I am writing this on December 20th 2022. While I have been on Twitter since 2009 and was a fan of the community (especially science and science education tweeps), things have gotten nastier lately. I think what got to me was the recent policy (which may have been scrapped, but who knows) of not including alternative social media sites to your profile. While I am a “nobody” on the birdsite, I found myself trying to outsmart the algorithms by putting “mas dot to” and similar code phrases.
Well, I am too old for this s*t. I lived half of my life in Cuba, where speaking in code is necessary for survival, and I know how to do it if need to be. I’ll stay there for a while to see what happens, but started to establishing a new circle in Mastodon. It is a humbling but also fun process. There are people I know and I just have to find them or letting them find me. On the other hand, I’m making connections with different people. Will see how it feels in the future.
But, tbh, the reason I am writing this post is to get this site verified 🙂 So I am inserting this link below so they know I am for real!
It has been almost a year that the Covid-19 pandemic upended the world. My latest blog post is from that time (gulp), and I recall the frenzy of the months as courses never taught online before had to be adapted in a rush. As an early user of online tools in my teaching, I noticed the surprise of instructors who never taught online before when they realized how much work is to set up a good online course! Because one thing is to teach a course online, and another to design it to be engaging, accessible, provide a virtual community space for students, while still providing plenty of opportunities for learning and assessment.
Over a year, however, online and zoom has become mainstream, and I am encouraged to see a move towards appreciation of online tools (and their limitations), as well as a number of creative solutions and adaptations.
In November 2020 we decided to convert the CURE plastics project, which involved a field trip, to a virtual experience. Part of it required curation of resources- using documentaries and links to provide the background of the research project. The other (really fun) part was to create new resources: that included recording of lectures and field trip footage, experimenting with GoPro cameras to provide the point of view of somebody participating. The material still needs more editing, but here is a short video reel of what we do. The virtual field trip was piloted in a non majors general biology lab course.
Video reel by Saul Torres
As for instructional design, we went for scaffolding of the material:
Two weeks before the “field trip”- students watch a documentary related to plastic pollution and discuss it in a Discussion Board
Week before the field trip: students watch recorded lectures about the experimental design (assessed as part of their weekly quiz)
Week of the field trip:
Students watch footage of a real field trip
Updates are posted in course LMS and social media
A padlet is prepared in advance of the Q&A, with information and introductions of the speakers
End of week: Live Q &A with a panel composed by researchers, instructors, and research students. After a general discussion, students are divided in breakout rooms according to their interests (plastic pollution, careers in science etc).
Results were…good! Overall we felt a lot of engagement, got many questions and expressions of interest. A survey comparing Likert scores of student perception of science, laboratory work, research etc. gave very encouraging results.
Comparison of survey scores of online vs onsite students, before and after the experience.
In summary, while online students rated their knowledge and appreciation significantly lower compared to their onsite counterparts, they “caught up” to the onsite students after the field trip experience, even if virtual. While this may not be a solution for a majors’ level hands-on course, it does provide a way to increase student engagement and knowledge of science topics without needing lots of resources. This in fact provides more equity and inclusivity to field trip experiences, especially this one- students did not have to live by the coast in order to experience it.
Long story short, we are happy and hopeful. We just repeated the experience in February and are looking forward the data. Next try will be in July
ONL192 started for our group (#2) at full speed. Not to brag, but we already had two synchronous meetings spanning several time zones, with participants taking commitments and procedures seriously. That does not mean we are a “serious” bunch- there have been plenty of laughs and smiles during the meetings. So far, so good!
A question came up in the group about feedback to blog postings, and guidelines are being developed to make it a straightforward process. As the group brainstorms a way, this made me curious: is there a science about ways to give feedback? Here I will focus on feedback in teaching/learning.
There is no doubt that feedback is extremely important for learning. Ambrose et al (2011) discuss the importance of practice together with feedback for optimal learning: “First, feedback should communicate to students where they are relative to the stated goals and what they need to do to improve. Second, feedback should provide this information when students can make the most use of it, based on the learning goals and structure of activities you have set for them.” This is obvious: students need to receive feedback on their work as soon after the task has been completed, so it is still fresh on their minds and also to allow time for further practice before the next task. There is extensive literature about feedback, both internal and external, please see the reference at the end of an extensive review by Butler & Wenne (1995) about feedback and self-regulated learning (too technical for this blog post).
