How Literacy Programs Can use Webinars to Benefit Learners, Staff & Volunteers

January 28, 2011

The word webinar is being used today to refer to all kinds of online training and virtual presentations.

More and more literacy organizations are adding a component of e-learning to their programs. It’s the 21st century way to learn!

Webinars are relatively easy to put on. Some of the language is a bit different from face-to-face environments, so it’s helpful to know that instructors, facilitators and teachers are mostly referred to as “presenters” in the webinar environment. Learners and clients are generally called “participants”.

Both presenters and participants need some technology and computer literacy in order to take part in a webinar. Current teachers and facilitators may require some training before moving into an e-learning environment. Your participants may benefit from an orientation prior to the content to familiarize them with how webinars work.

Assuming that both parties have the technology literacy to move forward, here are some ideas on how you can make the most of webinar technology in your organization.

For Participants

Online group classes

Bring participants together in an e-learning class not only to teach them new content and skills, but also to learn how to work together in an online environment. You can build two of the Essential Skills at once: Computer Use and Working with Others.

Online tutoring

Do you have learners in rural and remote areas? Or single parents who find it hard to get a sitter? Online tutoring provides a way for otherwise isolated learners to connect with tutors from the comfort and convenience of their own home. This is a super way to reach out to people who might otherwise not engage with learning.

Information sessions

If you offer information sessions about your programs in a live setting (your office space, a public library or elsewhere), you can adapt your content and host virtual information sessions. Information sessions are for prospective students and have a slight marketing component. A word of caution though… don’t try to “sell” in a webinar. Instead, demonstrate your expertise and what makes you unique.

Orientation sessions

When you bring new learners into your physical space, do you give them an orientation on  what to expect and how things work there? Photos, maps, and other materials can also be used in an online environment to give a virtual orientation. Though I’m a big fan of doing live webinars, this is one that you could record and use over again.

Follow-up workshops

Webinars are a great way to keep relationships going once the opportunity for face-to-face interaction has passed. A value-added webinar one month after the course ends is a super way to stay connected. For example, if you have a work placement component in any of your programs, you can incorporate virtual sessions after work hours. Learners can share stories about their work experience and learn from one another. In cases where participants already know one another, the online interaction is usually fun and very dynamic.

For staff and volunteers

Volunteer information sessions

Do you like the idea of having virtual teachers or tutors? Then set the stage by offering online information sessions for prospective teachers and volunteers about your organization. Review the programs that you offer, the opportunities you and the benefits of working with your organization. This is a great time to have current staff members and volunteer tutors chime in with what they love about working with you!

Volunteer training

Do you train your staff in intensive sessions that jam in loads of information? You can break it up into a series of online training workshops. The material is easier to absorb if you divide it into “chunks”. If you have ongoing workshops, your volunteers get ongoing training, which keeps building their skills. As an organization, ongoing training for them means you give offering them something back for their time and expertise.

Staff development workshops

Do your staff currently get all their professional development at an annual conference? I love conferences because of the chance to connect with old friends. But wouldn’t it be great to offer ongoing training and development for your staff throughout the year? The cool thing about this is that you don’t have to organize all the sessions yourself. Check out the Centre for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). They specialize in  offering online PD for educators. They have literally hundreds of programs to choose from, ranging from free to expensive.

For the community

A Virtual Open House

Share what you do with the community, your stakeholders and donors through a virtual open house. Include photos of your facilities and your staff. A video that uses digital storytelling to celebrate the success of your learners makes it even more dynamic.

These are just a few ideas for literacy and language programs to use webinars in their organizations. I’m a big fan of using this technology in the non-profit and educational sectors. It offers a lot of value for everyone – staff, volunteers, learners and students, as well as community stake holders. How many non-profits still lag behind when it comes to their own technology literacy? Implementing the use of webinars positions your organization as a leader in terms of technology. You lead by example, showing others how virtual and online learning is an important part of 21st century of education and professional capacity building.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

11 Ways to Promote Your Literacy Program

January 5, 2011

I’m sharing 11 of my top tips to market and promote literacy! These tips are for literacy organizations, programs and other non-profits who focus on literacy.

1. Tweet! – Don’t have a Twitter account yet? Get one – and learn how to use it. Follow other literacy programs. Ask your members to follow you. Don’t just ask for donations in tweets. (In fact, I’d say never ask for donations via Twitter, but that’s just me.) Interact, retweet, have fun.

2. Get a Facebook page – Ask your members to like your page. Post notes, learner success stories, policy news and other tidbits of interest for those who are fans of what you’re doing.

