the four-leaf clover

I find that during class I’ll jot down little notes in my planner of things I want to blog about. These come from open discussion, quotes from classmates and Dr. Carter and activities. This past week I had quite a few:

- transfer of learning (ex. my job and eVA/other training)

- instructional design importance (focus on learner- what do they need?, stick to overall goal)

- “the proof is what works for your learners” – Dr. Carter

I have realized quite quickly the importance of transfer of learning and talked about one situation this past class. Through the few training sessions I’ve been through for my job, I can relate to transfer of learning that has been successful and those that have not. I never understood how important this process is and how vital it can be for adult learners, especially those where literacy is a factor or even for new employees.

Instructional design… this concept is something I’m still learning a lot about, and it was especially interesting to learn about Jane Vella’s, The 4 “I’s” of Instruction. When Laura talked about how she conducts her classes and then saw the 4 “I’s” she seemed quite surprised. She stated that she similarly designs her classes in the same fashion but yet had never seen this concept before. I learned that instructional design should be emphasized for the learner and what works best for them. Also, that it’s important to establish what the learners or audience already knows to then come up with a design and in any instructional design it’s necessary to stick to the overall goal.

“The proof is what works for your learners.” This quote stuck in my head last week when Dr Carter said it during our discussion. It’s such a simple phrase but I think sometimes in training/teaching/program planning situations it can be overlooked. Focusing on the learner and their needs and wants has to be a priority, and if you are successful with this, the proof will be what happens there after.

During class 3 we all had the opportunity to discuss our program plans and thoughts on how we want to hopefully go about implementing them. I left class knowing there would be a lot I would want to blog about… so here it is.

My initial thoughts were to develop a university internship program that would make it mandatory that students completed one before graduating. My interest for this stemmed from the benefits and experience I got from mine at United Way and knowing so many people who never had to complete one who now wish they had. Well, there is the background and that’s about as far as I got until I walked into class this past Wednesday. After hearing a few other classmates plans and how they would go about planning them, I realized I had quite a bit to think about.

With the help of fellow classmates and Dr. Carter, I realized that I needed to break down my program and be more specific. I initially didn’t realize that a program like this would be quite extensive and take a lot of time and energy mostly from faculty. So, this is when I need to decide if I want to take this program plan and either focus it to reach out to the organizations who would provide the internships OR reach out to the students who would be expected to complete one.

I think both would be a good plan, and both focus in on my interests and what I hopefully will one day be doing once I finally finish school. I also know programs like this can be done because many other universities have and are successful. As I’m sitting here thinking about both directions I could take, it seems to me that it would be helpful to have outside organizations support, need and want of students to complete internship programs before developing a program for students. If the baseline support and need is already established through a successful program plan, the second phase of reaching the university population would be much easier. The light-bulb just came on! I guess all it takes sometimes is putting things down on paper, or a blog, to have it all come together.

I’ve always had a keen interest in program planning and all the little things that go into it, and after the last two classes my eyes have been drastically opened. Learning about Caffarella’s Interactive Model was quite insightful. It makes sense that every program should be planned with a different structure. Our big assignment this semester will help me learn more about program planning and which of the steps of Caffarella’s model I’ll need to use. I like how this model helps break down the important factors a program planner needs to focus on. Though there is no right or wrong way to tackle the model, I know when I start doing my program plan I will put Caffarella’s model next to me as a reference.

After class last week I left thinking about how I could have planned programs and events I’ve done differently (and what I’d done effectively!). I’ve stated before that my planning has been on a minimal level and my first experiences were when I attended Radford University and worked for their Conferences Services Department. I saw these programs and conferences as they panned out and when they were successful it was a great feeling. I’m remembering one large conference we put on at The Hotel Roanoke that was quite extensive. It was a statewide conference for teachers that included specific programs, speakers and forums. Now, as I look at Caffarella’s model, I can see why taking each step into careful consideration is so important. I remember a big step was coordinating facilities and on-sight events because we had to find a space big enough for the conference activities but also for the participants to stay. Selecting formats, schedules and staff needs was also crucial as well as defining program ideas and developing objectives.

I learn best, as I’m assuming most of us do, when we can apply what we learn to past and present experiences. When I went home after class and started relating my program planning experiences to Caffarella and some of the scenario’s in the textbook a lot more started to “click.” The program I’m proposing for this class will also challenge me to take into account all the different aspects, context and structure of planning. I’m interested to see how it all works out and someday, hopefully, my program will be something I can implement!