Educational Technologies

With so many tools available that can easily be used or adapted for education it can be overwhelming to try to sort them all out. This is why having the help from colleagues becomes so important. I want to share three tools that my peers found useful, and how I too have found a use for them.

First, TeacherTube (http://www.teachertube.com./) is an innovative tool that offers videos from instructors and students covering a variety of subjects. In addition users can get sample study plans, flag inappropriate content, and create or participate in groups for easy communication and collaboration. If this wasn’t enough to grab your attention, the site is free. I would use this tool to supplement my teaching, by embedding some of videos into my class’s group. I can also assign each student a segment of the week’s subject and have them find videos that would help them teach the subject to their fellow learners.

The second tool I would use is StudyBoost (https://studyboost.com/). The beauty of this instrument is that it allows the educator to create a quiz or question and answer session and deliver it to students’ computers or mobile devices by text or instant messaging. The learners can also ask the teacher questions synchronously. Another wonderful thing about StudyBoost is that it is free. I would use StudyBoost to give in class quizzes that can be answered individually then tabulated within the class room. I would then divide the class into small groups to answer and correct any questions.

The last recommendation is Flipboard (https://flipboard.com/). Thisis a news aggregator that allows you to customize your menu and manage content that you find valuable. The content is very consumable and the images are engaging. I would use this tool in my interpreter training, and ask each learner to bring in an article that can be shared with the class about issues that are affecting our immigrant and refugee communities. We would then discuss how this issues may present themselves in an interpretative encounter, the possible lexicon that would be involve, and possible dilemmas that may need to be navigated during the encounter.

Being a Digital Citizen and a Pastor

Long gone are the days when what a pastor said was just between them and the few that listen to the sermon. As a pastor there are more issues that I need to be concerned with when it comes to the digital world. While I am not a politician or a celebrity, I am in the public’s eye and have the potential to influence a great group of people. This makes my need to be more conscientious of what I write or post that much greater. I first realized this when an email I wrote to one of my parishioners made it out of the intended receiver, out of the church, out of the state, out of the country, and into the world. All of the sudden I began to receive replies from people that I didn’t know and in languages that I could not understand. For this reason, when I train fellow pastors I make it a point to talk about the “6 Rules for Pastors Before Posting That Blog” (http://www.ethicsdaily.com/6-rules-for-pastors-before-posting-that-blog-cms-21109). This wonderful tool condenses being a digital citizen pastor into six simple questions to ask yourself before you send an email or post. One of my favorites is, “Have others spoken out who are more credible or qualified than I am?” In a world where Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other such means of making sure that our voice is out there are abundant, it is easy to fall into the “blogger’s syndrome.” Suddenly we feel that every issue and topic requires our two cents worth. When, in reality, there are better people to address certain issues or topics than Rev. Knowitall. This lesson on being a pastor in the digital world can ensure that what we say/write will be worthy of the reputation that we are trying to maintain, while also ensuring that the religion/denomination we represent is not tarnished by what one ignorant person.

Being a Digital Citizen and an Interpreter

As a medical interpreter trainer, I recommend that my students become part of interpreter organizations, such as CHIA (http://www.chiaonline.org/), IMIA (http://www.imiaweb.org/), NAJIT (http://najit.org/), CCIO (http://www.ccio.org), etc., because the best way to learn and sharpen your skills is by your peers. Although the number of interpreter organizations is growing, there are many areas in the USA that do not have a local chapter. This is why the internet has become so beneficial. Most organizations will allow interpreters to become members and participate through their “member’s only” blogs, forums, and discussion sites. The problem is that if one is not educated on the proper netiquette, their questions, comments, and contributions may be deleted or just simply ignored. This is why it is important to read the rules for each site. I have found, however, that many tend to be too wordy or difficult to follow. I use the “Forum rules, tricks, and tips” section of WordReference (a popular interpreter forum) as an example (http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2418299). What I like about this section is that it is divided in to subheading (such as how to ask and answer a question), and also gives helpful trick that could improve your post (such as how to add accents on a PC, MAC, or Linux). The reason why I take the time to teach how to be a digital citizen in my trainings is, because most of us do not bother to read or learn what the appropriate netiquette is until we use the forum, blog, email, etc. and then get our heads chewed out because we are being inappropriate.

Open and Distance Education

Dr. Simonson (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b) describes that there are two parts to distance education; the distance teaching and the distance learning. In other words, Dr. Simonson believes that in order for it to be true distance education there needs to exist a symbiotic relationship between the educator and the learner. Therefore, one could reason that, if the communication between teacher/student is that important, then the student/student relationship must be just as important. For this reason I suggest using Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) to nourish this connection. As a diversity trainer I could accomplish this by creating and sharing a folder through Dropbox. At the beginning of the course the student will be asked to “Drop” two culturally responsive research based article, or tool, or resource along with a written description of why it was chosen and how it is beneficial. Students will be encourage to view this virtual folder as a collaboration that will continue to exist and be further developed as each member of the community continue to share even after the course is over.  I would, in addition, use open education resources to enhance the diversity training. For example, I would ask that each student participate in Harvard’s Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ ) to identify personal feelings regarding diversity. Then I would put them in groups and have them reflect and explore anonymous findings within a group setting. I would also bring in another open education resource, like the assessment tools from the New York Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence (2010). I would then ask the participants to compare and contrast how the business sector, the health industry, and mental health industry are attempting to achieve multiculturalism.

References

Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence. (2010, December) Cultural competence assessment tools. Retrieved from http://www.nyspi.org/culturalcompetence/what/pdf/NYSPI-CECC_CulturalCompetenceAssessment.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Distance education: The next generation. Baltimore, MD: Author. (approximate length: 7 minutes)
In this vodcast, Dr. Michael Simonson discusses the evolution of distance education from its beginnings, as correspondence courses, to the course management system that is most prevalent today. He reflects on the next paradigm of distance education emerging from the web resources that make knowledge generation and collaboration more effective. Focus on his discussion on the next generation of distance education.

Using Re-Mission 2 for Medical Interpreter Training

Re-Mission 2 (http://www.remission.net/) is a game which features Roxxi, a nanobot that shoots in 3D through twenty challenging levels as the player journeys through the bodies of young cancer patients. This game was designed to help players increase their knowledge about and empower their ability to manage cancer (Cobb, 2008, April 18). One of the benefits that this game offers is through the specialized knowledge that the developers utilized by calling on scientific and medical consultants. Additionally, short-term, mid-term and long-term goals continuously engage the learner through successfully attaining higher levels of success throughout the game as Tom Chatfield (TED, 2010) recommends. Constant feedback is evidenced through the shooter’s actions in attempts to kill cancerous cells through targeted treatment modalities.

In my professional experience, I would use this game to help develop and enhance the specialized vocabulary of medically trained interpreters to meet the needs of patients and providers in an oncology care setting. The purpose of this would be to expose interpreters to the lexicon and to develop a working glossary of specialized terms. After each interpreter trainee has developed a glossary of oncological terms, I would give them a time to interact with each other to compare and contrast their glossaries. I would then finish by leading a discussion on oncology by asking probing questions that would further enhance their acquired knowledge on each cancer, its treatments, and key medical staff.

References

Cobb, J. (2008, April 18). Mission to learn: 26 learning games to change the world [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.missiontolearn.com/2008/04/learning-games-for-change/

TED (Producer). (2010). Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_chatfield_7_ways_games_reward_the_brain.html (approximate length: 16 minutes)  © TED Conferences, LLC