3. Get business cards for your staff – Cards have been used for both personal and business use for over a century now. I am amazed how many literacy programs don’t have cards for their staff. Really, you can’t afford not to have business cards for the people who work for you.

4. Update your website – Are you still using a website that you can’t update yourself? You want a crisp, clean looking site that uses a content management system that allows you to update your site yourself. Remember to use your logo and “brand” your website.

5. Get a YouTube Channel – Post slideshows, “how to” videos, learner success stories and testimonials. Video is part of 21st century marketing. YouTube has an excellent program for nonprofits that’s worth checking out.

6. Collect stories and testimonials – Get learners to share their success stories using audio or video. Use their stories on your website and YouTube channel. Collect one learner testimonial per month and by the end of the year you will have a dozen success stories that will help you promote the good work you do.

7. Set marketing goals – If you can collect one testimonial per month, by the end of the year, you have twelve. What else can you do every month to promote literacy? Set specific, measurable and realistic goals, share them, post them and refer back to them throughout the year.

8. Accept donations and membership fees on line – If you’re not already accepting donations using PayPal or some other online method, now is the time to set it up. Have links from your website. People should be able to join your organization or make a donation with the click of the button. Build it and they will come.

9. Connect with local authors to promote literacy. Collaborate with local authors / bookstores for reading events. At least every other month have the event in your space to get people through your door. Authors can do book signings and read from their books. Sell books and share the revenue.

10. Plan a celebration of learning and literacy – Showcase the success of your learners. Invite funders, members and supporters of your organization and local politicians who champion literacy. Send out press releases and get it catered.

11. Take an asset-based approach to marketing – Focus on the good work you’re doing, the positive impact your work is making and the resources you have. Find creative ways to highlight your successes.

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Related post: 27 Ways to Celebrate Family Literacy Day

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

 

Comments Off on 11 Ways to Promote Your Literacy Program | Literacy, marketing, non-profit, social media, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

How and why my students wrote their own final exam

December 13, 2010

I teach a first-year university course called “Effective Learning”. This semester, topics included managing exam stress, how to prepare for exams and strategies to during a test including such things as reading over the exam before you start writing and answering the questions you know first. Most of the assessment I did for this class was strength-based evaluation such as group projects, evaluated presentations and portfolios. We did one test at the end of the semester.

I decided to engage the students in the exam development process. We spent time in class reviewing what types of exam questions were acceptable (e.g. multiple choice, short answer, essay) and what content would be covered. The questions were based on material from the two textbooks, as well as materials from in-class presentations and discussions. All the material covered from the first day of the semester was to be included in the final exam.

Earlier in the semester students had worked with a partner to present a presentation that was a synthesis of two readings each. For the development of the test questions, students worked with the same partner and prepared questions on each reading they had done their class presentations on some weeks earlier. Students were challenged to come up with at least 5 questions per chapter and to include more than one type of question (multiple choice, short answer, etc.)

Students prepared test questions and handed them in to me.  I compiled them into one document, noting which questions related to which chapters in the text or readings from the course pack. I also noted which students had contributed which questions. The questions were distributed to all students for study purposes. The result was a 10-page study guide comprised of potential test questions that they themselves had generated.

I let them know that I would be selecting from their contributed test questions and that I would also be adding some questions of my own that would not be shared before the exam.

The process of having students develop test questions proved to be a useful learning exercise for them. They got to experience what it is like to write exam questions and the thought-process that goes into it. Knowing that this was not simply an academic exercise but that some of these questions would actually appear on the final exam added a much-needed element of authenticity. Students took the exercise seriously when they knew that it would impact their peers.

Finally, they reported being more engaged with both the material and the study process when they had the opportunity to contribute questions. Suddenly it wasn’t an exam inflicted upon them, so much as a challenge they co-developed and were ready to take on.

Related post:

Course design: 7 ways I engaged my students in the process http://wp.me/pNAh3-nV

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on How and why my students wrote their own final exam | education, learning strategies, teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Ten Trends in 21st Century Education

December 2, 2010

Learning in this century differs greatly from education of the 20th century in some ways. As the first decade of the new millennium wraps up, we can look back and see these trends that have emerged and are likely to continue in the coming decade.

  1. Increased use and integration of technology.
  2. Globalized approaches to learning.
  3. Awareness of economic factors affecting education.
  4. Need for a highly skilled, competitive workforce.
  5. “Borderless” and cross-border education.
  6. Increased student and faculty mobility.
  7. Individualized, customizable, learner-centred approaches.
  8. Strategic partnerships and alliances among governments, school boards, schools and individual educators.
  9. Emergence of non-formal and informal learning, driven by technology
  10. Frameworks, benchmarks and other asset-based approaches to assessment.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Course design: 7 ways I engaged my students in the process

November 23, 2010

“Learner centered” is the new buzz phrase in education. Some recent research I did revealed that not only are learner-centered approaches to teaching part of 21st century teaching, but so is the practice of engaging learners in course design and outcomes. This seems to be a bit of a contentious issue. How do learners know what their outcomes should be? It’s a good question.

