that I had with these downloads  and uploads I learned a lot that I was able to transfer to some of the other lessons that made them virtually (pun intended) painless.  .
The frustration level has been quite high at some points mostly because my attitude was that whatever it was I was doing should not be that hard, yet it just wasn't working.  The collaboration between our classmates has definitely been the saving grace in those moments of highest frustration, even though I had to wait for a response. The waiting gives me time to reflect on what I have tried and what I have not tried. 
I will definitely incorporate some of what we have learned in my professional work.  I plan on starting a new blog to keep in touch with my Aviation Summer Camp students to let them know what is happening in the area that is related to aviation and share some of my adventures with them. We will also be using the Google my maps next year in Aviaiton Summer Camp as an enhancement to our navigation curriculum.
This seems to be a good first course for the Educational Technology program but it is hard to evaluate if it is a good first course because it is my first course and I have nothing to compare it to.  I like the textbook. The history of  Instructional Technology is definitely a good place to start.  It also introduces many organizational systems and it is always good to have a sound organizational system in place before you start a project of any sort. 
I leave you now for a week as we fly out to Oshkosh Airventure 2010 in our Cessna 172.  We will be camping under the wing of the aircraft for the week. I will also be attending Teacher day at Airventure. The program relates aviation and science to high school curriculum. My daughter will be attending a program called WomenSoar. It is a program just for girls grades9-12. Check it out on the world wide web http://www.airventure.org/ .
The picture at the top of my blog is our campsite from years past. Below is a You tube video :EAA Promo
Enjoy, I know I will.


Blueskies and Sunshine
Ginger

R/D8 Trends and Issues In Various Settings Should it be all or nothing?

There were definitely two issues/ trends that stood out for me. (1)The need to continue the trend to incorporated flexibility in education. (2) The need to somehow come to terms with the need to go big or go home.
(1) I spent three years in a inner-city (all be it not a very big city) federally funded program designed to increase the educational levels of 14-21 year old youth. My duties were separated into two main categories.  One program was designed for high school age youth who for some reason had failed a subject in school.  Our program allowed these students to recover credits through online classes. I was the instructor/facilitator/mentor for this program.  Most of the students who came to me were not just failing a class but many classes. Sometimes they were failing all of their classes. I taught everything from Algebra to Zoology. My students were not just left at the computer but each had an individualized program and each received individual instruction and tutor on a daily basis.  It was by no means a traditional setting. It was a computer lab with 20 computers and after the first six months was full of 20 students almost everyday after the regular school day  and we had a waiting list.  In those three years over 125 students not only passed there course work but also graduated  with a High School diploma. 
The second portion of my job description was to evaluate and teach basic math and reading skills to 16-21 year old youth.  I dubbed this crowd my "too cool for school crowd".  They earned this title because they were all high school drop-outs who had decided for whatever reason that they did not need to finish high school and would be fine without it. It didn't take them long to discover that even the job at Taco Bell required the ability to pass a basic math test. This was an ability they did not have. Who is cool now? I know it is not you. 
This situation came to mind while reading about the Chugach School District in Anchorage, Alaska.  With the statement that they had 214 students ages preschool to age 21 spread out over 22,000 square miles, I knew some measures other than traditional lecture based classroom instruction would have to occur if they truly planned on educating those 214 students. They also were facing a harsh environment like the inner city students both environmentally and socially.   In order to truly educate everyone which is the goal of our country we will have to have a flexible, ever changing ,ever reevaluating systems.
(2)  I really liked the whole concept of Ecological Systemic Change versus the piecemeal approach.  What came to mind is that using the piece meal approach is like putting a bandaid on a mortal wound with hopes that it will stop the bleeding.  Everyone who is watching knows that the bandaid will not help to save the persons  life but still  they stand by and smile, cheer and offer words of encouragement anyway.  Way to go dude you can do it ! Just stand still so the bandaid doesn't fall off and everything will be just great!  (or not) 
So the Ecological systemic approach sounds like a much better approach.  I agree that it is but (you knew that was coming) when I got to the end of the chapter it was emphasized how expensive the approach is. The need for long term financial commitment is a key to the long term success in the approach.  This was a great let down because I thought I had a good thing going and now I learn that I must now learn how to convince a major contributor to fund a lifelong endeavour. If you want excellence you do have to go big or go home. Excellence never comes with a cheap price tag whether that is in time invested or money.  I have found it has always been worth the investment.

