Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Terminology Tuesday: Mind Maps

December 2, 2014

This week I’m going to talk about a term that a lot of folks find useful. I don’t really classify myself in that category of folk, but occasionally I can see the use in a mind map. I think this is because I often work alone and end up brainstorming with myself, so there’s really not a lot of point for me to visualize that for myself.

What is a mind map?

A mind map is essential a brainstorming session. Mind maps allow you to visually organize your ideas and are typically centred around one theme or concept. Remember when you used to brain storm in grade school? You would write down one central concept in the middle of your page and then draw lines coming from that central concept with related terms or concepts? It’s kind of like a visual word association. To illustrate the concept of a mind map, I drafted one for you:

Here, I have the central concept of cats (because 1 – I’m a crazy cat lady, and 2 – as I type this, I am being sandwiched between two) and from there I have sub-categories such as: sounds, physical attributes, hobbies, likes, and dislikes. From each of these sub-categories, I have listed related items that come to mind when I think of cats in relation to that category.

You can probably see how a mind map could be helpful, especially if you’re attempting to come up with a coherent e-learning module; in one of the workshops I participated in over the past year, we did a mind map to come up with some elements for a course. This type of mind map included a central topic, and from there we identified colour schemes, fonts, sounds, feelings the course might evoke, etc.

Outside of e-learning, mind maps can be useful for any project, especially if you’re working in a group. They allow for collaboration and can be effective when it comes to decision making and identifying what does and does not work with the central concept.

Intrigued? Here are some resources:

E-Learning Challenge #61: Top Tips for E-Learning Freelancers

December 1, 2014

This week’s challenge was an easy one, which is probably why Im able to participate – hooray! Thank you, David!

The Concept

This week, the challenge was to design a poster, infographic, or list to share top tips with e-learning freelancers. As an e-learning freelancer, this challenge seemed right up my alley.

The Method

Well. First, I got a little ahead of myself and mistook it for Instructional Design tips and created a poster related to one of my very favourite quotes from a less than favourite military reviewer (and I say that jokingly…kind of) – “Bullets are too verbose.”; the take away from that comment was to be more concise…which is tricky when you need to include sections of military publications verbatim into your courseware. GAH. That being said, I like to pride myself in being fairly concise within my e-learning projects.

Once I admired my handy work, I realized my mistake and began racking my brain for freelance tips. I thought this would be a lot easier than it was because 1) I’ve been an e-learning freelancer for several years now, 2) I’ve learned a lot about small business in this past year, and 3) I’m writing a book that’s almost related directly to just that. However, my brain was apparently converted into mashed potatoes last night and it took me several hours to come up with something worth recommending to other e-learning freelancers.

The Result

First, I’ll share my Instructional Design tip:

Next up, my top tip for e-learning freelancers:

Scope creep is a very real thing, so you should definitely heed my advice. I would also recommend having an air-tight contract. It’s always nice to go above and beyond for your clients, but you don’t want to give away the farm!

Terminology Tuesday: Critical Consciousness

November 25, 2014

In light of recent events, I figured it might be appropriate to discuss some terminology I was introduced to during my graduate program – critical consciousness.

Critical Consciousness

Paulo Freire was heavily involved in discussions and research related to social relations, and indicated that dominant social relations or statuses were more often than not directly correlated with a culture of silence, wherein individuals at a lower social relation or status feel oppressed by the the inability to speak up or be heard. This realization is classified as “critical consciousness” – the individual realizes that the dominant social relations are creating this culture of silence. Now, I don’t necessarily think this is true in today’s society – folks seem to be a lot more outspoken than they once were, but there is still oppression occurring everywhere. Most of us likely encounter at least one small inkling of it every single day.

Critical consciousness is an educational concept that involves having a critical understanding of the world around us, including the social justices and injustices (or the contradictions therein), and being able to take action based on your understanding to construct or move toward positive social change and reducing oppression.

Resources

I encourage you to research more about critical consciousness; it’s certainly a higher-level of thinking than we do most days, and I implore you to become empowered to do something within your community to move toward positive social change.

Terminology Tuesday: Social Learning

November 18, 2014

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about my participation in social learning activities – which is minimal at best. I want to participate more, but have yet to find the time! In any event, social learning is happening all the time, and it can be an easy way to learn from your peers.

What is social learning?

Traditionally, social learning emphasizes the fact that learning can be social, occurring through observation of behaviours. When I think about social learning, I think more about mobile or micro learning – why? Because social media has created a new venue for social learning. Just think of all of the Twitter chats that are occurring all over the place, or Reddit!

Drawing on the traditional definition, the modern definition might be defined as learning through social interactions where individuals can learn through their interactions in a collaborative and social environment. As in the traditional sense, individuals can learn desirable vs. undesirable behaviours based on reactions, and there is constant reciprocation.