A short list of effective feedback strategies include:
Make it specific: that way students know what they need to improve
If applicable, make it goal oriented- if we know exactly what is the goal, tailor the feedback as to what is needed to reach that goal.
Make it the right amount: too much feedback may overwhelm the student and/or may make them focus on the simpler errors that are easy to fix (spelling, format) instead of addressing major conceptual issues
Mix positive and negative constructive feedback. Most of us are worried about being criticized, even when we know that the idea of feedback is to help us improve. So it is a good idea to combine positive feedback as a reinforcement and suggestions for improvement.
Mix the types of delivery formats. Traditionally, feedback is delivered in a written form (or sometimes orally). With the expansion of online and blended models, the use of alternative forms of feedback such as audio or video clips has been promoted (see Estes et al, 2014, van Vliet et al, 2015). Especially in the case of constructive criticism, an audio or video message may be more personable, and make it easier for the instructor to convey the message.
Over the years I have gathered nuggets of wisdom & advice as to how to provide feedback. Being on the receiving end of criticism has given me additional insight. As an instructor, I scaffold my teaching so assignments increase in complexity (and stakes), with feedback level paralleling them. So I won’t be burying a student with comments after a first minor assignment, but build up both expectations and feedback as time passes. And I use the “sandwich” model of feedback- start and end with a positive aspect and sandwich the negative constructive portion in the middle.
References
Ambrose SA, Bridges MW, DiPietro M, Lovett MC, Norman MK, Ambrose BSA, Michael W, Lovett MC, Norman MK. How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. How Learning Works. 2011;5(2):106–115.
Butler, D. L., & Winne, P. H. (1995). Feedback and Self-Regulated Learning: A Theoretical Synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 65(3), 245–281. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543065003245
van Vliet, E. A., Winnips, J. C., & Brouwer, N. (2015). Flipped-Class Pedagogy Enhances Student Metacognition and Collaborative-Learning Strategies in Higher Education But Effect Does Not Persist. CBE life sciences education, 14(3), ar26. doi:10.1187/cbe.14-09-0141 link
“After jump” picture in Mesa Verde National Park, Arizona
When I started the ONL191 journey in February, I posted a picture of me jumping in the Anza-Borrego desert (California) as the image for my blog posting. Jumping pictures have become a requirement of my travel pictures since a few years back, and I thought about posting another, but instead this one is “after jump.” You can still observe the scenery: this is Mesa Verde National Park in Arizona, where ancient Pueblo Indians established cliff dwellings in crevices of the canyons. This was part of a recent vacation road trip that allowed me to happily ignore emails and news headlines.
After two weeks of camping, returning to civilization was both rewarding (hot showers! soft beds!) and depressing (meetings! conferences! writing a syllabus!). Being now a co-facilitator for ONL192 is a nice counterbalance to the onslaught of routine coming my way. It has become my modus operandi to pile up as much work as possible in the fall, when shorter days and longer nights make it easier to be in front of the computer, and leave springtime for conferences and traveling.
Reading interesting articles was part of my catching-up with civilization, and a deep analysis of the two recent Boeing 737-Max tragedies was one that made me think about education. In fact, I had a great conversation with two faculty colleagues about how it related to our struggles of assessing student learning, particularly critical thinking. Please note that I understand the issue is very complicated, and there are a lot of social-economical-technological factors in play. My and my colleagues’ reflection was around expert and novice knowledge, problem solving, critical thinking, and how to promote it in students. And one of the things we discussed was the importance of process versus result.
Since ONL191 I have become more sensitive to the process of learning and decision making. The weekly meetings around the PBL topic brought multiple perspectives, some of which had not even occurred to me. It was humbling and exciting at the same time. A group of us at my university are currently involved in developing a grant proposal to address equity in STEM education, and I brought in some ONL tools, including the brainstorming document and the color codes. The tools are helpful, although I sometimes wish for more of “what” and less of “how” at this stage.
The author of the above article refers to “airmanship” as a visceral sense of navigation and a deep understanding of the forces governing flying an airplane. This knowledge, of course, is not magical- it comes from experience, both in normal and abnormal situations. Much has been written about the difference between novice and expert knowledge, and how to promote the transition from one to the other. And part of it is to transmit the need to learn the process and not only try to remember/guess the right answer.
