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Randy Halbedl (Corporate Trainer and Integrated Social Entrepreneur--Ezeratech.com)

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Randy Halbedl (Corporate Trainer and Integrated Social Entrepreneur--Ezeratech.com)

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The best guide I am using now is the word: EPIC

Each training module must contain an:

Experience

Participatory

Image

Conversation

Employing all these parts makes my lessons the stickiest in my students' minds. By far the best results overall in all my years of training adults.

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Favorite Activities: 1 Minute Presentation, 140 characters response, WOW moments

I started using the '1 Minute Presentation' a few years ago as a filler in between lectures. The idea is to get the students to reflect on what was featured during lecture and explain what they have understood so far about whatever topics discussed. This also gives me feedback about what I need to change/revisit/add to the plan I have in mind for the class. I also got the class to react to the presentation - whether they agree or disagree, and if so, why.

The 140 characters response (ala Twitter) is used mainly after a reading assignment or a video viewing. The whole idea is to get the students to simplify what they read or view.

The WOW (Words of Wisdom) Moments are presented either at the beginning or at the end of class. This is not so much about the content, but about getting them to be 'moved' emotionally as they reflect on their goal for learning. Initially I had to source for inspirational YouTube Videos or Poems, etc, but after noticing how much they actually looked forward to the WoW moments, I decided to get everyone to present their WoW moments. It takes only 5-10 minutes of class time, but I believe the impact is beyond that.

Carpe Diem!

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Favourite Tool: Edmodo & Kahoot

Edmodo provide platform for collaborative learning. Teacher can add some resources, assignment and quiz. Also students can share knowledge by participating in forum and submitting their task. Kahoot is interesting simultaneous online quiz. By facilitating with multimedia elements, Kahoot may attractives and allow students enggagement.

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Favorite Methods: ARCS - ID model by Keller stands for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction.

Learning Design - where by carefully crafting the learning environment to give plenty of chances where learners learn through lecture followed by doing tasks such as participating in discussions, completing practices and tasks, and finally giving them a simple assessment to verify 'they have learned- gained mastery of the topic'.

Fav Tools: Storyline, Articulate Replay, Videoscribe, Comic Heads

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Although I am “retired” now, to engage students, I am still promoting the application of authentic tasks in learning environments of all kinds, ranging from traditional university courses to online professional development programs for organizations such as the World Health Organization. In 1993, I had the good fortune to spend five months at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia where I had a wonderful opportunity to begin collaborating with two amazing scholars, Professor Jan Herrington (now at Murdoch University) and Professor Ron Oliver (now Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Teaching, Learning and International, and Vice-President at Edith Cowan University). They were doing cutting-edge scholarship to develop a model of authentic learning environments that meshed well with how my colleagues and I in the Instructional Technology Department (now Learning, Design, and Technology) at The University of Georgia were designing our courses for Masters and Ph.D. students. For example, in my evaluation course, students worked in small teams to plan, conduct, and report an evaluation of an instructional product for real world clients. Eventually, the model that Jan and Ron originally developed was refined for e-learning, an approach we describe in our book: Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., & Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic E-Learning. New York: Routledge. Of course, the ideas underlying authentic learning can be traced back many years to scholarly work by John Dewey, John Seely Brown, Allan Collins, Susan Goldman, John Bransford, and others. For more information about authentic learning as an approach to engaging students, see: http://authenticlearning.info/AuthenticLearning/Home.html

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Khairul Anwar (DTLEADERSHIP) - Pre-Work, Chat & Iterate

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Khairul Anwar (DTLEADERSHIP) - Pre-Work, Chat & Iterate

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Hello. I usually use Pre-Work to gauge interest and background of the participants. In a typical 2 days program i usually will chat with the participants for about 30-45 mins after ice breaker. I use workbook (for the audience) & slides (for me). Slides usually change after tea breaks and 1st day. I will adapt it based on the learners. i am still using various strategies such as accelerated learning and hands on to optimize learning outcomes. In some behavioral situations, post coaching helps. Design thinking, other than tools ( or fools lols), is a mindset of being adaptive in expressing creative confidence and humanized best possible ways for the learners. I am still learning, testing, iterating and adapting. Much thanks!