R/D7 Instructional Design and Technology How Have I Seen It In Action

I recently was rehired as a paid CPR/First Aid Instructor with the American Red Cross.  I was a paid instructor a few years ago, changed jobs and became a volunteer instructor at the Red Cross. To make a long story short I have been a instructor for the past 7 years. Initially our instruction was completely instructor to student classroom style which is to say lecture based followed by practical instruction using the CPR mannikin's named Rescua Ann and Resuca Andy.  Personally I was never able to tell them apart.
The Red Cross employs a panel of experts who evaluate the efficiencies and effectiveness not only of the instruction material being presented but of the method of preforming CPR  it's self.  This panel is composed of Doctors, Nurses, Professional educators, business men, and lay personnel from the community who are instructors.  In the past seven years I have seen significant changes in the procedures we use to train lay people in CPR. 
One of the most significant changes is in the change from two person CPR to one person CPR.  The Red Cross does not even teach two person CPR any longer. If you have taken CPR in the past you will remember the old two person team CPR method.  The reason for this change is that once CPR has been started you are usually committing to performing CPR until emergency medical services arrives.  Logic tells us that if we have to preform CPR for even a short time we will get very tired.  If two people know CPR they can perform CPR much longer  if one person performs CPR while the other one rest and they trade back and forth until help arrives.  This change came about because of  evaluations done through the professional team of experts.
Another example of Instructional Design and Technology at work is in the addition of technology to the instructional process.  Instead of being lecture bases CPR classes have moved into the Audio Visual age through the use of first video tapes and VCR  and now DVDs and DVD Players.  Instruction can also be a hybrid of Internet bases instruction and testing followed up by a short practical session with an instructor. 
Offering a variety of learning options has allowed the Red Cross to increase its' reach into even more remote locations. It also allows the instructors to remain up to date and able to benefit from a larger pool of knowledge than just that of their home chapter.

GOOGLE My Maps Lesson

In Aviation Summer Camp we have one day where we focus quite a bit on navigation.  I could have every student log on to a computer and test out many of the features on Google Maps. 
The first thing we could do is just a short tutorial for anyone who has never used Google Maps before. Some of the key features that would be of great advantage to us as pilots would be the ability to map our course ahead of time.  We could use the My Maps section for this.
The my map would not be good solely to navigate by since it is a street map and not a topographical chart.  What it would be excellent for is in forming our flight path and then using the satellite or even better the street view to be able to see the actual landing strip before we ever had to land there.  We could also look at  the terrain and any possible obstacles that could be a hazard to air navigation. 
Another feature is the ability to insert into  the map  latitude and longitude marker. This could then be compared with the navigation charts to pin point the airstrip or airport locations.  We could also identify landmarks from the my map that may not be on the airnav charts such as a restaurant that we may want to eat at or a hotel to stay in.
This would be a useful tool that I hope the students could use in many different situations. Click on the map as it is interactive.
See example below.

View Aviation Summer Camp Air Tour in a larger map

Try the different views to see if you can find the best approach for the airports.  Happy teaching and flying.

R/D6 Can HPI change the face of my workplace?

Question:   What are some ways the ideas/concepts/principles discussed in this chapter be applied in your professional work.  Do you see opportunities where these ideas could help you or your students?

Response:   At this present time I do not believe that HPI could be of help in my professional work.  At one of my places of employment I am my only employee. The other people who assist me in the program all volunteer and there are only about five of them.  At my other place of employment I am second in command and we have three other employees. It seems likely that it would be cost prohibitive to have HPI do a total analysis of our work force at either position.
I do however think that as business grows, it would be a great benefit to start out with a plan in place before the companies get to large.   I have heard said that it is easier to do it right the first time than to do it wrong and have to do it again. Two times is not better than one. 
How I do think HPI can and has helped me is in promoting themselves through this textbook Trends And Issues In Instructional Design And Technology.  While reading the text it brought to mind all of the different improvement plans that I have gone through in the last thirty years.
My first introduction to human improvement programs was in the 70's and 80's in the United States Air Force. Some programs were good and some were obviously designed for civilian application and did not fit the military environment. One section has us take a personal stress level profile test.  A well adjusted stable persons test scores should have been around the 300-350 range.  We all scored in the 500's which basically meant we should have been committed to a psychiatric institution immediately. ( do not pass go , do not collect two hundred dollars). The instructor was quite upset.  A few of the questions they used to judge our mental stability by were (1) How many times have you moved in the last five years. (2) Do you have a well defined line between you home life and your job. Well if you know anything about the military you get why the questions were not appropriate. 
What I did get from this chapter is to always be evaluating the evaluating process.  It came through loud and clear that there is no one magic solution to any companies human improvement issues.  This is what sets HPI apart form some of the "Snake Doctor Medicine Show Cure Alls" I have attended in the past.
I have mentioned in a previous article the KAIZEN events through the aerospace company that I previously worked for and how our motto among the employees was " He who KAIZENS last wins." It's not to say there were not many valuable points to the program, there were.  It was just as they say "not all that".
I enjoyed very much reminiscing while learning more about the HPI system. Thank you for the good time and the new information.