When I was reassigned to teach Computer Applications in the School of International Business and Marketing in the fall of 1996, my instructions were simple and to the point. My task was to teach presentation software. If I wanted to, I could cover an introduction to the internet, e-mail and the world wide web. In the past, a course had been given that combined basic word processing with presentation tools. In other words, I was given full freedom to develop the curriculum for this course.
COURSE BEGINNINGS
This course had only recently been replaced with a self-paced tutorial that covered word processing. This course will now be required by all students in the school and will serve as a prerequisite to my course.
I began my planning by creating a subject outline. Next I created an overview of a schedule whereby the learning outcomes could be addressed. All of this was done in about a week, and as I began teaching, I began creating a web page resource for the course.
Each week I would add more information and resources for the students. Meanwhile, having introduced them to the e-mail system, I started a correspondence with each student. I encouraged students to get to know me. My schedule was posted so they would know where to find me. If I had any extra computers available in my lab, they could join another class to put in extra time on projects. Computer time is precious on our campus and hard to come by much of the time. In class, I integrated activities drawn from years of teaching creative drama and life skills. I opened my heart and went with my intuition and the course began to take shape as the weeks went by.
THE LEARNERS
The beauty of the transformation meta-orientation is that it is truly a means for transforming learners. When students come into my classes, many come with a form of technophobia and a fear of failure. Computers are still "the unknown". Unless one has a special rapport with these machines, they can be instruments of torture, prickly antagonists throwing impossible problems in our paths just when urgent assignments are due.
Given this likelihood, I feel it is incumbent on me to first of all create an atmosphere of trust and fun where exploration is key and success for all is achievable.
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
PLAYFUL ACTIVITIES
To break the ice on the first day of class, I play the "Name Game". In groups of three or four, students are asked to come up to the front for their first "performance". They are asked to teach us their first names non-verbally. This exercise gives a lot of opportunity for creative problem-solving and they come to recognize that presenting in front of their peers need not be so daunting. Learning each others names helps them make new friends who may later become team-mates.
Another activity, early on in the course, is to take an object from purse or pocket and to tell a partner a short story with this object as the focus. The partner becomes coach as the storytellers move into larger groups and finally into two groups. Each group nominates a storyteller to represent the ideals of storytelling for the whole class. The characteristics of good storytelling are then transferred to guidelines for presenting be it with Power Point slides or web pages. "Story is a continuous process. We borrow from others to see how our story fits theirs, then we remold it, add to it, alter it, tell it again anew, always exploring fresh possibilities." (Barton and Booth 1990)
EXPERIMENTATION
Throughout the course, I look for indications of success or failure with what I am trying. One idea was to have students who were outstanding presenters, come together to perform their winning presentations. As I do not give an exam, I scheduled this during exam week. I neglected to take into account two very important details. The students had not performed these presentations since earlier in the course and were now out of practice. More importantly, they were in the midst of exams, short of sleep from cramming and stressed out about marks and final projects.
For the presentation I was assigned a lab which could
not hold all the students at once, so I advised them to come for a half
hour during the time we were presenting. I suggested times for each group
to come. I ended up having a packed house for the early presentations and
few attended later.
I hope to find a way to schedule in outstanding presentations
in future, but for now, I have created a web page that lists the outstanding
presenters for each class, celebrating their achievement.
I also discovered that individual web page construction was more difficult than anticipated. The students, in their feedback evaluation of the course suggested that team pages be developed first, then individual pages. I revised the course to accommodate this suggestion and this project order has worked better.
HOLISTIC CONCEPTS
The students are free to choose the topics for their four projects. Two of them involve presenting who they are - a perfect opportunity to illustrate their life stories. "Life stories are living and dynamic; they need to be told and retold, heard and reheard to reveal their meaning. One's identity lies in the consistency of the story as one travels through the spirals of life." (Miller 1990)
The very nature of the subject calls for webbing or clustering - a thematic approach where the themes evolve from the students' interests. I am observing many students who become eager to master the tools because of the messages they want to share - stories about their cultural roots, their interests and hobbies, their hopes and aspirations. The teaching strategies are based in the transformation position: creative thinking , invitational teaching, and cooperative learning.
Students are encouraged to keep a log or journal record
of their explorations. Rating scales are used in evaluations and students
observe and rate each other in early
work. In later work, both peer evaluation
and self evaluation become integral to the process. And through these practices,
I am seeing personal integration and social awareness.