So as I head into ONL192, I intend to explore even more the “science of the process,” the deliberative group work to tease aside complex situations, looking at it from multiple perspectives, over several iterations of thought and discussions. As a participant, I could observe the quiet work of facilitators, indeed, facilitating the process. As a co-facilitator now, I am eager to see the other side. But I do “trust the process.”
It is Saturday afternoon here in California, and I know this posting was a bit of this and a bit of that (no references!), but I hope my readers will forgive me. Still in transition to the real world!
A nice view of the mountains near Silverton, Colorado.
A lovely card I got from a friend on my birthday- she knows I love hummingbirds
…and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” I do not recall when I discovered this quote by T. S. Eliot, but it was long time ago. And it still speaks to me, both in scientific or life explorations. Particularly, it applies to the ONL191 journey.
I came to the course with curiosity about Problem Based Learning, which was for me the least known territory. After being many years in the digital space teaching and collaborating, as well as taking and designing online courses myself, I did not expect to get major aha moments in that area. Indeed, while I noticed and appreciated the care taken with the course design, most of the elements were familiar.
The FISH process intrigued me. Focus-Investigate-Share based on an online document. Wondered how could it be done without confusion and overlapping research. But then, again, it worked. We met synchronously, and amazingly, each of us saw something different when looking at the scenario. I realized how narrow my vision was when looking at it…or maybe not narrow, just looking at it from my perspective based on my experiences, culture, background, personality, you name it. Each of us, each individual, brought in the richness of their lives when looking at the same scenario.
The group process also concerned me a bit in the beginning. Yes we had a connecting week, but besides exchanging a couple of slides about ourselves, we still did not know much about each other, and in the beginning the meetings were a bit steely. But, after a few weeks, we started to get the hang of it. As in any team, we have different personalities and as such bring in different contributions, all valuable. If everybody was a cheerleader, we would not get quality control. If everybody was detail oriented and meticulous, we would miss the big picture. And so on. But, just as in a flavorful meal, the different flavors of our personalities meld together into our very colorful FISH documents and final products.
And being responsible for a topic and struggling with technical issues made us humble and empathetic. If things did not work, that was ok. And most of us had things coming up…family emergencies, travels, delays, conferences…we communicated it and we tried to solve it. And if you think about it…IRL (=in real life) getting a group dynamics work may take quite a time. And we did it online! By seeing each other on video for 1-2 hours per week (or less)!
This is my final official ONL191 posting, and per the rules, I should put some literature references to support what I shared, that is the importance of the “human touch.” Funnily enough, my university just had an online training to improve retention, and a lot of it was about 1) early warnings, and 2) early interventions. For the latter, we had to design empathetic responses. Oh, and positive feedback was suggested for high performers! Our group was very generous with praise and gratefulness overall.
Thank you, ONL191! Hope to join you again, maybe as a co-facilitator?
This is not a deep posting on science education. It is just a Friday commentary about some of my weird things.
I drive a manual transmission car. Here in the States. Not only that, but when I finally decided to look for a new car last year, as my trusty (manual) Toyota Matrix passed the 200k mile mark, I knew the main condition for the new car was to have a stick. As a result, my car shopping became very simple. I test drove TWO cars (a Subaru and a Jeep) and loved and chose the Subaru right away. Which makes me part of a dying species in the US. Quirky and eccentric. In fact, almost like part of a cult. Why? Not sure I can explain. Automatics just bore me. Driving a stick makes a commute interesting.
In 2011, as I was getting into more video and photography stuff, I went from PC to Mac. I clearly remember my trepidation when I started that MacBook Pro (the same I still have) up, and the joy when everything worked right away. I never looked back after that. The machine has worked all these years as a charm, of course with all kinds of upgrades, and refuses to fail. So I have no excuse yet for a new one. I also got into iPads, and love my current one with the Apple pencil. But. But. I refuse to get an iPhone. In fact, I am stubbornly committed to pure Android phones. Had the Nexus 5, then the Nexus 7, which sadly died on me. I am on the Pixel 3 now. Now, does it makes sense to have an Android phone when everything else is Apple? Probably not. I do know the reason here. “You cannot own me, and I do not want to commit to one system.”
