Lesson Planning

Characteristics of Adult Learners

As I continue on this journey, one theme that seems to resonate with me is that adult learners do not learn the same way.  As a future educator, it is important to recognize this key point in order to make the necessary changes in my lessons so that I can connect with different learning styles.  I found Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences fascinating because I think that discovering more about my learners and their strengths can help me become a better educator.  Different learners have different ways of inputting information so I need to be aware of these ways and ensure that I am able to reach these learners.

Edutopia. (2015, April 9).  Multiple Intelligences: What Does the Research Say? Retrieved from:  http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-research

Creating a Positive Learning Environment

According to Susan Imel (1994), "an ideal adult learning climate has a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere in which adults have permission for and are expected to share in the responsibility for their learning."  This article provides suggestions on how to establish this type of learning environment for the adult learner.   They are easy to adapt and incorporate into the classroom and knowing how important it is to make your adult learners feel comfortable in the classroom is the first step to ensure learning success.  If the learner is not comfortable they may "check out" because their needs are not being met.  I especially connect with the suggestion of a good first impression and humour to break the ice.  I use these techniques while I am working in private practice as a lot of people bring anxiety or negativity to the clinic.  People will more likely to respond to you if you make the environment more comfortable for them.

Imel, S.  (1994).  Guidelines for Working With Adult Learners.  Retrieved from:  http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-2/working.htm

Assessment

This article highlights some of the different assessment methods to use in the classroom and explains characteristics of a good assessment.  It also explains about feedback, which is important for every learner to receive in order to see their progress.  The questions in the article got me thinking about what assessments I would like to use in the future and how I would need to use different ones in order to reach different learners.  With my recent research into Social Media, I also thought about how Social Media could be beneficial to assessing learners such as a self reflection blog/journal or answering a question on a discussion board.  Assessments are an important component of a lesson plan because without assessments there would be no way to measure the learning that is or is not taking place.

Michigan State University.  (2015).  Student Assessment.  Retrieved from:

http://learndat.tech.msu.edu/teach/student-assessment

Instructional Process/Strategies

I chose this article because PBL was part of my dental hygiene program but I felt it was under utilized.  The advantages of student centred PBL according to Wood (2003) is that, "it fosters active learning, improved understanding, and retention and development of lifelong learning skills."  Dental hygienists are able to practice independently and need to be able to develop these skills so that they can think critically and make evidence based decisions.  Reciting things from memory can only take you so far as you need to be able to apply the information to various situations.  As a future educator, I would want my students to have these skills in order to be successful in practice.

Wood, D. F.  (2003). ABC of Learning and Teaching in Medicine Problem Based Learning.  British Medical Journal.  326.  Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125189/pdf/328.pdf

Planning

I chose this article because of how it summarizes Gagne's Learning Theory and how the theory identifies general types of human capabilities that are learned.  The capabilities are behavioural changes in a learner and classified into 5 Categories of Learning Outcomes.  Being aware of these learning outcomes can be useful when creating my lesson objectives and considering what types of behavioural changes I want to see in my learners.  For example, motor skills when being able to pick up and use a dental instruments correctly or maybe verbal skills when using dental terminology.

International Centre for Educators' Learning Styles.  (2015).  Robert Gagne's Five Categories of Learning Outcomes and Nine Events of Instruction.  Retrieved from:
http://www.icels-educators-for-learning.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=73#main

Reflections on My Web-Conference

After my initial web-conference with Cara, my learning partner, I felt a sense of community that only comes when you first meet someone in the course that you are taking.  Its always reassuring to meet someone who is in the same situation as you and that is what happened after my Skype session with Cara.

We shared our past education experiences and I found that there were many similarities such as time away from the classroom and reasons for taking the course/program.  We also discussed how blogging was going to be a new experience for us and our apprehensions moving forward. The web-conference was a great way to connect and gain that personal connection that you miss when you are taking an online course.  It would not have been the same if we had exchanged emails and we would have missed out on the gestures, the non-verbal language and the expression/intonation patterns in each other's voices.  

What I learned from Cara is that I am not alone in this journey and she is a great motivator as I can see from her blog that she is leaps and bounds ahead of me.  She has inspired me to get moving and continue working through this course.  

Reflections on Trends with Social Media and Dentistry

Social Media has been becoming more and more popular in the field of dentistry as a form of communication with patients. New procedures, education, and changes within the clinic all can be conveyed by a tweet or a post on Facebook.  As well, patients can also post their comments and feedback about their experience in the clinic for others to see.  In many ways, it can be very positive for business however, there is a negative side to Social Media which we are now starting to see where the lines of professionalism are blurred.

