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Self-directed Learning Skills

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How do teachers, parents, paraprofessionals and other working with children help those students develop self-directed learning [SDL] skills? How can we help students plan for and reach their potential?  I built and co-facilitate this course [within Moodle] to teach the skills necessary for developing 21st century habits of mind.

Participants learn to:

  • Negotiate student learning contracts
  • Teach independent thinking skills
  • Motivate and empower students
  • Become fabulous coaches
  • Build an ePortfolio

There is so much more to learn by participating in this course.  Come hear me and Meg Robbins give a one-hour presentation: Motivating students to becoming self-directed learners. MassCUE 2011.

Open Conversations

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listening2When working with faculty [or others] who already have an online course/classroom, one of the first questions might be to ask, “How can I help you?”

Starting the conversation this way leads no where. The client I am working with can just say, “I think everything is OK” or “I just don’t know what to do.”

Instead I try to open the conversation with something like: “This is a [insert adjective and noun] here on this page and in this area.  How did you come about deciding to add this to your course?

Bam…now, I have paid attention to the professor/client and a rapport can be built.  They can talk about their online classroom/situation and we can both discuss what’s working and what  might need some tweaking.

When working with professors/clients/whomever, I always listen first and then ask open-ended questions  to generate empathy, trust, and most of all, learning…for both sides.

Make Eyewear

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3D Eyeware

About a year ago, maybe longer, I was hunting for a unique wedding gift for some designer friends and happened upon Shapeways: a 3-D printing service.  I played around with their online design tools, however opted for a beautiful glass pitcher.  David Minich was shopping for eyewear and used Shapeways to create his own business: Make Eyewear. David creates infinitely customizable eyewear.  The beauty of rapid prototyping is that you can design just about whatever you want, then print it on demand.  What could you make with this type of technology?

Eyewear

Universal Design for Learning

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UDL

To meet Universal Design principles, educational processes should:
1.    Be accessible and fair.
2.    Provide flexibility in use, participation, and presentation.
3.    Be straightforward and consistent.
4.    Be explicitly presented and readily perceived.
5.    Provide a supportive learning environment.
6.    Minimize unnecessary physical effort or requirements.
7.    Ensure a learning space that accommodates both students and instructional methods.

The beneficiaries of Universal Design in education include:
•    Students with special needs, including those with disabilities.
•    Students with English as a second language.
•    The general population of students, all of whom will benefit from the application of Universal Design principles.

A great slide show by Eleonora Guglielman

E-learning and disability