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Relevance, Association

The educator must offer more than just info .. Content is already available, all the more in these days of multimedia resources. To engage the learners, the educator must offer more, must offer insight, offer creative thinking, see what other people do not see .. offer innovation, offer diversity ..

Give them a reason to want to continue to listen to you .. all resources can lend a supporting hand .. but the onus of the creativity must come from the teacher (or whatever u may be called). Sometimes less is more, be animated, be alive , hold their hand (metaphorically .. don't get yourself in trouble) .. say, 'come with me' ..and they will follow you like pied piper ..

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Favorite Tool: Google Drive

Having the ability to create, share, curate, and house documents in one central hub is what makes Google Drive the best thing since Cable. Throw in the workflow of not being tied to a device, not having to rely on the workings of that pesky flash-drive, and having the access to a platform that allows for seamless collaboration, Google is the one tool I promote over all others to teachers in my district.

As for engaging learners, Docs and Presentations allow students to write, peer-edit, and collaborate on a multitude of projects. With Add-ons, learners are able to have access to applications that create bibliographies for them, search for peer-reviewed articles on Google Scholar, and make mind-maps for a variety of activities.

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Favourite Methods: Task-based & Content-creation Learning

'I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I DO, I understand' - to me, learning is what learners DO; not what is DONE to them. Hence, to achieve any Learning Outcomes (LO), first, I design learning task(s) that will put EACH learner at the 'driver's seat'. I don't TEACH by TELLING. Instead, I FACILITATE LEARNING by ASKING (in a form of TASK that will result in THINKING/UNDERSTANDING. Good teachers are not those who give right ANSWERS; but are those who ask RIGHT QUESTIONS. Secondly, most of the learning task that I design requires learners to CREATE or CO-CREATE content (highest level in BLOOM'S Taxonomy). I am a strong advocate of LEARNING by EXPLORING, DOING and CREATING. To make sure that ALL my students are ACTIVELY and MEANINGFULLY engaged, tasks are give before the f2f session (flipping the classroom). The f2f session is used to ENGAGE everbody in HOTs. During class, I often get my students to convince others (TEACH OTHERS - Learning Pyramid) of the task they've completed prior to the f2f session. In this manner, they get the chance to agree/disagree, argue/critic, etc.

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Favourite Toll: Online Videos

I am a new Kid on the block (new academician with very little experience. i have been truly inspired reading various tools used by others. As a previous student, i used to relate better to videos which give a visual impact of the subject.

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Favourite Tool: Online Videos

One of the effective ways to grab students' attention is to begin a class session with relevant online video. It is thought provoking and trigger students' thinking of intended topic/content to be discussed.

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Favourite Tool/Method: A relaxed environment + storytelling

1. Kick off with some story-telling to lay down a more relaxed environment

2. Continuously remove a pressure-cooker environment where students feel they are being judged

3. Hopefully see some success where students start engaging, motivated to participate in the session by asking questions and sharing their opinion.

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ABD KARIM ALIAS (Universiti Sains Malaysia

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ABD KARIM ALIAS (Universiti Sains Malaysia

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Favourite tool: Storytelling

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a STORY and it will live in my heart forever”. - Indian proverb -

I like stories and I think students of all ages also love stories. In fact, one of the classroom techniques that I personally have found most rewarding is the anecdotal and storytelling. Science is full of interesting stories and anecdotes that can spice up and enlighten ordinary lecture/presentation into a memorable one.

So whenever possible, I like to start my lecture or presentation by asking question or telling story and anecdotes. Judging from students’ response and facial expression, I would say that most of the time (perhaps all the time) the students enjoy listening to the story. From my experience, every time when I tell a story or anecdotes in my lecture most students would listen intently. You don’t have to be Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman to lighten up your class room (although my students would be enthralled if they were around!). All that is needed for the storytelling approach is a pool of stories and a little narrative ability (that’s all I have really…only a LITTLE narrative ability).

