Views From the Gulch

This week I had the opportunity to see some of the theories I’ve been reading about in action.  It confirmed for me the importance of some of the musings I’ve been having about designing learning programs. 

16 staff from my organisation spent all of last week undertaking their initial training to become fire fighters.  The course has been designed around “adult learning principles” - information is presented, there is an opportunity for practice and coaching followed by reinforcement of the theory.  There is then an opportunity for further coaching and reflection prior to assessment.

By the end of day 4 of the course the group was interacting well and seemed to be relatively comfortable with the new knowledge and the processes.  During the revision session at the end of the day a discussion started regarding vehicle entrapment procedures which had been covered on day 2.  It started like this…”After dinner last night we were talking…and I just wanted to check…”.  Then other voices chimed in. What resulted was a twenty minute discussion on the information initially presented, what had happened during practice and some of the points that had been discussed amongst participants during the week.  The conversation ended with 1 participant stating…”So, if this happens what I’m going to do is…” and others agreeing or putting their own slants on it.

While there is a set procedure to follow in this situation it was fascinating to watch how this group of people had taken that information, interacted and had dialogue with others around it and then created their own meaning from it.

What an opportunity for me, via interacting with others, to confirm my own thoughts and know that what I’ve been applying theoretically in my study of e-learning really does work.  My learnings - to make sure that I do develop future learning programs using a social constructivist approach (it really works).  My next challenge - how do I convey what seems like a “theoretical concept” to my 50 trainers/assessors and help them have their own “aha” moment about their practices.

Three things happened this week that got me thinking about what I post and who reads it.

First, an article in the “Illawarra Mercury” (Crashing Facebook Party, 29 March 2008) talked about the concerns some Facebook users have about the increasing number of older users and how information they posted in their teens may now be viewed by their bosses and the effect this may have on their careers.

Second, this website was “pinged” and quoted on another website.

Thirdly, the newly chosen Olympic swim team were recommended to review their Facebook sites

This all started me thinking about who’s reading my site and where the information will end up.  Exposure to using a weblog has increased my confidence and level of self disclosure on the site.   This weeks events have got me re-thinking this level of comfort.

Further to this, I have been considering using a social network site as part of a network for trainers/assessors I work with.  One of the things that I will need to address is ensuring the users are aware that what they write really becomes part of posterity and is open for many other users to read - it’s not a “private conversation”.  Something else to build into my development and education plans for the proposed site.

I am 3 weeks into this journey and what a ride it’s been.   

Initially it was full of confusion and frustrations as I tried to cope with this alien culture and language.  I thought I was pretty computer savvy but I’ve had to learn a whole new language and explore a whole new world of concepts, thinking and ways of doing things.  What were these things such as Ning networks, social bookmarking and how on earth could I ever create a weblog????  .  I was certainly “immersed” in the technology, some days I felt I was drowning and wanted to flee back to my comfort zone. 

But after the second week things started to come together – I lurked around the e-learning community and found the courage to make an entry; I got my weblog created and even managed to post information to it.  I was so excited by my success I emailed all my family and friends with the link – regardless of whether they might be interested in it’s content.  Then I got my first comments – I was ecstatic! 

I am now more comfortable with this world of e-learning and am keen to explore it’s possibilities.  I have ideas for creating an e-learning community of my own and can’t wait to get into the details of how others are using the technologies available.  I finally understand how “internet time” happens.  Where do the days go when I’m online? One of the greatest supports during these initial weeks has been the e-learning community.  I was comforted to see others experiencing similar difficulties and frustrations, even those who had been exploring this world for a while.  The tips and advice from others helped keep me coming back to my travels.  So, the social psychologists are right – learning in a group does result in changed attitudes, new learning and a willingness to apply that learning.  

I feel like the real adventures are now about to begin. 

This weblog will chronicle my journey into the world of e-learning. I will be exploring various aspects of e-learning and looking at how I can apply these in my professional activities as an adult educator.