I am working on a project that involves creating a plan to create a program for a Masters of Divinity online for a well-established college used to traditional teaching. Looking at some of the other colleges/universities that have both traditional and online courses for Bible colleges and found two resources that use to house their online courses.
The other good point of these two websites is they give some of the colleges that they work with currently. They also show some information of what the site looks like and what students would be working with.
http://www2.knowledgeelements.com/index.php?id=96
http://cccdl.org/
Although it is a secular video site, www.youtube.com also contains information for Christian basis for students to see examples of sermons, interviews, and much more. It is a resource that can be used for many classes whether they are for a Bible college or a public college.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Communicating Effectively (Week 3)
Each person likes to hear information, communicate, or give news in their own way. Me I do better speaking with someone over the phone instead of face-to-face. Some people, like my grandfather, hate to talk on the telephone. Some express themselves better in a letter whether it is through the traditional post office or electronic.
In the example, we were given the same message in three different formats: e-mail, voice-mail, and face-to-face, and then decide if we could infer any difference between the three examples.
The following are my initial responses of each example:
Example
E-mail Correspondence: Jane seemed understanding of Mark's time, but persistant of completing a project. She showed desperation by giving other options, but did not give enough detail for Mark to not have to contact her. Creating an e-mail session that could be numerous.
Voice-mail Correspondence: Once again Jane was not very detailed in her request. She did not specifiy a report, just that she needed it. I heard a monotone voice that did not seem desperate to get the job done. You could sense some understanding of his time.
Face-to-face Corresponde: Starts out friendly, but I would not worry about putting it off since there seemed to be no urgency in her voice. Her change of voice made it less confrontational. Once again lack of details.
Since I had no tone of voice to hear, just words chosen, I felt the e-mail was more understanding and better conveyed the necessity. Body language and verbal tone can often be a hinderance in determining compassion or urgency. Saying the same phrase in three different tones will give you three different reactions.
A media that I viewed ("Practicioner Voices: Strategies of Working with Stakeholders") had interviewed Vince Budrovich and he gives the advice "Tailor your communication strategy to fit the specific needs of each stakeholder." One needs to take into consideration certain words can be offensive or thought of as rude to one person can be harmless to another.
There were two lessons I learned from this communication example.
1. Detail is very important, each one of the correspondences were written as if the recipient knew exactly what was being talked about. That is not always the case. If someone is working on several projects and/or several reports not getting a specific title or description can waste valuable time with more correspondence to figure out that information.
2. Perception can be the biggest problem for any type of communication. "To make sense out of a message, to determine the meaning to attribute to it, the receiver uses perception" and this perception is not always what the sender is hoping for (Waltman, 2010).
References
Waltman, J. (2010) Communication. Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Bun-Comp/Communication.html
In the example, we were given the same message in three different formats: e-mail, voice-mail, and face-to-face, and then decide if we could infer any difference between the three examples.
The following are my initial responses of each example:
Example
E-mail Correspondence: Jane seemed understanding of Mark's time, but persistant of completing a project. She showed desperation by giving other options, but did not give enough detail for Mark to not have to contact her. Creating an e-mail session that could be numerous.
Voice-mail Correspondence: Once again Jane was not very detailed in her request. She did not specifiy a report, just that she needed it. I heard a monotone voice that did not seem desperate to get the job done. You could sense some understanding of his time.
Face-to-face Corresponde: Starts out friendly, but I would not worry about putting it off since there seemed to be no urgency in her voice. Her change of voice made it less confrontational. Once again lack of details.
Since I had no tone of voice to hear, just words chosen, I felt the e-mail was more understanding and better conveyed the necessity. Body language and verbal tone can often be a hinderance in determining compassion or urgency. Saying the same phrase in three different tones will give you three different reactions.
A media that I viewed ("Practicioner Voices: Strategies of Working with Stakeholders") had interviewed Vince Budrovich and he gives the advice "Tailor your communication strategy to fit the specific needs of each stakeholder." One needs to take into consideration certain words can be offensive or thought of as rude to one person can be harmless to another.
There were two lessons I learned from this communication example.
1. Detail is very important, each one of the correspondences were written as if the recipient knew exactly what was being talked about. That is not always the case. If someone is working on several projects and/or several reports not getting a specific title or description can waste valuable time with more correspondence to figure out that information.
2. Perception can be the biggest problem for any type of communication. "To make sense out of a message, to determine the meaning to attribute to it, the receiver uses perception" and this perception is not always what the sender is hoping for (Waltman, 2010).
References
Waltman, J. (2010) Communication. Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Bun-Comp/Communication.html
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
"Post-Mortem" of VBS Clowning (Week 2)
I have been doing church clowning since I was eight-years-old and I do not mean funny wig, red nose, and rosy cheeks. My mother was professionally trained as a clown and taught me, so every inch of me was covered with make-up, wig, and fabric.
Whenever I start a new church, I believe in getting involved so I know the people. Well, when I started, the first big event was Vacation Bible School (VBS) advertisement in a local parade. While it was being decided on what needed to be done, I mentioned my clowning ability and they asked me to be a clown for the parade. I enjoyed every minute of it, entertaining, joking, running around, and making a great memory.
A meeting for VBS came up and I attended to see what I could do. Well after discussing assigning, I spoke up that I had not been assigned anything. The pastor said that I had a calling for clowning (which could be taken different ways) and asked me to be a clown everyday of the week of VBS.
So, the planning begins.
I verified with my stakeholders (the pastor) if he wanted anything certain he required, trying to get some limitations as described by the text "Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects." He simply said, "Do what you want?" Well, I went to my subject matter expert (my mother). We started going over options and I made a decision, that I believe was my first mistake, but got caught up in the excitement. I decided to do a different clown each day.
Mistake number two arose when my job asked me to work full-time that week instead of just part-time. I agreed, but thought I would still have no problems with VBS since it was in the evening.
So, I carefully planned out an outfit, wig and make-up for each day. Used my computer to see what the make-up would look like instead of applying it on my face. Made sure all the costumes fit and made sure wigs or hats covered my ears. i had each day in its own bag with a tag of what was needed from a different day and what gag props I would use that day.
One of the key enjoyments for me as a clown, and I think others enjoy, is getting to change my voice for the character I play. A very critical mistake I made was not trying a different voices before VBS started whether it was the week before or that day.
Two weeks after the parade, a symptom that I had been dealing with worsened and I ended up in the Emergency Room. I did not let it stop me, I continued with my routine and worked with the symptom every time it came. Unfortunately, fear did hinder me and I did not perform as well as I had in past times, even from the parade. In the multimedia "Practitioner Voices: Overcoming 'Scope Creep'," Dr. Reckom mentioned that one should build in resources ahead of time to help with unplanned circumstances. However, there are circumstances that cannot be planned or prepared for ahead of time.
At the end of the week, I had been thanked and complimented, but I finished not feeling I had given everything I had or could do. Time will tell if I made enough of an impression to be asked to clown again, but after this experience, I will try to remember the age old saying "too much of a good thing." For if I would have tried to do less, I would have felt I had done more for the children, which is what VBS is about.
References
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Whenever I start a new church, I believe in getting involved so I know the people. Well, when I started, the first big event was Vacation Bible School (VBS) advertisement in a local parade. While it was being decided on what needed to be done, I mentioned my clowning ability and they asked me to be a clown for the parade. I enjoyed every minute of it, entertaining, joking, running around, and making a great memory.
A meeting for VBS came up and I attended to see what I could do. Well after discussing assigning, I spoke up that I had not been assigned anything. The pastor said that I had a calling for clowning (which could be taken different ways) and asked me to be a clown everyday of the week of VBS.
So, the planning begins.
I verified with my stakeholders (the pastor) if he wanted anything certain he required, trying to get some limitations as described by the text "Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects." He simply said, "Do what you want?" Well, I went to my subject matter expert (my mother). We started going over options and I made a decision, that I believe was my first mistake, but got caught up in the excitement. I decided to do a different clown each day.
Mistake number two arose when my job asked me to work full-time that week instead of just part-time. I agreed, but thought I would still have no problems with VBS since it was in the evening.
So, I carefully planned out an outfit, wig and make-up for each day. Used my computer to see what the make-up would look like instead of applying it on my face. Made sure all the costumes fit and made sure wigs or hats covered my ears. i had each day in its own bag with a tag of what was needed from a different day and what gag props I would use that day.
One of the key enjoyments for me as a clown, and I think others enjoy, is getting to change my voice for the character I play. A very critical mistake I made was not trying a different voices before VBS started whether it was the week before or that day.