Check the link below for the full blog article and also the same topic on my Storify. https://storify.com/ProfKarim/the-power-of-storytelling

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Do you know how MSG (monosodium glutamate, a common flavor enhancer added to food) was discovered? Do you know we can produce sugar from starch - any starch? Do you know the history of food canning? Do you know that everything flows, even the mountain - if we wait long enough? Do you know...OK, let me tell you an interesting story...here goes...
I like stories and I think students of all ages also love stories. In fact, one of the classroom techniques that I personally have found most rewarding is the anecdotal and storytelling. Science is full of interesting stories and anecdotes that can spice up and enlighten ordinary lecture/presentation into a memorable one. So whenever possible, I like to start my lecture or presentation by asking question or telling story and anecdotes. Judging from students' response and facial expression, I would say that most of the time (perhaps all the time) the students enjoy listening to the story. From my experience, every time when I tell a story or anecdotes in my lecture most students would listen intently. You don't have to be Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman to lighten up your class room (although my students would be enthralled if they were around!). All that is needed for the storytelling approach is a pool of stories and a little narrative ability (that's all I have really...only a LITTLE narrative ability).

I think telling a story is an effective way to draw students' attention because I can engage them more readily in the learning process - it's a valuable way to make the learning environment exciting, encourage learning, and also a way to put things into perspective. Let me give one simple example. I teach a course on "Starch Chemistry and Technology". Starch is a type of carbohydrate that we can find in bread, rice, cereals, etc. Starch in our food is a very important component because it provides the essential energy for our daily lives activity. I want to emphasize to my students that starch is actually a form of storage energy in plant and this energy can be released and harnessed by our system by "breaking down" starch into sugar! As an analogy, it is like chemical energy stored in a battery which can be converted into electrical energy. The challenge is how to explain this important fact by making it as a lively and interesting story? Well, I do have a story to tell but the bottom line is I can whet the appetite of the students to learn more about the chemistry and technology of starch. To ensure your storytelling or anecdote will capture and captivate the attention of the students (or audience, if you are giving a presentation), it is important to rehearse it beforehand because when you start telling the story, you have to deliver it smoothly, coherently, convincingly, and enlighteningly!

From my limited reading on the use of storytelling in education, I found that many researchers regarded it as one of the most appropriate pedagogical approaches for teaching and learning of science at all levels of education. According to Gere, storytelling involves imagination and the use of language and gestures to create scenes in the mind of the listener. The magic of story time is that it exercises the powerful muscle of the imagination, which is the center of being human.

Some advantages of using storytelling in a classroom can be listed as follow:

Storytelling stimulates the imagination. Scientist Albert Einstein said that "imagination is more important than knowledge."

Stories go straight to the heart. Because students are emotionally involved and truly enjoy storytelling, it can help to create a positive attitude toward the learning process.

Storytelling engages students and encourages them to think critically, to analyze evidence, and finally, to develop positive attitudes towards science and the place of science in human culture (Kokkotas, 2010).

According to Hadzigeorgiou (2006), the beginning of the story is crucial and decisive for activating the imagination of students. In the main part of the story, the concepts to be taught should be interrelated and expressed in a clear structure. The end of the story should include an ethical message or idea for the learners. The aims are not only to create perspectives, hopes, motivations, and wonder for the students, but also to facilitate their acquiring a deeper understanding and remembering of the concepts.
In my subject area (food science), there are a number of interesting stories I can share with my students. In other areas such as pure sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics), engineering, medical, social science, humanity, etc., there are even more stories that can be used to spice up the class room. I would encourage educators to incorporate stories and anecdotes into your classroom because you can certainly make learning exciting and fun for your students.

Here are some links and references if you want to learn more:

Folino, A.A. (2001). Stories and Anecdotes in the Chemistry Classroom. Journal of Chemical Education, 78(12), 1615-1617.

