Seeing Through New Eyes

Summer has been a bit hectic, so I've totally slacked on writing here. I have a queue of things to write about and plan to get these written about soon. I owe a couple of people some thoughts and plan to do it here. So stay tuned.

I had a thought tonight about self-directed learning (SDL) and meta-cognition. It seems that if you think of SDL as a method that it could be termed as being meta-cognition. Since meta-cognition is someone recognizing how they learn, what motivates them to learn, and how to apply that to any situation, SDL as a method fits that perfectly for me. I'd be interested to hear thoughts on this.

I've been working on a paper with some colleagues and part of the focus is on the implications for higher education with the thought that K12 classrooms are increasingly using online resources in teaching. As teachers in corporate primary sources, electronic resources, and technology in their daily classrooms how does this change the way students learn? How does this change how they need to be taught as adults? Do they have different expectations as adults for the type of instruction they receive?

Today was another great day at the Teaching with Technology Idea Exchange (TTIX) conference. I had the chance once again to talk to some old friends, meet some new people, learn more about technology, and I even tied for third place in the Grand Poo-Bah social media contest. I was surprised how many times presenters talked about TPACK (not something I am overly interested in right now), but they always tied their work into specific aspects of it. I loved the session that took TPACK and made it 3D, calling it TPC3D. This layers the TPACK idea as a knowledge adding in a beliefs layer and practical skills layer all within the idea of pedagogy, technology, and content. So you have TPACK, TPACB (beliefs), TPACP (practice). It reminded me a lot of the idea of the cognitive, affective, and conative domains, just targeting the specifics of technology, pedagogy, and content. I learned more about Equella and am very excited to have them visit USU. I even watch some World Cup action at the UofU U...

I have heard about TTIX for a couple of years now, but this year was the first time I’ve been able to actually attend the conference, and I must say it has lived up to the hype. From the keynote to the sessions and of course the networking, it was a great day. Being one to wear many hats, I find my thoughts wandering on how I can apply the things I learn in a session. The keynote by Nancy White today provided me with a couple thoughts; nothing earth shattering, but it re-invigorated ideas and helped me to remember that I need to have more refined focus in my work. As a researcher of problem-based learning (PBL), her thoughts on the reciprocity of learning struck a cord with me. It makes me wonder how PBL can use this idea more than it already does. And in an online environment using PBL, what are the best ways to capitalize on this idea? She also spoke about solo and group learners and my thoughts wander the same way. I loved the idea of group working being “Giving up a little bit of ...

AERA is now over, but I had a good time this year at the conference. It was a short visit for me (about 48 hours in Denver), but I had a chance to do some presenting, attend a couple of sessions, and best of all meeting some new people while interacting and networking with old friends. That has to be the best part of this and many other conferences. Looking forward to next year.

Today marked a good day, I defended my dissertation proposal. Looks like there are a few things my committee still wants me to do, but I am happy to be moving forward with this work on problem-based learning and self-directed learning. The area of motivation is quite fascinating to me and I want to be able to making a meaningful contribution to the literature and the practice of PBL through my work. Here's to hard work to get this last leg of my PhD finished!

I am finally making another step in my PhD work, I am defending my dissertation proposal before the end of this month! My goal is to be completely finished by the end of summer semester. It is a bit ambitious, but I think it can be done.