Kulik Article/Audio Tutorial Method - Kim Davis

It made me smile to find myself listening to an audio tutorial about audio tutorial as a a learning system. I graduated from high school in 1978. I know that I listened to audio instruction in college (Spanish lab) but I don't recall any use of it before that time. In the years since I graduated from college I have used audio, video, or a combination of both as learning tools many times.

Nearly every company of any size that does any training for it's employees "in house" has used audio instruction. It can be a very effective tool for some learners. I think it is most effective if there is a subject matter expert somewhere close at hand to answer questions and give guidance to the learner when needed. That is probably the point where audio instruction breaks down for use as a distance ed tool - there has to be someone to take your questions to.

I teach computer skills to middle school students. I think audio lessons could be a very useful tool for me to use to to guide the students who "get" the lessons faster than the rest of the class and need something to move on to while I bring the rest of the students along. Audio instruction might also be helpful for the students who move more slowly. These students may benefit from the repetition (being able to pause and rewind) of the lessons to gain clarity.

I know the students all like to hear audio files from their computers and they certainly love videos as well. These tools can serve to teach as well as to entertain.

Davis Article/PSI - Kim Davis

I think the idea of a web based class based on the Keller plan plus the application project is a great idea! I am one of the kinds of people who would benefit greatly from asynchronous courses. I know from the classes that I teach that the chunks of information followed by the assessment and feedback make a big difference in what the students master. One of my classmates has a class web page set up with Moodle that is a great outline for this kind of class. It's like a pacing guide for the students (so it does have that kind of time element in it). But she could easily build in the other pieces to make it more of a self guided and self paced class.

After I looked at her class web page and before I read the materials for this week I was already thinking of how to use that for the students I teach. They come to me with skills all over the place. I struggle with how to move them all along the same path without outpacing some and boring others to tears. If I had a self paced plan - I could have an extra cool and different lesson(s) - iMovie or Garage Band - for the students as they demonstrate mastery of the lessons.

I think that the technology described in the Davis article is all very timely to support a modern, online version of the Keller Plan as a teaching tool. I believe UMR is making a great effort at putting together a course in this fashion with alterations for overcoming any challenges (like the team project that helps the students apply their lessons).