Green, M.C. Storytelling in Teaching (very interesting and comprehensive article - highly recommended).

Gere, J., Beth-Ann Kozlovich, Daniel A. Kelin II. By Word of Mouth: A Storytelling Guide for the Classroom.

Hadzigeorgiou, Y. (2006). Humanizing the teaching of physics through storytelling: The case of current electricity. Physics Education, 41(1), 42-46.

Kokkotas, P., Rizaki, A., Malamitsa, K. (2010). Story telling as a Strategy for Understanding Concepts of Electricity and Electromagnetism. Interchange, 41(4), 379-405.

I found some interesting presentations about storytelling on SlideShare:

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Do you know how MSG (monosodium glutamate, a common flavor enhancer added to food) was discovered? Do you know we can produce sugar from starch - any starch? Do you know the history of food canning? Do you know that everything flows, even the mountain - if we wait long enough?

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Favourite Method: SUCCESS

SUCCESS is how I engage people in my classes. I make the subject Simple,Unexpected, Credible, Concrete, Emotional, tell Stories and Simulate the concept. This formula is based on the book 'Made to Stick' by Chip and Dan Heath. I added only the last S for Simulation.

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Favourite Tool: iPad apps

The one device which is versatile to me is the iPad. I find it easy to use, longer battery life, thousands of apps to choose from and I don't have to worry about virus.

Here's how I engage my students. I would upload documents or keynotes slides into the LMS prior to lecture.

The keynotes contain activities where students type in their responses. I don't have to hook onto the lcd projector because all my students can pull out the keynote onto their iPads.

Group presentation will see students using various apps such as Jot-It-Down, paperport notes, etc and they will link their devices to the Apple TV.

Doing research on the internet is a breeze due to the wifi and the iPad fast connectivity.

I also apply FLIPPED CLASSROOM in my class and could concerntrate more on discussions and design when the students are in class.

My students and I only bring our iPads to class and I use apps to engage my students in every lesson.

Cheerio!

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Favourite Tool: Surprise Present a text/ lesson/ experience/ challenge that is designed to surprise kids. My favorite example is presented in the trailer to our EQ video for ASCD: I give kids horoscopes. They read theirs, and comment on how true it seems (it always has some 'obvious' truth in it). Then I spill the beans: I changed the dates on all the horoscopes; they are reading one different from their own. And thus begins a lengthy discussion of self-deception and believing what you want to believe, followed by reading and discussing Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

Bottom line: kids expect to be soothed, even bored; surprise them!

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Favourite tool: Available online videos and my emphasis

I love available online videos which supports my teaching so much, providing the visual content to my students when I am teaching, especially on procedures or steps of a certain method. After the video, I either ask a thought-provoking question or emphasised the important points made so that my students get the main bits.

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Favourite Tool: I don't wish to have just one- the more "toys" the better.

I believe that tools are only meant to facilitate the learning process so I never just like to use one but to learn new "toys & tools" to improve learning. The more engaging and interesting the tool, the more we learn and perhaps a little faster but learning is not just about speed but the continual personal development- to be a better person and doing what we love and getting better at it. To make the world a better place to live in.

So I have used, online, offline, virtuals, real face to face, apps, mobile apps, whatsapp, wechats, Second Life, etc and I am still LEARNING...

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Chuah Kee Man (Universiti Malaysia Sarsawak - UNIMAS)

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Chuah Kee Man (Universiti Malaysia Sarsawak - UNIMAS)

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Favourite Tool: Meaningful Tasks

It doesn't matter whether the activities are offline or online, the key is they must be meaningful. I always hold on to the principle that meaningful tasks help to cultivate the joy of learning among students. And when they are "happy", it's easier to engage them.

