Description:

This course is designed for adult educators in the various contexts, including: higher education, military, non-profit, health and business settings. Through research, readings and collaborative activities, students will gain an understanding of various adult learning methods that include, but are not limited to, training, professional development, performance improvement, online and mobile learning. Letter grade only

Standards:

Standard 6: Content Knowledge and Professional Growth.

Technology directors demonstrate professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions in content, pedagogical, and technological areas, as well as adult learning, leadership, and management, and are continually deepening their knowledge and expertise. Where you:

a. Engage in continual learning to deepen content and pedagogical knowledge in technology integration and current and emerging technologies necessary to effectively implement the NETS•S and NETS•E

c. Regularly evaluate and reflect on their professional practice and dispositions to improve and strengthen their ability to effectively model and facilitate technology-enhanced learning experiences

Reflection:

Scholarly Paper Assignment

The scholarly paper assignment required us to write an 8 to 10 page paper on the topic "How can technology be utilized to support adult learners in terms of training, coaching, or higher education within one or more delivery methods?" To assist with this, we utilized a social bookmarking tool that we worked with in a previous assignment called Hypothesis to research and organize references.

For my paper, I focused on the technology company I was working for at the time which was struggling with setting up an effective training methodology. Using them as an example of a typical technology company I researched some of the current literature and focused on how an Open Learning Network could benefit them. The research literature cited the desire by employees to have more control over their professional development, especially in the tech industry.

My solution was to use a Learning Management System that was controlled by the company to deliver mandatory training and a Personal Learning Environment to provide for external and self-directed training.

The use of both technologies would allow the company to use pre and post tests in the LMS to prove compliance with training mandates including regulatory compliance in the event of an audit. At the same time, the employee controlled PLE allowed the staff to pursue training that matched their preferred method of learning and career goals independent of the company.

Group Final Project

The final project assignment for the course required us to form a project team and create a code of conduct for the members of the team. This team then proceeded to develop an Innovative Technology Adult Learning Instructional Plan by creating a graphic organizer.

Our team, team 1, called itself "Team Intrepid". I think Aspen kicked off the conversation with an initial idea for using VR to teach personal security guards to do their work. Some of us had an initial reaction to that of how it reminded us of school shootings. That was when I suggested building on Aspen's idea but shifting the focus to fire and rescue simulations.

I have some background in both architectural drafting and 3-D computer animation. Most building floor plans are created in a program called AutoCAD (Think of it as the Microsoft Word of drafting). AutoCAD has some native 3-D capabilities, but other 3-D programs like Lightwave 3-D can import files from AutoCAD to create photo realistic 3-D models. These models can then be imported into a gaming engine such as Unreal Engine where the actual simulation can be written. Trainees will then play this simulation using a VR headset like the Oculus Rift S.

My thought was that most cities have large office buildings or hotels in them. What if we could import their floor plans into a multiplayer VR gaming environment that could simulate fire, smoke, and victims in that building to allow them to practice in that building while learning the layout of that building.

We started by creating a concept map to organize the topics we wanted to cover in our presentation. We then created a group in Hypothesis for posting our references and a Google Slides presentation.

The thing I enjoyed most about this project was the opportunity to pull in more of my technology and communication background with CAD and 3-D design, along with my interest in emerging technologies like VR. It was an appropriate tie-in with the next step in my educational plans.

My Future Plans

This is my final class at Northern Arizona University for my Master of Education in Educational Technology. I started into this program while teaching high school broadcasting and technology courses and originally planned to get a graduate certificate in Educational Technology with a K-12 emphasis. After my position there was eliminated, I decided to continue to the Masters and shift my emphasis to Adult Learner. As a result, I've taken the classes for the Masters of Education in Educational Technology with both emphasis.

My goal was to move from teaching high school broadcasting and technology to teaching broadcasting and technology at a university where my skills and efforts would be taken more seriously (I had also taught as adjunct faculty at the local community college). I've applied to a few positions at colleges and universities in the central Ohio area and interviewed for a couple of them, but I now believe I need to "up the ante" to get to where I want to be.

I've applied for the PhD. program at Ohio University in Mass Communications. OU is comparable to NAU in many ways and I've had dealings with them while teaching my high school program. I hope to use my Master of Information Systems Management along with my Master of Education in Educational Technology, and my certifications in IT and Broadcast Engineering to focus on Emerging Technologies and how they will impact the future of Mass Communications and also Education.

I hope that the PhD. will draw together my interdisciplinary background and allow me to finish out my career teaching undergraduate classes in a field I am passionate about.