At the end, probably it has to do with surviving in an ever-changing world. To be prepared. To be able to handle different systems and navigate diverse ecosystems. Few days back I was showing a powerpoint trick to my 20-year old research student, and he said “You are much more techie that I’d give you credit for.” Bless his heart, I actually felt quite proud. Of course old dogs know lots of tricks, right? But I think being non-conventional and yes, contrarian, can give one some advantages in life. More tricks to learn along the way. Happy weekend, y’all!
This week’s scenario was about an instructor who is excited about online learning and wants to get started with a course of her own:
“I am keen to design my own online or blended learning course … I think I must …try to illustrate in a visual way what a good online or blended learning design could look like. I wonder which activity, module or course I should choose? “
My first thought was “Oh, my sweet summer child,” something Old Nan from the Game of Thrones books says to the Stark children. Meaning, you have not known the terrible winter yet. Online learning can do indeed amazing things. It can also be awful if not designed well. And when starting on the path, as in all innovations, there is always a curve of pain. No matter how much we follow the design principles and do our best, it takes some time to “get” online learning well.
Our group came up with lots of great thoughts and ideas about online course design, centered around the community of inquiry framework. My contribution was much more focused, related to a specific subtype of blended learning called flipped learning.
“Flipping” a classroom sounds quite logical: let’s put the repetitive content online and let’s do active learning in person. However, there is a difference between “flipped” classroom and “flipped” learning, per the Flipped Learning Network, a respected community of practice. They define flipped learning as a pedagogical approach where “direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.”
The website is chock full of information, tools, research, and all kinds of ways to learn about FLIP. In this blog posting, however, I would like to share briefly my own experience flipping a general biology course. My colleague and I started with backward design- what did we want students to be able to do at the end of each topic?- and scaffolded the material accordingly. Lectures were recorded in palatable (less than 15 minutes) chunks. Low stakes quizzes were assigned to the recordings to make students watch them. In the classroom, we had short lectures to address particularly challenging topics, and designed a variety of hands-on, inquiry-based activities. Our classrooms became noisy (because students were asking questions and discussing with each other) and dynamic. They chose a research topic of their interest, but had to discuss it with their peers. Liberated from the tyranny of long lectures, the instructors were able to interact more with the students, and go deeper into the material. Online discussions helped interactions between students. And…seems like students learned more also. This study was recently published.
Although the flipped classroom method has been in use for more than 15 years, it still has no unified theoretical framework or methodology (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; Zuber, 2016), and it continues to present widely varied implementations across educational settings and academic disciplines (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; Estes et al., 2014; Lage et al., 2000; Uzunboylu & Karagozlu, 2015; Zuber, 2016). So, I am not surprised that there are still lots of questions around what “flipping” means.
So going back to the original scenario…I would not start fully online. I would start with a flipped section (not the whole course). In fact, no need to record lectures right away- there is plenty of good quality material already available that just needs to be curated. And I would always have surveys and some kind of assessment to compare how students are doing. It is an iterative process, and it will take a few times to make it work right.
References
Barral, A.M., Ardi, V., Simmons, R.E. 2018. Accelerated Introductory Biology Course is Significantly Enhanced by a Flipped Learning Environment. CBE Life Sciences Education, 17(3) https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-07-0129
Bishop, J., & Verleger, M. A. (2013). The Flipped Classroom : A Survey of the Research. In Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (p. 23.1200.1-23.1200.18). https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2013.6684807
Estes. M. D., Ingram, R.,
& Liu, J. C. (2014). A review of flipped classroom research, practice, and
technologies. International HETL Review, 4(7).
Flipped Learning Network. (2014). What Is Flipped Learning ? The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P. Flipped Learning Network, 501(c), 2.
Lage, M. M. J., Platt, G. G. J., & Treglia, M. (2000). Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220480009596759
Uzunboylu, H., & Karagozlu, D. (2015). Flipped classroom: A review of recent literature. World Journal on Educational Technology, 7(2), 142. https://doi.org/10.18844/wjet.v7i2.46
Zuber, W. J. (2016). The
flipped classroom, a review of the literature. Industrial and Commercial
Training, 48(2), 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-05-2015-0039
Topic 3 of the ONL191 course was difficult. For a number of personal circumstances (myself included) only a few could participate in each synchronous lesson. The ones I participated in included interesting and thought provoking discussions. Two major issues came together, the collaborative and the online aspect of learning. How to make them work at the same time is quite a challenge. Another aspects that was touched on, but not deepened during the second meeting I attended was the fact that participants are very different- there can be cultural and/or language barriers. So there is no one list of things to do- there are lists of best practices, and which ones are applied depends quite a bit from the context of the group.
Personally, I struggled to find my niche in the conversation, but Anne saved me when she suggested I could draw from my experience teaching and facilitating online to contribute.
Now the funny thing is, most what I know about facilitation of groups is not something I have learned as a scholar. For more than 10 years I have facilitated conflict resolution workshops inside prisons and in the community as a volunteer, and along the way learned many tricks of bringing people together. Most of them have to do with finding what is shared among participants, listening and communication skills, and practicing empathy. I soon realized that those skills were useful in my teaching, and started to apply them in the classroom.
There are numerous variations of exercises like the one shown in the video, in which participants share aspects of their lives and relate to each other. In real life you would start with less sensitive statements and as group trust grows one introduces more personal topics.
Some of those tools can be applied and even enhanced online! One of my favorite icebreakers for online introductions is asking students to post a picture that is meaningful for them and share why, then ask others to comment. Some students will post pictures of themselves or their families, others will post about favorite places or activities. But it is amazing how much can be learned from one picture and the story that goes with it. People posting kid pictures immediately connect with each other, as those who have similar hobbies or traveled to the same places.
For online social presence I learned a lot from Michelle Pacansky-Brock. She has consistently worked on bringing awareness to the importance of community building online, and the tools to achieve it.
So, I confess, for this topic I worked my contributions a bit backwards- I started with the tools I use and then went looking for scholarly references to support them. Luckily I did not have to search too far- in an excellent review of online course design, which I go back regularly by Jaggars & Xu, there was plenty of discussion about the importance of social presence in online courses. And this blog posting about online collaboration by Terence Brake (thank you Anne for the tips) covers both practical (structure, timing, recording) and more social aspects such as language and inclusiveness.
At the end, I felt again the need to learn more about these emotional/social aspects, which tend to get into the field of psychology and learning. This topic coincided with a busy schedule at a conference and then a few days of unwinding visiting family, so I feel quite accomplished that I could even make it!
Evans, C. (2013). Making Sense of Assessment Feedback in Higher Education. Review of Educational Research, 83(1), 70–120. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312474350
The first topic in the ONL191 course is Online participation & digital literacies. Both the introduction to the topic and the related webinar asked us to reflect on our digital identities and experiences. And the PBL scenario for the topic brings a student who is not very familiar/comfortable with online technologies and is apprehensive of an online course he/she is enrolled.
As I prepared for studying the materials provided, I found myself in an interesting spot of the digital Visitor-Resident continuum proposed by White & LeCornu (2011). While I consider myself a quite comfortable resident of the digital space (more in some places than others), I “need” to physically interact with the material in order to be able to retain information. In the old days of paper I would highlight and write notes on articles and book pages. For videos or audio I need to take notes- otherwise the information just passes me by. So that’s what I did: lots of highlights on the articles and notes on my iPad using the Apple pencil. Old habits die hard.
What White & LeCornu proposed is an improvement over the currently rather maligned “digital native” vs “digital immigrant” dichotomy coined by Prensky. The digital visitor vs resident terms are defined as a continuum both in time and in scope. This flexibility allows for both longitudinal changes and variation in usage across multiple platforms. Reasons for variations may be multiple, from brain development to technological “geekishness or even age.
The article fits well with my own experience. I consider myself a bit on the geeky side, therefore I was never shy to try new things. The learning curve from those first personal computers to the internet and then mobile devices has gone for many years, but it has been a steady uphill. However, moving from “digital” as a tool to place and then to space…that was a major change. It happened in 2011 when I joined Twitter as part of the “Building Online Community using Social Media (BOCSM)” course by my dear friend and mentor Michelle Pacansky-Brock. I was hesitant for a while, and feared being “out” there with a public profile. Michelle was gentle and encouraging, I decided to give it a go, and the rest is history. For me Twitter is an invaluable source of information (and for the echo chambers and the ugliness, I have gotten quite good at zoning those out).
But this is where the topic scenario and my own experience converges: I was apprehensive of a new tool (which was taking me to an unknown place/space). Why did I give it a go? Why did I succeed?
The response is manyfold, of course. The course design provided a safe space and a supportive community by allowing the participants to share reflections, stories, and pictures. By the time the Twitter assignment came we were already comfortable blogging. The instructor was supportive and encouraging. And somehow all that worked with me and for me.
So as we as a group move from Focus to Investigate, I know where I am heading: looking into the cultural aspects of our digital identities and learning of best practices to support students coming from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Through a course I recently took with Michelle, Humanizing Online Learning, I became acquainted with the book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. While the book is mainly for K12 teachers, I am finding it a very useful reading.
And am also reading Doug Belshaw’s book on digital literacy, a framework that was mentioned during the webinar. I like the 8Cs of digital literacies, and particularly how he places “cultural” at the top. He says “Focusing on the Cultural element of digital literacies can be transformative and empowering. In a similar way that learning a new language can give individuals a new ‘lens’ to view the world, so having an understanding of various digital cultures and contexts can give people different lenses through which to navigate new and familiar spaces.”
References
Belshaw, D. (2014). The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. Retrieved from http://digitalliteraci.es Hammond, Z., & Jackson, Y. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. White, D. & Le Cornu, A. (2011) Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).
Off road instructor Ron Delgado and yours truly during graduation.
This past weekend I was very far from academia: dh and I attended an off-road driving clinic in the Anza-Borrego desert. Going on long road trips off the beaten track has been one of the best ways for us to disconnect and enjoy free time, or as it is called these days, “self-care.” My knowledge of driving off-road is rudimentary and experiential. After the workshop I feel much more comfortable with it, as now I understand the theory behind many decisions made on the road.
Just to clarify, off-roading is not what some (insert bad word here) did when they entered pristine areas of Joshua Tree or Death Valley National Parks and drove donuts on fragile ecosystems. Responsible off-roading means to use designed trails to drive to places not accessible on foot or “normal” vehicles, stay on those trails, follow a number of rules, being knowledgeable about vehicles and basic survival, and overall behave as adult human beings.
Funnily, during the workshop I could not leave my academic/scicomm hat completely behind- I was amazed and very impressed by the instructor (Ron Delgado) who led the 2-day workshop. Here is a list of some of the things he did, which are completely applicable for any scicomm/teaching experience:
Setting the tone and expectations: as one of the few females in the group, I appreciated him saying up front that no macho attitudes would be allowed, and that one of his goals was for everybody to have fun. Through his words and actions, he created a community of mutual respect and trust.
Use of visuals and simple analogies. There was a lecture in the beginning and then some on-the-ground demonstrations to explain basic concepts such as the “wheel cheat” and the importance of tire pressure. I have tried before to understand those, and found the explanations terribly boring and complicated. Doing it hands-on was night and day (active learning, anybody?)
Use of visuals part 2. I am usually terrified on being sideways in a car. He had everybody driving up a hill so we were sideways, with a visual aid showing an incline of 28 degrees. Up to 30 degrees was safe. He told everybody to memorize how it looked like so we remember in the future that it was safe. Note: we had to.
Scaffolding of the exercises. That is pretty obvious, but I appreciated when he showed at the end of day 1 the (steep) hill we were going to descend the next day. It added an element of choice. Everybody came back, but it was nice to know what to expect.
Asking for feedback. At regular intervals, he asked for feedback- this is what you expected? How are we doing? Too much, too little? There were feedback forms at the end of day 1 to fill out (and at the end of day 2 also).
Last but not least, encouragement and support. I did pretty well most of the time, but was terrified of the last hill. It took me a while to decide I would try it. Ron took some time to make it sure I was calm, and directed me (and all the others) via radio. He praised everybody who cleared the hill. In the higher education world, we are often told that “this” and “that” high tech gizmo/app/analytics will do the trick to identify the students falling behind, AI will send personalized messages, adaptive technologies will train students according to their needs and so on. But, at the end of the day, it takes a human connection between a teacher and a student to help that learning magic to happen.
I was happy and grateful to be reminded of the human side to learning. Thank you, Ron!
Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Workweek and Lifestyle Design Blog. Tim is an author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, investor (FB, Uber, Twitter, 50+ more), and host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast (400M+ downloads)
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