Two weeks after the parade, a symptom that I had been dealing with worsened and I ended up in the Emergency Room. I did not let it stop me, I continued with my routine and worked with the symptom every time it came. Unfortunately, fear did hinder me and I did not perform as well as I had in past times, even from the parade. In the multimedia "Practitioner Voices: Overcoming 'Scope Creep'," Dr. Reckom mentioned that one should build in resources ahead of time to help with unplanned circumstances. However, there are circumstances that cannot be planned or prepared for ahead of time.
At the end of the week, I had been thanked and complimented, but I finished not feeling I had given everything I had or could do. Time will tell if I made enough of an impression to be asked to clown again, but after this experience, I will try to remember the age old saying "too much of a good thing." For if I would have tried to do less, I would have felt I had done more for the children, which is what VBS is about.
References
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Week 1 Blog following
Notice that it seemed that there was no real place to leave a comment to say you are following, unless you comment on a past posting. So, if you follow me, you can comment on this post.
MaryLei
MaryLei
Monday, November 1, 2010
Converting to a Distance Learning Format
The scenario was: "A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times."
I personalized it and created a scenario that showed how a repair shop in an auto dealership could use online course management system to better train their mechanics new and old.
Converting to a Distance Learning Format
The service department in Duluth, MN for a Ford dealership has hired a new
service manager, Jack Thomas, and he was placed in charge of training the mechanics
that are newly hired and continuous education for current employees. Using the former
training program of face-to-face learning, the manager did not like the quality of
communications among trainees. He went to the boss with the idea to change the training modules to a blended learning format by continuing the face-to-face training for hands-on learning and learner interaction, but also utilize an online environment to further learner and trainer interaction. This would give access to training materials, such as, videos, worksheets, web links, databases, assignments, etc. by using a server.
With the boss’s approval, Jack starts the preplanning stage for the program. The
main ideas he considers are online accessibilities for all employees and technology
capabilities. Jack has to reflect that “the issues to consider is how the choice of a
particular method can be used to involve the students in all the instructional settings” in order to effectively create a blended formula (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).
By using the online environment, Jack believed it would be a better way to give
the employees a chance to focus on what they need to know. He hoped to create video
tutorials of certain aspects of automotive repair, as well as access to extensive databases for different models of vehicles and repairs. With the idea that “instructors can rely on existing media to help enhance learning experiences” Jack hopes to use videos and, especially, databases that are already available on the internet, saving him time and money (Simonson et al., 2009). With this information, if the student did not feel confident about his in-class learning, he would have the resources to fall back on.
One major goal that Jack hopes to enact is assigning current employees to keep a
dialogue open with new employees. With the variance in work schedules, having the
online access would make it a more realistic goal and more of an encouragement for all learners to communicate online.
With his goals and ideas formed, Jack starts the process of developing, designing,
and deciding what would be best for the trainees.
References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning
at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
I personalized it and created a scenario that showed how a repair shop in an auto dealership could use online course management system to better train their mechanics new and old.
Converting to a Distance Learning Format
The service department in Duluth, MN for a Ford dealership has hired a new
service manager, Jack Thomas, and he was placed in charge of training the mechanics
that are newly hired and continuous education for current employees. Using the former
training program of face-to-face learning, the manager did not like the quality of
communications among trainees. He went to the boss with the idea to change the training modules to a blended learning format by continuing the face-to-face training for hands-on learning and learner interaction, but also utilize an online environment to further learner and trainer interaction. This would give access to training materials, such as, videos, worksheets, web links, databases, assignments, etc. by using a server.
With the boss’s approval, Jack starts the preplanning stage for the program. The
main ideas he considers are online accessibilities for all employees and technology
capabilities. Jack has to reflect that “the issues to consider is how the choice of a
particular method can be used to involve the students in all the instructional settings” in order to effectively create a blended formula (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009).
By using the online environment, Jack believed it would be a better way to give
the employees a chance to focus on what they need to know. He hoped to create video
tutorials of certain aspects of automotive repair, as well as access to extensive databases for different models of vehicles and repairs. With the idea that “instructors can rely on existing media to help enhance learning experiences” Jack hopes to use videos and, especially, databases that are already available on the internet, saving him time and money (Simonson et al., 2009). With this information, if the student did not feel confident about his in-class learning, he would have the resources to fall back on.
One major goal that Jack hopes to enact is assigning current employees to keep a
dialogue open with new employees. With the variance in work schedules, having the
online access would make it a more realistic goal and more of an encouragement for all learners to communicate online.
With his goals and ideas formed, Jack starts the process of developing, designing,
and deciding what would be best for the trainees.
References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning
at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)