Rather than addressing the theoretical debate, I decided to try an experiment this semester. One of my courses this semester is on Effective Learning. It focuses on metacognition, making students aware of themselves as learners, their learning styles, improving study habits and ultimately, improving their performance. I thought this would be an optimal environment to test a learner centered approach.

The questions that guided my teaching experiment were:

  • How can I legitimately engage students in course design?
  • How can I do this without being accused of shirking my responsibilities as an instructor?
  • How do I ensure that the class doesn’t try to take over from me completely and hijack the entire course?

Here’s what I did:

  1. Set boundaries. Some aspects of the course design were negotiable and others were not. I decided what was going to be negotiated and set clear parameters.
  2. Engaged with the students in dialogue. In class we talked about what aspects of the course could be negotiated and which could not. I shared with them how they would be engaged in the process and what it would mean for them.
  3. Had the students engage in a dialogue with one another. After I talked with them, I gave them some time to talk amongst themselves without input from me. After they talked with each other, we would regroup and they would share what they talked about.
  4. Kept the process transparent. Students’ thoughts and input were all shared. Disagreements were addressed and points were negotiated.
  5. Voted. In cases where students disagreed on how they wanted to proceed, we voted. The majority ruled. This was effective in deciding, for example, what date the students would give their final presentations in class. Students votes reflected their desires to have the presentations on a date that was convenient for all of them. Since the presentations happen at the end of the semester, when everyone is busy, we were unable to achieve consensus on the date. So we voted by a show of hands. That way, students could see for themselves what the majority had decided.
  6. Focussed on developing relationships. I took advantage of the small class size by focussing on getting to know each student and also having them develop relationships with each other, as well as with me. 70% or more of class time was spent in group work or pair work. Students gave two presentations during the semester – one in pairs and another in small groups. Students were guided through a process where they exchanged contact information and were encouraged to connect with one another outside of class time. Within a few weeks, all the students knew each others names and began bonding. This built trust and cooperation.
  7. Increased the engagement as the course progressed. I began the course with a very traditional approach. The students received a course outline with specific information about what would be done and how it would be done. As the course progressed and relationships were developing, we were in a better position to negotiate on some aspects of the course.

Here are some of the ways I engaged my students in the course design process:

  • Course material. I decided what 90% of the course content would cover, including materials from the textbooks, as well as some outside sources. Students contributed videos and articles they found on line, using broad topics to guide them. The videos were posted on our Blackboard class site. Students reviewed the videos posted by their classmates and posted reflective comments about them. Both the posting of the videos and the reflective comments were assignments, each worth 1% of the final grade. As long as students contributed both their material and their personal feedback by the due date, they received credit for the assignment.
  • Due dates. Not all due dates were negotiable. Students chose the dates when they would present their final group project and have their final in-class test.
  • Exam content. Yup. You read that right. Students contributed some, but not all, of the questions for their final exam. I’ll talk about the process I used in a future blog post.

So far, the experiment seems to have been a success. I was pretty open with the students and let them know that the model of negotiated course design was new for me. Basically, I was learning as I went. Many times, I experienced some discomfort myself, not knowing how far we could or should go using a “distributed leadership” model. In some ways, I was still traditional. I teach in a traditional brick-and-mortar university, after all. In other ways, I think the amount of decision-making I allowed my students to engage in would boggle the minds of some of my colleagues, who might wonder if I let my students walk all over me.

The short answer is no. This was one of the few classes I’ve ever taught where students came to class on a regular basis, formed excellent relationships with one another, had a great deal of tolerance for one another. Did they try to hijack the course? Not at all. In fact – and this is purely subjective, of course – I would say that these students demonstrated more respect for me, as I muddled through this new way of teaching, than in courses where I have taken a authoritatively traditional stance. Interestingly, it’s one of the few university classes I’ve taught where I didn’t find students who tried to cheat, either. They were challenged to think beyond traditional learning roles, as they became collaborators in the learning process.

Would I try this again? Absolutely. It was a slightly unnerving experience and a very good challenge for me as an instructor. And I can honestly say that I’ve never had a more engaged, vibrant group of students.

Related post: How and why my students wrote their own final exam http://wp.me/pNAh3-o2

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Comments | education, leadership, learning strategies, teaching, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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