vetpad

Reading innovation centre is a great place – rooms labelled ‘Think 1′, creative messages all around, sticky velvet on the walls etc (pretty much like we set CARET up in 2001). We were invited by Megan Power to join government vets investigating people management. It struck me that the GROW model of coaching:

Goals – what do you want?
Reality – where are you now?
Options – what could you do?
Will – what will you do?

is as applicable to undergraduate learners as it is to professionals trying to get the best out of staff. For me, the big realisation of the day was that listening is one of the most difficult skills to master – especially in an environment where everyone is very busy – and that just listening and responding by reframing what you’ve heard is incredibly powerful.

Key coaching skills:
1. Ask effective questions
2. Listen actively
3. Give constructive feedback (do not give advice)

Interesting articulation of what it is to prepare for teaching students versus what it is to prepare for creating learning (by Jack Meacham, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, University at Buffalo-State University of New York in Tomorrow’s Professor blog) 

See Stephen Downes’ eloquent examination of this question including:

“learning occurs when the learner immerses him or herself in a community of pratice, learning by performing authentic tasks, learning by interacting with and becoming a member of the community.”

I’ve just recently participated in communication training for trainers – a fairly stressful event for a group of what I would consider to be professional vets\nurses\managers.

Now that made me think about how stressful students might find this sort of training and whether we might need to consider a gentler approach for them. Talking with a colleague who shared my concerns made me even more interested in this possibility and looking at Linda’s blog entry on the Calgary Cambridge method (that is being used as a model) added a little more impetus to my exploration.

My visit yesterday to the Copenhagen vet school (thanks Søren for arranging it at such short notice!) was very valuabe in many respects and I think the way Rikke Langebæk is approaching communication skills with her students, may just be that gentler way that I was thinking about. One subtle (but I think significant difference) is that Rikke doesn’t use trained actors but plays the role of the client herself having built up a relationship with the students. Part of the preparation of students involves discussing video clips of consultations that go well and also some that don’t. Fun is a big and important part of the session. None of this knocks Calgary Cambridge per say, but I believe the subtelties of how the session is run could be very significant.

I’m wondering if the use of actors might then be reserved for students who have already been gently introduced to communication skills with someone they know and respect and who is actually not quite as skilled as the actor in playing a role – for me (and I believe for the experienced emergency medicine clinician who played the 2nd year vet student trying to get information from the very stressed client about their collapsed puppy) the actor was so good it was like reality, only this time - to add to the stress there were 9 staff observing too!

Linda’s new blog talks about how

students interpret markers comments

I’d be interested in reading more…

An interesting and informative day at this Wiki workshop in Austin Court - right in the centre of Birmingham – what a great location!

Good presentations by Steven Warburton (KCL), Brian Kelly (UKOLN, University of Bath), Henry Rzepa, (Imperial College, London) and Phil Wilson (University of Bath)

All the discussion group outputs are on the wetpaint wiki and Henry recorded the presentations so hopefully there will be a podcast of the event shortly.

For me the old rule applies – fab technology when used in the right way – so just a reminder to myself and others not get carried away thinking everything should be done in a wiki. Mind you, a wiki would make a great VLE wouldn’t it?

Interesting idea about recording an informal discussion such as might take place in the social spaces around a conference – Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering fame has put up the first example of their “Spoolcast“. If you can cope with the intro music (and exit music) between each section there are some interesting points made. How much impact a university’s website has on drawing in prospective students for example and what useable really means – “black and white” and “shades of grey” definitions.

Lots more podcasting ideas to support research and learning.

Tama is excited by the arrival of …

The first of three microphones for the iPod Video

I’m excited to see how well it works. If it’s good, all I will need is an iPod video

(UPDATE I’m not convinced – the mono, wav and distance ‘features’ make it a “not quite” device for me)

John Naughton is excited by iPod eBooks Creator

It seems to work well – I’ve transferred “The importance of being Earnest” to my Nano and even with such a tiny screen it is quite readable. I guess it would be easier on an iPod video though…

Annika Small, CEO of futurelab UK talking at the education.eu seminar “So what’s changed” on the 4th August 2006 suggests that we should be thinking about c-Learning not e-Learning: Connectivity, Community, Creativity, Constructivism and Collaboration. I agree.

Great presentation by James Farmer at education.au exploring how eLearning environments (from Computer labs to threaded discussions and MCQ quizzes to VLEs such as Blackboard) are tending to encourage teachers to perpetuate a transmissive model of education and how we might foster engagement and empowerment in teachers and learners using a blogging environment instead. He refers to the “Community of Inquiry Model” (Rourke et al 2001) that stresses the importance of social, cognitive and teaching presence in any effective learning encounter.