We develop some very close relationships with our patients due to the fact that they probably see us more often than any other health care professional.  For this reason, they often become like a close friend/family member.  Personal information is often shared and trusted to be kept private and confidential but how do we answer a patient’s request to friend them on Facebook?  How can we maintain a professional relationship if we allow patients to see aspects of our personal life outside the clinic? 

Another trend we are are finding is people posting photos of their dental treatment on Facebook or Twitter along with a negative comment.  Some clinics are banning cell phones in the treatment rooms for this reason to protect themselves from the damaging posts.   There are also examples of negative/derogatory comments patients make about the staff in the clinic.  Then there is the example from Dalhousie's dentistry department this past year where some 4th year male dental students created an inappropriate Facebook page towards women and some of their female classmates.  Other examples include staff/dental students posting unprofessional pictures with the #dentalproblems or #dentalstudentproblems.  

Social Media allows us to stay connected to one another in a way we never could but at the same time it has brought new problems that we have never encountered before and need to figure out how to manage.  Professionalism is one issue that needs to be addressed with regards to Social Media as it can affect how you are viewed by potential future employers.  It has been said that employers will often google potential employees or check out their Facebook pages to help them make a decision about whether or not they want to have as an employee.  For this reason, Social Media and its effects on professionalism should be addressed in any dental professional program.

References:

Abe, P. & Jordan, N. A. (2013).  Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum.  About Campus, 18: 16-20. doi: 10.1002/abc.21107

Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum

LeNoue, M., Hall, T., & Eighmy, M. A. (2011).  Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution.  Adult Learning. Spring 2011, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p4-12. 9p.

Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution

Reflections on Social Media, Adult Education and the Educator's Role

With the introduction of Social Media into the classroom and the curriculum, it has become apparent that the role of the instructor has changed in many ways. It has been over 10 years since I went to university and was first introduced to email.  Professors and TAs had set office hours where students could contact them or come to their office to have questions answered.  Lectures were teacher focused and they were the main sources of information for the course. Independent research was done in the library and the goal was to find journal articles about the topic.  Yes, things were very different than today with regard to adult education.

During my web-conference with my learning partner, Cara, we discussed how different the role of educator has changed from how we remembered it.  Online learning has grown leaps and bounds and the educator's role has had to evolve to changes that Social Media has brought to the delivery of learning.  At the same time, it has allowed the learner to take courses/classes that would never have been possible due to life's responsibilities/work/distance to a learning institution.

Today, the instructor has become a facilitator in the classroom by helping to clarify or sort the information for the students.  I experienced this first hand with my recent first online course in which the instructor presented us with the topic for the week and the list of learning outcomes.  We were then given 3 discussion questions and assigned a role of either a discussion starter or a responder. Discussion starters would research and post their findings/answers on the message board and then the responder would read the post and add their comments/feedback/questions.  In addition, the discussion starter had to formulate two additional questions about the topic and pose it to the responders.  The instructor's role was to check the progress of the online discussions and provide further information, clarify or pose another question. At the end of the week, the discussion starter would post a summary of the week's discussion and the instructor would comment on the summary.

This experience gave me the chance to control my participation in the learning process and gave me greater autonomy rather than sitting and watching an online lecture about what I needed to know.  What a very different learning experience from what I remembered in the classroom and how I got so much more out of the course for the simple reason that I had to seek out the information and report back to the discussion board for my peers to review.

Social Media has also allowed instructors to be more accessible whether the student lives in the same city, province or country.  But at the same token, students from all different education backgrounds, experience and learning styles are now able to enrol in classes that were once not available.  Educators have to be accommodating to the variety of students than are now in their classrooms and help to ensure that all the students have a certain level of competency with the technology in order to complete the course by taking on the role of being a coach.  In addition, educators are now expected to be readily available to answer inquiries.  With Facebook and Twitter, questions can be posed at any time and there is an expectation that the response time will be quick and immediate.

The role of the educator has changed and evolved over the past decade from a teacher focused approach to a student centred approach.  Instructors are now facilitators of information and coaches of the new technology which has also made them far more accessible to students.

References:

Abe, P. & Jordan, N. A. (2013).  Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum.  About Campus, 18: 16-20. doi: 10.1002/abc.21107

Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum

LeNoue, M., Hall, T., & Eighmy, M. A. (2011).  Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution.  Adult Learning. Spring 2011, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p4-12. 9p.

Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution