Month: September 2017

LRNT 523 Activity 6
Implications of Abundant Content for Lifelong Learning
Steve Minten and Katie Brown

What we Investigated:
We decided to investigate how to start an Asparagus farm and how to grow Asparagus in general.

What we found:
We found a variety of different digital environments and sources surrounding our topic including:
* A variety of gardening blogs and videos
* Suggestions on further topics to explore (cost of Asparagus farming, best fertilizers, number of plants required etc)
* Various opinions from hobby farmers to professional horticulturists
* Blogs with reviews and added tips
* Government websites on starting an asparagus farm (California’s was very thorough)

Confidence in the abundant content around our topic enabling us to learn about it:
For a topic that neither of us had ever explored before and not the most popular of concepts, my assumption going into this would be that it might be tough to find adequate information. Wow were we wrong! Abundance seems like an understatement even for a topic this unique.
Weller (2011), discusses connectivism and how it enables learning through the diversity of options. So with that, we felt confident that given the abundance of content through many options like user-generated content, professional horticulturists’ websites, and passionate gardening bloggers, we were able to navigate through the information and genuinely learn more about it.
Weller (2011) also notes that before the internet, the relationship between the relatively few experts in a given field (the supply) and that the learner wanting to know (the demand) was skewed in the fact that there was much more demand than supply. With the advent of the internet the relatively few experts on asparagus farming were easily located.

With one of our team members (Steve) living on a 7 acre parcel of land outside Sarnia, ON …he is now intrigued to start an asparagus farm!

Was abundant content enough:

Abundant content in this case was enough to confidently learn how to farm asparagus. There was an abundance of information on the subject and presented in a variety of mediums (written, images, videos…). The most helpful content was the recommendations from other farmers and gardeners who have tried it before. The connections made by others helped create a path as we mined through the resources required (Anderson, 2016).
In general however we feel that abundant content may not be enough to ensure that proper learning occurs. Some sort of facilitation, perhaps through a constructivist learning environment (Anderson, 2016, p. 38) will ensure that participants learn.

What do you need to make use of the content:

To ensure we were well equipped to make use of the abundant content, we clarified what it exactly was that we were wanting to learn and how to articulate through web searches. The online resources that we trust and use frequently allowed us to choose from different formats of learning (video, images, or written) and mine through content that allowed us to source the information that worked for what I needed (Anderson, 2016)
Thinking as an instructor, we would need to make sure my students are well equipped to make use of all of the internet resources and ensure that they were properly educated in recognizing valuable resources from those that were not accurate (Weller, 2011)

Ways we can make use of this content:
If we were instructors on teaching people how to grow asparagus, we would leverage the content online and use it as an example, then have our students create their own blog as they went through their own learning journey. By using problem-based learning, the students (or learners) would have their identified problem to solve “How to grow asparagus”, and would navigate their own way to solve the problem and learn the process while resolving the problem (Weller, 2011). If practical, we would set up a community of practice with local gardeners and farmers to help support the learning (Weller, 2011).

References

Anderson, T. (2016). Chapter 3: Theories for learning with emerging technologies. In Veletsianos, G. (Ed). Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications. Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Weller, M. (2011). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249, 223–236.

LRNT 523 Activity 5 – Reflection on Theoretical and Pedagogical Stance

When reviewing the theoretical positions outlined by Ertmer, Newby, and Merril, the position I align with the most at this time in my career is that of the constructivist theory. It might be because constructivism has gained popularity and has become a dominant theory within education, that I feel it relates most to how my team and I approach our training methods (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Or, it might be because I feel as though my tendency to learn is similar to the traits outlined in the constructivist theory, specifically when it comes to requiring realistic settings to create an understanding (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). I primarily work with a group that is responsible for building and evolving training content to support the needs of our internal customer (retail staff).

Over the past 5-10 years, we have seen a drastic shift in the demographic of our staff base and the large majority of our employee base now fits within the millennial generation, which has been stated as being anybody born after 1980 (Ng, 2010). Bednar et al.(as cited in Ertmer & Newby, 2013), states that constructivist theory is realised in learning when individuals create meaning  stemming from their experiences. At my workplace, in the past, we have taken a similar approach by facilitating in-person, experiential training events that encourage our staff to experience product and activate in it. The intention of hosting such events was to give staff the opportunity to truly understand how the products they were to sell, worked first hand, ultimately giving them more credibility and authenticity on the sales floor.

Looking ahead, Prensky (as cited in Ertmer & Newby, 2013), acknowledges that young people are deeply savvy with technology and that they prefer to learn in different ways. For this reason, it will be important for my team to continue to consider the perspectives stated within the constructivist theory and determine how it can be applied as we transition towards a digital training strategy. Key factors like learners wanting content that is relevant to real-life situations and requiring training methods that explore different and complex environments (Ertmer & Newby, 2013) align with how we are moving our strategies forward. Basic product knowledge will always be provided to our staff through various training platforms, however, the ability for us as trainers to create complex customer scenarios and various in-store situations in a digital format will be critical for us moving forward. The goal will be for our staff to be able to use their basic product knowledge and personal experiences and make recommendations based on the needs and requirements of their customers. Their abilities to be agile and pull on information and apply it to a variety of different situations and customer profiles will ultimately create a better experience for customers and drive sales. Lastly, from the viewpoint of constructivism, I think the final step our team should consider when developing a digital training strategy, will be to create a platform for our young learners to validate their knowledge through social interactions and relevant scenarios (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Ideally this will create an environment for constant learning and conceptualization of how training content is interpreted and shared amongst their peers.

Ertmer, P., & Newby, T. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.

Ng, E. S. W., Schweitzer, L., & Lyons, S. T. (2010). New generation, great expectations: A field study of the millennial generation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 281–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9159-4

Instructional Design and Instructional Media – The Past to the Present

Reiser (2001) made various assumptions and depicted the history of both instructional design and instructional media and how they differ yet in some cases align through the evolution of educational technology.

Two lessons from the past that resonate to my work are:

In regards to instructional design, subject matter experts were often times responsible for creating and delivering training content. Reiser (2001) suggests that subject matters are not necessarily as effective at creating and meeting the learning objectives therefore the need for instructional design expertise was necessary. In my line of work, we have traditionally used subject matter experts to oversee all training strategies and content building. As a result, we have an abundance of content; however it is not packaged or delivered in a way that is well received from our millennial learner. This lesson in addressing the need for that liaison in between the subject matter expert and the learner is valuable insight to take back to my workplace.

Another lesson I found to be relevant and meaningful to my line of work is the notion that online programs cannot just be replicas of the design used for classroom or typical instructor to learner designs (Reiser 2001). Content and formatting needs to be tweaked in order to be effective online. In my department, we are in the transition of taking our training strategies from in-person classroom style training events to an online setting. This lesson is important for us to consider as we attempt to make relevant digital content. Again, we are stuck in a situation where we are trying to recycle or reuse old classroom instructional design methods and apply it to our digital platforms. This lesson will be important for us to consider as we explore not only our strategies for the next year but the talent pool we have to move forward.

A lesson that conflicts with my day-to-day work is the concept that students learn equally well regardless of the medium of the presentation (Reiser, 2001). We are consistently focused on the medium to which we are delivering content and feel as though it does have an impact on the learner. For example, we are exploring a mobile friendly training app to host training content to replace a traditional linear course that is housed on an LMS using desktop computer. Where I see the contradiction is that the means (or method) of delivering the content does have an effect on the ease and interest for the learner, in our case, the millennial learner. The results through test groups have shown that the content is viewed upwards of twice as much when it is accessible at their fingertips through a mobile device rather than the traditional use of a back office training computer.

Reiser, R. A. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology: Part I: A history of instructional media.. Educational Technology Research and Development, 49(1), 53-64.