Benefits and implications of social learning

To me, the benefits are obvious – we develop a means of engaging with individuals, socially, and through our interactions determine the ways in which we should (or should not) be engaging with individuals. However, social learning can be a double-edged sword. Just think of critical periods of development – teenagers make a great case study. In situations where individuals want to ‘fit in’ or feel popular, they may assume undesirable behaviours, mimicked after other individuals who are performing these behaviours (within the shared social sphere). Another example is the bystander effect – individuals don’t stop to help someone who appears to be in need of help, because they see others continually passing by, and assume that someone else will come to help.

So, social learning can certainly be a good thing, especially where micro learning is concerned, but it can also be a bad thing – as most things are capable of.

Resources

Actively Learn – A New Favourite App!

November 17, 2014

This past week, in the OLC Teaching Certificate program, I stumbled upon an individual who was using something called Actively Learn within the course they were developing. I’m always keen to check out new technologies, and I wasn’t let down by this one!

Actively Learn allows you to create deeper engagement and instructor presence in an asynchronous environment by allowing you to provide markup within your readings and incorporate interactive quizzing. Once I watched the demo for this application, I knew I had to make a push to my faculty members to begin using it within their online courses. So far, I’ve demoed it to 2 people and recommended it to 3 people currently developing courses…and it’s only been three days!

I see it being useful for courses that require a good amount of synthesis, as it can allow students to form more well-rounded understanding of the readings instead of just passively engaging with the materials. I also think that by combining questions (which the students must answer before moving on) allows the students to have a greater understanding of the materials as a whole, which may in turn lead to greater academic achievement.

I recorded a quick demo (below), and it’s obvious that I’m still new to the technology myself, but I wanted to show both the teacher and student perspective. Check it out and see how you can make Actively Learn work for you!

Things My Beagle Taught Me About Consulting

November 16, 2014

As some of you may know, my husband and I have a beagle/german shepherd. He’s a rescue dog that we acquired from the city pound nearly two years ago, and as with many rescue dogs, he comes with a slew of isms. This is Oliver:

He is 41lbs of pure energy and excitement; there are very few moments when he is ‘powered down’, and he’s taught me quite a few things in my short while of being a consultant and entrepreneur.

1. Do NOT Schedule Client Calls for Wednesdays.

This one was a no brainer; in our neighbourhood, the waste removal services come around each Wednesday. They alternate between garbage/recyclables and recyclables/compost every other week…and in the summer (just for fun), they do all forms of collection each and every week. This means that the enemy (garbage truck) goes up one side of our street, then down the other collecting garbage, then does the same for recyclables and compostables. Oliver absolutely hates the garbage truck and will valiantly protect his homestead by scaring them off with incessant barking. This does not bode well for client calls.

2. Apologize in Advance.

Whenever I do begin a conference call, I begin by apologizing in advance. We’ve worked very hard to get Oliver’s barking down to a minimum and it’s an effort made in vain. He’s a beagle. He barks. So typically, I will let my client know that I have a dog, and apologize in advance in the event that his barking occurs. Initially I thought this would be an annoyance, but most of my clients have been understanding and even empathetic (most seem to have their own barkers).

3. Schedule yourself Accordingly

I’ve been over-extended, and it can suck. Even if I’m passionate about the projects I’m working on, there’s only one of me, and I still have other household responsibilities. Come 4pm, I will be reminded (not so gently) that someone needs feeding and to play fetch or go for a walk. This can seem like a cumbersome task if I’ve over-extended my self. Basically, you don’t need a beagle to tell you this, you just need a reality check and for someone (me – right here) to let you know that you have a lot of other things going on (that’s life), and even if those 5 projects all sound amazing, you’re not superhuman and something’s gotta give!

4. Know your Job and Keep your Eyes on the Prize.

For Oliver, this is fetch. He knows as soon as we near the field behind our house, that I will unclip his leash and he will enter work mode, fetching the ball as many times as I’m willing to throw it. Sometimes his focus and determination can be a short-coming (he had a toe amputated this past year in a frisbee-related incident), but generally, he loves his job.

For me, this is my business and clients; when it’s time, I always settle in and focus on the work to be done. Like Oliver, sometimes this can be a short-coming…see #3 – say for example, when I over-extend myself. But generally, I love my job.

5. Don’t be a Jerk.

When Oliver is focused on his job, of fetching, his focus and determination and passion lead him to be a bit of a jerk. He doesn’t like sharing (his ball), and will quickly snap at someone who tries to take it. This has taught me (in addition to #3) that when feeling over-extended, share the wealth. Recommend other individuals with similar skill sets who may be available to take on new work and deliver a comparable product. Don’t snap at anyone who tries to eek in on your workload…most times it’s with the intention of helping.

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