Event Summary:

Dr. Cheryl Lentz discussed the use of various technologies such as e-books, Wordpress blogs, Youtube videos, Go!Animate videos, Animoto, Voki, Skype, Facebook (private group) and Twitter (private group) to enhance the student experience.

She likewise pointed out that given students’ lifestyles, schedules, and learning styles, she wanted to make use of technologies and social media to “bring the classroom” to the students, and hence promoting the notion of:

Fish where the fish are.

Responsive Technology: Doc-in-a-Box

Dr. Lentz shared her rationale behind her use of various technologies: to be able to serve her students while scaling her time so that she can “be there” when they need me, where they need me, as often as they need me.

The use of multiple media platforms, instead of a one-size-fits all technology is consistent with the idea of individual differences in lifestyle, schedule, and learning style. By encoding the message across a variety of technology “channels”, Dr. Lentz is positing that the message will find its way to the receiver — one way or the other. ☺

Are interventions in place to support a “divergent” traditional learner?

The only concern for me though is with exact regard to the characteristics of the receiver; while the use of technology may be an expectation of younger, “digital learners”, I am worried about the “divergent” traditional learner (especially as the examples are intended as andragogical techniques)— who may not have the predisposition to make use of these technology platforms in the course of their learning. Are there interventions in place to ensure that they have adequate access to resources? Will they be “highly encouraged” to make use of these platforms or are offline interventions also available?

Process Workflow:

Dr. Lentz discussed her workflows to be able to efficiently produce and redistribute her content across the variety of learning platforms. The workflow below is based on my understanding given several examples she had mentioned during her presentation.

Script -> Video -> Social Media: Blog/Twitter/Facebook

Script -> Video -> Commercial/Proprietary Systems

Being able to learn about efficient workflows from a practitioner can help others to quickly understand what workflow can work for them given their choices of learning platforms. The script and video production phases are critical to the workflows above as the other learning platforms “feed off” from the video platforms.

Inspiring Teachers

She encouraged teachers to practice and use these emerging tools or run the risk of becoming obsolete.

A question was asked: Where and how do I start with all of these platforms?

Dr. Lentz commented that teachers should try to focus on one platform and get good with that platform before moving on to others. However, she posited that most of her students give positive feedback about her bio video.

Lastly, she reminded participants to advise students to use technology responsibly. She lamented that some students may be inadvertently be losing future job opportunities due to irresponsible use of social media.