Students have to be engaged in pre-class, in-class and post-class activities so as to ensure they achieve the intended learning outcomes besides enjoying the whole process of learning. I use multitude of tools and I never stick to 1. Every lesson requires the use of different tools, but 1 thing remains constant: the tasks have to be meaningful. I have this 4As Guide to Meaningful tasks that I hold on to: Active, Achievable, Authentic, Assessed. And one more, the mother of all tools, to me, is Us (as teachers/ instructors/ educators). We can't expect students to be active if we are unwilling to be active. Or we can't expect them to be engaged if we still prefer to talk for long hours repeating the same old slides. :)

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Favourite tool: Flipped forte learning

Before start each new theme I send readings to my students in advance to classes with a link to a short questionnaire. My students read the documents, watch the videos  and answer my questions. Then I read their answers and compile a list of their most urgent questions. I answer these urgent questions and I send my list of questions and answers to them I ask them study them as a preparation for formative assessment activities. When I go to class I have the doubts and difficulties of my students fresh in my head so I can  include in the class new explanations, examples, demonstrations and activities designed to overcome the most common and urgent needs (that's Just in time teaching). My students have new questions in their heads so they can deepen their understanding engaging in formative assessment activities like answering concept tests at the style of peer instruction or answering first individyually and then in discussion groups using the method of team based learning. We usually do this activities using the student smartphones and the app Socrative.
More info at:
http://profesor3punto0.blogspot.com.es/2015/03/uso-de-dispositivos-moviles-en-la.html

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Favourite tool: Poll everywhere & Powtoon

Details:

http://drhasanah.com/2015/karnival-dan-kongres-inovasi-knovasi-ukm-5-cara-efektif-menawan-hati-pelajar-dengan-teknologi-pembelajaran/

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Favourite tool: Gamification

Teaching from the heart is what I find to be most inspiring. Grabbing the students' attention at the start isn't enough. It has to be sustained with continuous engagement - using personal stories, videos, quotes and questions are some of the ways I like to keep students' focus. Gamification involving competition, though time-consuming to set up, is a great tool to engage students. Smaller apps like Kahoot may however easier for regular use and are not time-intense. Positive feedback from students may be the best reward at the end of a class or semester :)

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Favourite tool: Myself

Smiling, walking , facial expression, joking, body language , acting, voice tone, all these I use collaboratively to achieve my goal. MY goal is to have this direct eye contact from my students during the lecture , which send me a clear message; yes Sir we've got it.

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Favourute tool: Whatsapp

A communication tool that I use to post not only reminders for my students but also interesting articles for them to read before they come to class. My speaking and writing activites have become fun and engaging to the extent my students can't stop talking / writing

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Favourite tool: Twitter

A productivity-enhancer tool that helps curate important info, trends, issues etc. Not yet fully optimized in schools yet has high potentials for harnessing knowledge management among education stakeholders.

Favourite activity: Social networking

I believe that online community of practice will enhance teaching and learning competence, trigger healthy intellectual discourses and promotes life-long learning. Learning is no longer a lonely journey, collaborative learning is catalytic in ensuring sustainable learning ecosystem. I love social media but I believe the influx of new tool shouldn't cloud one's perception in perusing all at one go. Sync or sink.

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Favourite tool: Edmodo

Why Use It: It's a social place where students can interact with each other, collaborate on tasks, discuss on topics etc. I purposely allow students to use everyday language to express ideas and thoughts, in order to create a conducive environment for learning, unlike some who require proper language use and spelling etc. My aim is to create engaging environment, and for that, I have successfully achieved a warm and fun environment for my students. Pity it only lasted for a semester. The 'community' stopped after the end of term. If only I can make it more sustainable.

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Designing Engaging Presentations at IMU!

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In this 2-hour workshop (6 April, 2015) at IMU, we explored how to design engaging presentations for e-learning and flipped classroom sessions based on good in...

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Please add your Name and University/Organization (acronym) in the header (red). In the text area, please add your favorite tool/ activity/technique (tech or non-tech) to engage students/learners to think, learn and do. Also, provide some insights on the how and why you use it. Please be precise, concise and inspiring (50 - 200 words). Deadline: 17 May, 2015.